We all cross the street; but most of us do it illegally. The story of jaywalking began a hundred years ago.  The battle for whom the streets belonged was waged, and pedestrians lost. But how did such a common practice become outlawed–and why?

Cheddar Explains

Jaywalking: How It Became Illegal To Cross The Street

jaywalking is illegal, but let's be honest, we all do it. How did something that the majority of people do on a daily basis become a crime with potential fines of up to $250. The obvious answer is pedestrian safety and sure we'd like people to not get hit by cars, but the real answer is more complex than just that. The invention of Jaywalking never had pure intentions and we feel those repercussions every time we use a crosswalk or rather don't use a crosswalk Before cars, the streets were a more central place for daily life, Pedestrians, vendors, streetcars, even kids at play all shared the road. People would just dodged traffic obstacles, a practice so common. The Brooklyn baseball team was named after it by the 1920s, the automobile had become a popular choice among wealthy joy riders and with that the number of people killed by cars rose to public outcry grew against these wild J drivers. The name doesn't come from jay Gatsby, although that's weirdly fitting and they sure could have used some car regulations in that story. The word jay comes from midwestern slaying also meaning grew, I also didn't know what that meant. It means country bumpkin. The idea is that they don't belong in a city or don't know how to behave there. The origins of J being used like this can be found in 1905, published in the Kansas city star that criticized the new reckless J drivers that same year, the paper would also be the first to publish the term jaywalker. The backlash against quote unquote pleasure cars gave way to action from anti automobile activists. In other words, cue the angry mobs. By 1923 42,000 people in Cincinnati signed a petition to limit cars to 25 MPH. The threat of regulation sent the auto industry into a frenzy organizing a well funded and massive campaign to crush the plan and jump start the publicity crusade for cars to take over the streets once and for all. One example was the 1928 model municipal traffic ordinance which outlined the stricter pedestrian rules that we're familiar with today. Groups also lead safety campaigns across the country to teach pedestrians about the newly invented term jaywalking. Leaflets were distributed by street corner Boy scouts and mass explaining and discouraging the practice, yep, that's the old joke, right. Boy scouts, helping people across the street. Those who did not abide by the new rules were publicly called out. Department store santas, shouted for megaphones, clowns portraying jaywalkers took on ridicule judge impersonators held mock hearings for rascally kids who ran out into the road, something that used to be totally fine to do. Believe it or not, developing a culture of shame was the most important tool in reframing street safety as the responsibility of the pedestrian. The auto industry won the right of the road and sacrificed walkable streets at every turn, literally every street turn, but after a century of Jaywalking cars may finally be losing their ownership of the roads. Even in Kansas City remember where Jaywalking got its official name, voted to remove its prohibition of Jaywalking. In 2021, Our car dominated cities do not benefit the majority of the people that lived there. They were made this way to benefit the car industry. 78 of Americans admit to Jaywalking And with 90% of Jaywalking tickets issued by the NYPD, targeting black or Hispanic people. The disproportionate enforcement of this law results in outright harassment and in the end, building up walkable spaces will save more lives than enforcing Jaywalking. That being said, Please look both ways before you cross the street. Or maybe this will be it when I get the ticket, they're like, get out.