What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
This morning in front of the law school I helped an elderly woman with a walker, who was thwarted by the construction, step off the curb and cross to the south side of Bancroft. If the sidewalk is is going to be closed for the next two years, we need crosswalks. Badly.
posted by Patrick Bageant at 12:15 PM
7 Comments:
The whole block is shut down and there are crosswalks at Piedmont and College. Crossing anywhere for anyone else is liable (according to the new signage posted) to get you a jaywalking ticket.
Not trying to be callous, but had a cop drove by he could have written you both up.
I guess I don't see the problem with walking the extra 20 feet to the corner to use the crosswalk.
Well, it's more like a couple hundred feet and, in this case, uphill. That's kind of a big deal if you are elderly, slightly confused, and can hardly see past your toes.
I understand the signs (and generally obey them) but hundreds of people jaywalk in front of the law school each day, and probably will for the next two years. It seems inevitable. Might as well throw in the towel and put in a crosswalk before somebody gets smacked. [something about forseeability and stuff]
BTW, someone told me that in Berkeley the police actually WILL give jaywalking tickets. Is that true?
I honestly can't believe that is true. I have never seen jaywalkers so confident in their ability to stand in front of my car and GLARE AT ME FOR DARING TO BE DRIVING MY VEHICLE.
But seriously...a crosswalk? you walk 1/6 of a block up from the zeb door to a crosswalk. Though I still think we should construct the Arch of Justice to span bancroft and connect us with the frats.
I'll tell you who ought to be ticketed. Anonymous at 1:15, that's who! "[H]ad a cop drove by..."! Why didn't you go on with "he could have wrote you both up"?
What I find ridiculous is that that silly sign that reminds you that you can get a ticket for jaywalking totally works on me and keeps me from jaywalking at those two precise points of Bancroft, but meanwhile I jaywalk anywhere else without even batting an eye or considering the consequences.
Anyway, in my opinion jaywalking laws are pointless; it seems to me they're never enforced until some cop has a bad day and feels like being a dick.
Funny, Caley, that's how I feel about tickets for MIP, smoking, and public urination. But maybe that's the prejudice of my past.
I confess I was up at Boalt this evening and y'all are right. It's not that far to the freaking crosswalk. Further, the signs at College and at Piedmont make it clear that pedestrians should only proceed if they are headed into the law school. I was overreacting.
in berkeley, jaywalking is a civic duty.
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