Why jaywalk when you can crosswalk?

Typically, one would not think twice about how they cross the street. As long as there are no cars, it’s fine, right?

Considering that roughly 16 people die a day from traffic accidents involving jaywalking, it is definitely not fine. Jaywalking is not worth the extra 30 seconds that are saved when cutting diagonally across the street or ignoring traffic signs.

At Iowa State University, people are jaywalking all the time. We all see it more often than we should. No matter the age, pedestrians are illegally crossing the street in an unsafe manner left and right, sometimes without even looking left or right.

Jaywalking may seem like a quick and easy way to cross the street, but it is not worth the potential risks.

While jaywalking is usually at most only a small misdemeanor, that does not make it OK. Most people just brush jaywalking off their shoulder, ignoring the law. The law that attempts to diminish jaywalking simply states that a pedestrian must obey the traffic laws before crossing the street, unless law enforcement says otherwise.

For many of us, we envision jaywalking as just cutting across the street, not following along the crosswalk stripes. But what it really is, is a lot more. Jaywalking consists of violating any traffic laws when crossing the street. For example, walking across the street at a crosswalk when there are no cars, yet the walk light is not on, is still a form of jaywalking.

Although, so many people don’t consider walking when there are no cars dangerous. While it may not seem unsafe when no one is around, just the process encourages others to do the same even when there are vehicles everywhere. What starts with one harmless risk can lead to more people following in those footsteps, only in a more dangerous situation.

Normalizing jaywalking has already happened, and is causing pedestrians to walk themselves into potentially fatal incidents. People everywhere should make a habit of complying with the traffic control signals in order to help spread safety across the streets.