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Jaywalking Is Just the Tip of Indifference to Laws

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We need to get drivers and walkers sharing the same set of expectations about each other's behavior, rather than guessing what each will do next. But a discussion recommending jaywalking illustrates how far we have to go to achieve that.

Readers of my Get There blog [ http://blog.washingtonpost.com/getthere] offered these endorsements of jaywalking:

· Mid-block crossing can be safer, because the pedestrian is dealing with only two directions of traffic rather than four, and some drivers don't yield anyway.

· Even with a walk signal at an intersection, pedestrians must worry about drivers making a right or left turn on green. Most of the right-on-green drivers can see the walkers, but left-turning drivers often are looking at oncoming vehicles rather than pedestrians.

· Many signals are badly timed for pedestrians, making them wait too long to cross a narrow street with little traffic.

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