January 11, 2007
Cross with care
It is a cautionary tale for any traveller - distinguished historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto tried to cross the road while in Atlanta for the conference of the American Historical Association, only to find himself in handcuffs and surrounded by armed police.Whether the arrest was proper is being duly investigated. Many article worldwide aren't exactly nuanced, but this time it's the BBC that's notable for taking a judicious tone, warning readers:"I come from a country where you can cross the road where you like," said the visiting professor of global environmental history at Queen Mary College, University of London. "It hadn't occurred to me that I wasn't allowed to cross the road between the two main conference venues."
Just because you can do something in the UK doesn't mean it's OK in another country. Jaywalking is an offence in most urban areas in the United States - although enforcement varies between states - and Canada, and in places such as Singapore, Spain, Poland, Slovenia and Australia. . .
UPDATE: Arrest report here; active discussion over at the Chronicle of Higher Education's News Blog.
Posted by David on January 11, 2007 12:26 PM
I've seen sporadic jaywalking near me (Detroit Metro Region), but there aren't many areas near here that are walking-centered, and are patrolled carefully for jaywalking.
That said, I've never heard of a person getting ticketed for jaywalking.
Posted by: karrde
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on January 11, 2007 3:27 PM
Note to self: Atlanta may not be such a great place to move to after all. In Orlando (where I now live) it's actually safer to cross in the middle of the street than at the officially-designated crossing places at the intersections. Intersections here are usually a free-for-all, as you are allowed to make right turns against the red light, and drivers tend to keep going until the last possible minute (the "I swear the light was still yellow when I went through it officer" argument), and when the light turns green everyone starts off as if the gun at the Indy 500 had just fired. Then again, maybe they don't drive as if possessed by demons in Atlanta.
Posted by: Andrea Harris on January 13, 2007 8:48 AM
I have known people to be ticketed for jaywalking and a friend of mine was hit and permanently mentally disabled when jaywalking. She went from being a professor at a top US school to being a file clerk.
Posted by: Suzi on January 13, 2007 11:21 AM
Crossing at intersections may be more dangerous due to people turning the corner, who might not see you, especially if they're taking the corner too fast to beat traffic. I wouldn't be surprised if most SUV-pedestrian accidents happen in such circumstances.
Posted by: Jon H on January 13, 2007 7:09 PM
"She went from being a professor at a top US school to being a file clerk."
Are you sure she was brain-damaged? Some would say that's a step up in life.
Posted by: Andrea Harris on January 13, 2007 11:39 PM
1) Andrea Harris: Not funny.
2) Interviews with the policeman that arrested Prof. Fernandez-Armesto indicate that the professor was not arrested for jaywalking but rather for POP - Pissing off the Police. The prof was apparently rude and difficult to the point that eventually the policeman arrested him. It sounds like a situation where two people stood on their dignity to the point that things got out of hand; Atlanta appeaars to have agreed because they dropped the charges and the prof. is not suing.
Posted by: Acad Ronin on January 14, 2007 10:49 PM
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