Jaywalking becoming common problem around campus
Several students jaywalk to reach their destinations around campus.
Lt. Steve Milne of the Utah State University Police Department said he wouldn’t say there have been a lot of problems with jaywalking, but there have been problems. The police have given out more warnings than citations, however.
Jaywalking is an infraction that can be penalized with fees of up to $750. The amount is decided by a judge and is contingent upon the circumstances, so jaywalkers typically pay closer to $65 for their crime.
Aggie Shuttle bus drivers say jaywalking has become a large problem on 700 North.
Kyle Brown, an Aggie Shuttle bus driver, said, “The biggest problem for bus drivers is on 7th North, because people are walking out where existing crosswalks used to be but are no longer supposed to be used.”
Ross Hyatt, a senior accounting major, said, “Every morning I jaywalk on 700 North, and I do it because it gets me to where I am going faster.”
Milne said, “There is not a code called jaywalking. It falls under pedestrians’ rights and duties, of which there are several. One of them is the right-of-way for the pedestrian in a crosswalk.”
According to the law, “The operator of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if necessary to yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.”
Milne said, “However, the pedestrian cannot just step off whenever they want. The law states, ‘A pedestrian may not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.'”
Brown said, “People don’t realize the crosswalks are there to use, and the students just walk out in front of the bus. It’s hard to get your bus to stop when you have a full load of people. It can be very dangerous for both the pedestrians and the students on the bus.”
According to law, people are required to use a crosswalk between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation. Pedestrians may not cross at any place except a marked crosswalk.
Milne said, “This would be like Main Street or other locations where you have traffic control signals that alternate traffic flow at every
intersection.”
A pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk, or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles, according to the law.
“In other words, the vehicle has complete right-of-way, and it is up to the pedestrians to make sure it is safe to cross,” Milne said.
-stacipete@cc.usu.edu