Are Jaywalking Laws A System of Control?
83America's Laws Strip Citizens Rights!
Welcome reader,
There has to be a limited on how much control and rationale, other people have on your life. As an example, the Law "Jaywalking" is just one of the many Laws in place to control people. It about forcing people to cross a street at a designated time and not before. The Law, in Massachusetts, seems to be out-of-whack and not even the police can understand it. I say that, because of my experience of this morning(04-26-2010).
There happens to be city workers working on the Gas and Water pipes, at the end of my street. At the end of the street I live on is a four-way lighting system, but today the lights are not in operation and a Police officer is directing traffic. It is also key for you to know a little bit more about my experience with the Law "Jaywalking" and my run in with the police of my small town community. The city I live in has about 20-30,000 people living in it and the Law of "Jaywalking" was applied to me, as an individual, when a police officer, while still inside his vehicle stopped me while I was crossing the street, at a designated time of my own choosing.
Massachusetts Law - Jaywalking
The police officer stopped me and pointed out the fact that I was breaking the Law and if he wanted to, could fine me or give me a ticket for improperly following the Law.
I found this absurd. Not to mention, an invasion of my right to life. I do not consider myself to be one of those types of people who need to be guided by other people.
To me, I have the proper knowledge I require to make the assessment of when I am going to cross a street. Usually, I make that decision when I need to cross the street and not before.
I asked the police officer if he was kidding and he did not take to kindly to me question his ability of telling me that I was wrong about crossing. He considered me to be a smart ass with an attitude, who was giving him some lip.
I found that to be quite entertaining, but he did not. However, on this nice brisk morning, I was walking down the sidewalk, which is on the side of the street I live on and as I reached the end of the street the police officer was handling the traffic.
Jaywalking - Unenforceable Law
Now, since I have had a run in with a police officer about this particular topic before, then I knew what the Law says about doing it.
But, apparently there are inconsistencies within the police department of the city I live in, because I have been told that "Jaywalking" is crossing the street at any time, whenever you are not at a corner.
Well, I reached the end of my street and the police officer asked me if I wanted to cross. The first notion in my head, wanted to tell them- "No, I do not want to cross the street, I just walked to the end of my street for no apparent reason", but I did not want to piss off the police officer, so I simply said "Yes sir, I would like to cross over to the other side".
I made it a point to point to where I wanted to go, but he refused to let me cross and forced me to cross within the "white lines"/"crosswalk", while telling me that I cannot Jaywalk. I told him straight up that I would not be Jaywalking if I crossed the street corner to corner.
Jaywalking - A System of Control
He told me that I had to cross in the white lines and then to do it again, so I could get to the side of the street I wanted to be on. I said to him, you are kidding right? He said, "No sir".
So, I purposely crossed as he instructed me, but when it came time to cross the street yet again, to get where I wanted to be, I continued to walk straight down the street, while he was yelling at me to cross.
I told him precisely where I wanted to go and he was holding traffic so that I could make the second crossing without incident. However, I refused to listen to him, because of his own lack of knowledge of the Laws in which he himself enforces.
As I continued to walk down the street, I reached a point where I was going to pass the building I wanted to get to, so I broke the Law to cross the street, which by the way, was not dangerous, because there was no traffic coming, from either direction.
Self Responsibility of Human Rights
After I reached my destination and left the building, I am thinking to myself about the wonderful choice words I had wanted to say to him, upon my return. He purposely worked his way toward me and asked if I was crossing again.
I said yes and I crossed the street without waiting for him to tell me to do so and as I am crossing he made a comment, which I will not repeat, but I(with sunglasses on my face) turned to him and started to laugh, and shake my head side to side, as if it was completely unbelievable.
To me, as an individual person, an American citizen, who has the right to life and right to choose, can certainly determine when crossing the street is safest. I do so, because as a child I was a good kid and listened to my parents when they taught me about safety.
I understand that there are plenty of people who have trouble determining what is in their best interest and that is the primary reason for the Law in the first place. The Law, in and of, itself is completely unenforceable, by all stretches of the imagination, unless you go to an extreme.
Jaywalking - Government Control
In all seriousness, I do understand why there are a great many Laws for citizens to abide by, but many of them are absurd and cannot ever have full enforcement, simply because it is an invasion of a person right to life and right to choose.
No matter what I think about it, the Law is a direct violation of a person's rights to live their life. The people who do break the Law are never ticketed or fined, unless a police officer wants to make a statement or feed their own ego by hassling the common person.
Well, I guess I am going to end this minor rant here and let the chips fall where they may. It is simple to understand the reasoning for having the Law, but since the Law cannot be enforced, it simple is just a matter of control.
Who is in control? You or Someone Else.
Thank you for your time.
Raymond Choiniere II - Cagsil Services Founder
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Thank you thevoice. I am glad yet again you stopped by another of my hubs. I appreciate your visit and comment. :)
This was an interesting and informative hub, Cags! Thanks for "ranting" as you put it and feel free to do it again!
Hey Ann Nonymous, glad to see you found something in the hub. Well, to me it was a "ranting", because I have had too many previous experiences with it and found it to be quite foolish.
Those who are responsible about their life, know the difference and understand what I am saying here. The Laws are suppose to be to protect people and I am most likely to do another, but on a different topic, because there are far too many Laws in place, for which, are completely unenforceable. There cannot ever be enough police to handle the breaking of this law and there can never be any evidence, outside of eye witness account, which is always subjective to begin with. Thank you so much. :)
I feel I am in control
I like to think I would fight for what I need and keeps me safe
at any cost
to break the law to execute something to enforce my own belief is of no importance to me.
Jail is a minute action for me to know I did what I have the right - my right - to do
If that at all makes any sense
Cheers for another great hub
Kimberly
Interesting Cags. . .years ago when Rudy Guilani was the mayor of NY I was crossing 6th Ave and around 50 something Street. . . I was nearby Radio City Music Hall and it is an area that always has a lot of traffic. . me being the typical New Yorker .. crosses most streets as I see the lights change and more times than none it is usually on the diagonal .. well on this day some cop comes up to me and wanted to give me a jay walking ticket. . and I laughed .. and he told me if he sees me do it again (now what are the odds of seeing the same cop on 6th ave) he was going to give me a ticket. . i later found out that it was Guiliani who was reviving the law . .and I must admit I had a little more respect for this offense after that. . for the years Rudy was here .. one thing he did that can not be denied is that he cleaned up the city . .I do admit I still jay walk or as I call it diagonally walk but i think twice before I do it!!! Ok I am now finished with my rant ;)))
Hey Shari, I know, I said, it is by my experience. It is absurd to think someone has to be told by a Law? about crossing a street. I mean, come on. :) Thank you very much for stopping by and reading. Loved the rant, but still think it's absurd. :) Nice to see you again. :)
Thank you Kimberly for visiting and leaving a comment. I think I understand what you meant. And, to add, I would say that people should be more worried about personal safety than they are right now. Individuals should be looking out for their best interests and creating the safest life they can. A person can make a decision on how to cross the street and the respect that a 2000 pound vehicle is suppose to impose on those who do step into the street. There are other factors and I am not going to get into those here, but just wanted to point it out. Thank you again. :)
Good hub. I didn't hear about the "unmarked crosswalk" until a couple of months ago. I had no idea that it's legal to cross from any corner to another corner, even if it's unmarked.
Thank you TylerCapp for visiting/reading my hub and for your comment. I am not surprised by what you learned and believe it or not, the police cannot even agree on the definition. I have talked to multiple police officers and they have given similar, but same definitions. When you reach the corner of two streets, it is considered a corner. You are technically, crossing from corner to corner. Because, on the opposite side of the street is yet another corner.
What sense does it make to walk across the street in the white lines, only to cross another street, to get where you were going in the first place. It doesn't.
See why the Law is absurd. If people were better taught as children, this pathetic law would not even be in place, but since government refuses to depend on people's ability to decide for themselves and like control....we have to deal with jaywalking as a law. It goes to show how irresponsible government thinks the people are. Not to mention, gullible.
Cops can be idiots and you wonder how/why they are a policeman. Reading this, reminded me of the site, www.stupidlaws.com; I used to live in Oklahoma, and one of the laws, now repealed, must be tethered when parked. Whod a thunk it?
Thank you TheSablirab. I'll agree, some are. And, yes, it is stupid that the law is in place. It was nice to see you. :)
Hello Cagsil, I am very new to Hubpages and have just read this Hub. I agree that the "Jaywalking" Law is unenforceable and I also think that it is ridiculous. I'm originally from NYC and if the cops tried to stop and ticket everybody who jaywalked, the cops wouldn't have time to do anything else! LOL It's a silly law anyway. I guess it makes sense for children and their safety, but for adults, it's just silly. Thanks for a great story. I will be reading your other Hubs. :)
Thank you samiaali. Welcome to HubPages and I appreciate you reading my hub. Not to mention leaving a comment and compliment. Yes, it is a ridiculous law and completely unenforceable. And, should be stripped off the books. However, as someone I know offline, has pointed out that recently(last baseball season) the Redsox were on the west coast and one of the players actually received a ticket for it. I thought that was so pathetic. I also agree, children safety is most important, but that should still be left up to the parent to take care of, so to ensure their safety. Plus, parents should be active in their child's life anyway. I hope you enjoy the other ones as much. Again, I Thank you. :)
Hi Cagsil,
That is legalism at it's worse, I guess the cop felt he had to show he was in authority and just wanted to take it out on some poor pedestrian, I'm sorry to say but that day it was your turn to be the poor pedestrian. I had a problems with jaywalking years ago due to a broken light and the cop fined me anyway. Being in authority does not mean you are an expert on the law. You are very right in your point. I think walking to a building for an appointment shouldn't be a difficult experience just because some ego-maniacal cop needs to bully someone, and there is another stupid law with some stupid technicality. I'm glad you handled it in peaceful way, but I can see where you were tempted to say something. I just hope next time you have to take that junction you run into a more reasonable cop. Great hub, I enjoyed this one.
Hey Internetwriter62, hope you have been well and it's great to see you again. My biggest problem is that it really is unenforceable without being discriminatory or even racist, in appearance. I'm glad you enjoyed the hub. And, I am grateful for your compliment. I've run into more cops at that junction too, and so far, I have not had another incident. They are still working on the streets and will be back to do more work, so there are plenty of future opportunities ahead. :) Thank you so much. :)
Jaywalking can be dangerous in a big city, but it sounds like your police officers don't have enough real crime to keep them busy.
Hey Betty, I realize Jaywalking can be dangerous anywhere. Just crossing the street, just the thought itself, shouldn't be a worry. It should be ingrained into a person, about how to cross. It comes from poor parenting. If parents did a better job at raising their kids, then the law would not need to be in place. Not to mention, how unenforceable the law actually is compared to more vital crimes taking place. It's also a law that can be equally enforced? I don't think so. But, I'm sure there is a politician who can sell people on it though. :) Thank you for the nice fan mail and I'm glad you enjoy my hubs. :) I appreciate all readers. :)
Great topic to consider. I personally tend to jaywalk from time to time, even though I know I shouldn't. While I think it would really be a pain to get a ticket for jaywalking, though, I still think it should be against the law because I don't think it's fair to expect drivers to drive with people allowed to walk anywhere across the roadway. Certainly drivers should be aware of pedestrians and other things happening on the road, but letting people have free reign just seems to be a bad idea.
Thank you glassvisage for reading and leaving a comment. However, isn't it our own responsibility to ourselves to cross a street when it is safe to do so? I mean, why should you be dictated to when you have to cross the street. Certainly common sense would come into play and so would the responsibility you have to protect your life. If more people were responsible for their own life then the government wouldn't have to create unenforceable stupid laws, such as Jaywalking. ;) :D
But obviously your parents didn't teach you about respect or perhaps you weren't listening that day. Have you ever had a member of the public come to where you work and disrespect you in front of others? Do you reckon that you would enjoy that?
Perhaps if you could walk a mile in that officers shoes, you might understand his point of view, after all he didn't make the law his job is to enforce it.
Showing patience and tolerance of others is what grown ups do, how old are you?
Of course if you came to my job and disrespected me I'd just B slap you into next week, so consider yourself lucky!
On the other hand, I jaywalk all the time I just don't brag about it!
Thank you somethgblue for read the hub and leaving such a wonderful comment. The fact that you have decided to take it upon yourself to claim that my parents didn't teach me respect is the most dumbest statement on the planet and shows that you are so full of yourself to begin with, this conversation was over before it began.
However, I'm willing to indulge in a little bit of fun, and you know what it's going to come at your shameful actions. First off, don't think for a second my parents didn't teach me respect. I understand it better than you do and if you don't think so, then I suggest you read another hub- Self Respect and Respect For Others. And, had you started with that hub, then you would be aware that disrespect doesn't get respectfulness. Thus, my reply to your comment.
As to your question? Have you ever had a member of the public come to where you work and disrespect you in front of others? And the answer would be yes, I have had an asshole come into my work with ego grinning and disrespect me in the middle of a store, in front of over 30 people in the store at the time. Did I enjoy it? I did matter, he was the one making an ass out of himself, coming to my place of employment and gun ho with ego.
I don't have to walk a mile in a Police Officers shoes and for you to even say that is absurd. I don't give a damn about his job. HIS job isn't to harass people. I understood that it's his job to enforce the laws, but he doesn't need to be a prick about it.
I show a lot of patience and tolerance for other and there's no doubt in that statement. And, I'll gladly tell you why? I am responding your comment and if I so-called "EDIT" comment, then I would have been a dishonest person and deleted your comment, but I didn't.
I am presently 43 years old if it matters to you and yes this COP was younger than me. So, that makes me HIS elder. And respect is due. So, you tell me who handled the situation wrong? Is wasn't me, that's for sure. And, if you think I was the one who should simply obey, you've another thing coming. I am responsible enough to cross the street and NOT NEED anyone else, how to do so or when I am ALLOWED to do so. Sorry, it's not happening.
It's not about bragging about it and your limited ability to see the oppression of individual rights, you will continue to follow the leaders. If you thinking following the political leaders of this country is a good thing, then you've lost your mind.
If you are for anything less than full unadulterate adult freedom, then you are useless to society as a whole, which makes all your actions in living your life, working against humanity, as a species.
So, what you think you understand and believe, isn't actually true. There has been passed around generation after generation, about a specific way to live and it's expected by citizens of this country. However, the politicians and lawmakers are NOT the ones to dictate how I live my life and NEITHER do you. I lead my life and the path it takes. YOU do not.
Your a walking talking contradiction 'is the most dumbest' is incorrect grammar perhaps you should just stick to editing your own stuff. Respect is never due it is earned age does not matter. Using foul language to describe some or to make your point is disrespecting that person and yourself. You maybe 43 but you don't act it. I thought I made myself perfectly clear you handled the situation wrong. The oppression of individual rights you broke the law you should get a ticket.
Finally saying that you don't give a damn about his job is disrespect period you admit it and then try to defend it.
Are you still having fun cause you seem pretty upset, lighten up brother it ain't that big of a deal.
Thank you for yet meaningless comment. As for my being upset, that would be a bad perception on your part. If you see anger in my words, then it's reflection of your skewed understanding. As for respect is never due with regards to age? Ever heard of respect your elders? If not, then it's you who needs to learn something. His JOB is irrelevant and means nothing, simply because a responsible person has no need for him or his job. You fail to see that the Jaywalking Law is only put in place for control reasons. Police only exist for control reasons. You're talking about someone should respect authority? There's NO higher authority than self. Good day.
"The mature human being soon begins to look upon all other mortals with feelings
of tenderness and with emotions of tolerance."
Rodan's Philosophy (1773.3) 160:1.6
Yet again, you don't get it. I understand that quote, but you're still not comprehending, either from an ego standpoint or for some other BS reasoning. I have feelings for others and tenderness is applied where applicable. I already tolerate people, why do you think I've continued this conversation, which is way off topic of the hub.
You seem to have an issue with something? And you're quote only reinforces what I've said all along, which has seem to escape you at this point in time. However, when a police officer speaks to a citizen, they are to be civil unless otherwise warranted. They are civil servants. They work FOR the people and shouldn't be looking to pounce when it's not necessary.
You seem to want to keep this pathetic law in place and I would rather have it disappear altogether. Yes, I broke the law, however, it's a BS law. Even the dumbest person in the world knows how and when to cross a street.
With that said. Enjoy.
you of course are right and I'm wrong feel better, you can have the last word, didn't read your response didn't have to already know based on previous comments what it would say . . . a person that is always right never learns anything, 'cause they know it already
I personally wouldn't want to live that way but to each his own, have a good life, adios!
Talk about being a walking contradiction? You take the cake. I don't need your approval of being right, nor do I need you tell me that you're wrong. Nor do I have to have the last word. With folks like you around, it makes the world an amusing place. And, I don't live a life knowing everything. That's your claim. As for getting the last word? If you really thought about that, then you would have not posted your last comment. Good show on the thinking aspect.
thevoice 2 years ago
well read terrific hub its true thanks