Even when it’s red: Pedestrians will soon be able to cross the street in the “Big Apple” whenever they want. There is no longer any threat of a fine. A risk? Probably not.
Author: Danja Nüesch
05.11.2024, 01:29
They must be tired of life! You probably know it from films and series that take place in New York: protagonists who quickly run across the street. In turbulent traffic without getting under the wheels. Often in high heels. Carrie Bradshaw, for example, waiting for a green light? No way!
Legend: Of course, Carrie Bradshaw runs across the street for her true love, “Big.” Screenshot / Sex and the City
New Yorkers now decide for themselves how and when they cross the streets. Previously, they risked a fine for this: passers-by had to expect a fine of up to $250.
A new law
This will now change in 2025. The new law, which will apply from February, says: Everyone is allowed to cross the street as they please – but pedestrians only actually have the right of way on the pedestrian crossing. Can that work well?
Probably, because “jaywalking,” as New Yorkers call free pedestrians, has a long tradition in New York. However, it did not always have a good reputation.
The advent of cars
New York was a pedestrian-friendly city before cars became widespread in the 1920s. Playing or walking on the street? No risk. But cars are taking up more and more space. Car opponents are fighting back, but the car lobby is prevailing.
There are more and more zebra crossings and traffic lights in the metropolis. Posters remind people how passers-by should behave – and in schools children are taught never to cross the street beyond the pedestrian crossing.
Legend: If you get run over, it’s your own fault. A 1937 poster from the Works Projects Administration, the former US job creation agency. Wikimedia / Work Projects Administration Federal Art Project
Scorned and shamed: the “jaywalker” – a term promoted by the car lobby – and refers to those pedestrians who don’t wait for a green light. A jay – in German, a peasant oaf – is someone who doesn’t know how a city dweller should walk. A hillbilly who doesn’t know the rules of the metropolis.
A pragmatic decision
In 1958, the city even made “jaywalking” a criminal offense. But the residents of the “Big Apple” don’t let this stop them. From February onwards, jaywalkers will finally go unpunished. «We have to be realistic. Every New Yorker is a jaywalker,” says city councilor Mercedes (!) Narcisse, who helped initiate the law.
If you now feel like dashing casually across the street like a New Yorker? In this country, where “lie, loose, run” is taught to even the youngest children, it is of course strictly forbidden to run a red light.
Jaywalking: Better do it in Manhattan.
New York as a role model? Demand of the German Pedestrian Association
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The pedestrian association Fuss e. V. calls for pedestrians in Germany to be allowed to cross the street when the light is red. «If you feel safe, you look and go. Anyone who wants to rely on green has to wait as before,” said board member Roland Stimpel to the “Rheinische Post”.
Stimpel cites the “Green Arrow” as a model for drivers: This allows turning on red. “This breaks the taboo that you always have to stop at red,” said Stimpel. A “green arrow” for free walking can be installed at pedestrian traffic lights where there is a good overview of the road.
