Money talks in fight to stop those who jaywalk
Upping fine only way to fix pedestrian problem
If we’re going to be fined for texting while driving, it’s time to do the same to clueless jaywalkers.
The hands-free driving bill making its way through the state Legislature calls for a ticket of $100 to $500 for fumbling with a smartphone during your commute.
But aimlessly walking into traffic while checking Instagram selfies or Facebook likes on your iPhone only costs you one measly dollar in Boston.
That’s “a joke,” state Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg told me yesterday on Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” show. Mayor Marty Walsh agreed. “The jaywalking fine is a dollar ticket. It is not worth the paper,” the mayor said. “I would have no problem with a $25 ticket or even go higher if we have to.”
It’s summer and the deathdefying pedestrians are darting around like gnats. It’s time for some action.
Rosenberg said he’s open to a statewide law for distracted pedestrians, and the fine, he added,
would be much higher than $1.
“It has to be high enough so the officer is willing to write a ticket. A dollar is ridiculous,” he said.
“I was in my car just the other day,” he said. “I am watching this person crossing the street and texting and watching his device ... He was texting while walking and did not look ... I was like, are you kidding me?”
It’s worth noting Rosenberg is also in favor of stricter laws for distracted drivers, but jaywalkers need to get in line, too, he said.
Walsh suggested an advertising campaign to limit the chaos and educate wayward walkers that if they stroll in front of a car, “the car will kill you.”
The mayor said he’s impressed how pedestrians in New York follow traffic signs. “You go to New York City and no jaywalkers. No one runs across the street in New York City,” he said.
Want to know why, Mr. Mayor? Because police can slam people with a $250 fine or higher if they are caught. Big Apple Mayor Bill De Blasio takes the crime so seriously that police showed up once to the hospital and issued a ticket to two jaywalking kids hit by a car.
According to J. Peter Donald of the New York City Police Department, NYPD issued 661 jaywalking tickets last year.
BPD, meanwhile. reports 697 pedestrians were struck last year, with 10 dying from their injuries.
In Los Angeles, jaywalkers risk a $250 ticket. If you’re planning a trip to Las Vegas anytime soon, prepare to get slapped with a fine as high as $695 for ignoring the rules.
And the City Council in Honolulu just made it illegal to look at your cellphone in a crosswalk. Those caught face fines of $15 to $500.
Money talks and it’s the only way pedestrians here will ever think twice before darting into traffic. Let’s raise the fine and keep everyone a little safer.