After reading the story in the New York Daily news about the NYC Transit driver, Jeremy Philhower, who hit Seth Kahn while he was jaywalking, I decided to look up how the jaywalking problem is being handled in the city.
First, I googled, looking for the law and how much of a fine it would be. Imagine my surprise when it couldn't be found on the internet. The entire internet was only sprinkled with little "I think it's a law" or "my cousins cousin got one back in the early 90s."
Where were the facts?
I also learned from the New York Post that 178 cyclists and pedestrians were killed last year. Out of that number, 50 were due to jaywalking.
So, since this is obviously a big issue for the city, who can tell me about the law?
Not I said the Department of Transportation. Not I said the New York Criminal Court. Not I said the precinct. Not I said the law school. To save you time, since this feeble attempt wasted two hours of mine, I give you the goods.
The fifth precinct that I called told me that they do not issue jaywalking tickets anymore.
I repeat: They do not issue jaywalking tickets anymore. This does not mean to run out into the street and spin because you can, because you can't; cars are there. And to be safe, this does not mean that it counts for all areas. All I know is out of the seven presincts that I called three said that they don't do it anymore, four said that they had no idea. Zero, that's right zero police stations said that they were ticketing for jaywalking. That is not counting the dozens of other places (schools, lawyers, courts) that transferred me to someone else who could shrug.
What I am saying is be smart. How many people have to be injured or die because they were impatient or exercising their "right" as a pushy New Yorker? Maybe the reason that they aren't ticketing is because it is common sense. Does there need to be a fine for sticking a fork in the toaster, too?
Well, if there is, I couldn't find that one either.
- New York Personal Injury Attorney (FindLaw)
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