Post #625621

2026-03-12 02:04 UTC

Pedestrians don’t always have the right of way, but the majority of drivers don’t want to kill pedestrians, and so most will still yield… Isn’t that why jaywalking is a crime in the US? Sweden law says that cars are required to stop for people at the zebra crossings (övergångsställe), but at passageways without zebra (gångpassage example) it’s the pedestrians who shall yield to cars. Basically, a passageway is to be considered as a part of the roadway (you’re not supposed to run out into traffic), whereas a zebra crossing is a legal extension of the sidewalks (cars supposed to yield to people on sidewalks). However, way too many pedestrians don’t understand the difference. In practical terms it shouldn’t make a huge difference, because you should always reduce your speed and be alert when nearing any kinds of crossings, and we usually have speed bumps directly before many passages… but still. If someone collides with you at a zebra walk, they’re almost always losing their license, and maybe a couple years in prison if you got badly injured. But if you walk out into a non-zebra passage and a car doesn’t see you in time, you can actually get fined if the police are feeling cheeky, as you didn’t yield to the car/your behavior thus caused the accident. So no, pedestrians are definitely not menaces. But if we want to continue to reduce traffic injuries, it’d be nice if both groups were a bit more concentrated and respectful.

Replies (3)

@dohpaz42@lemmy.world 2026-03-12 10:12

That is quite interesting how it works for you all. In my state (North Carolina), pedestrians always have the right of way, regardless of the situation. Yes, they can still be breaking the law (jaywalking), but drovers still need to yield and be alert to their presence. There are people who will wall out in front of cars without regard, and I can’t help but feel that they want to get hit with how they carry themselves (no eye contact, no flinching if a car has to hit their brakes hard, etc).

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@Ice@lemmy.zip 2026-03-12 08:19

Yep, unfortunately a lot of people haven't experienced what good traffic planning, cooperation & educated drivers can accomplishes on a daily basis in many European countries. In my experience, the worst and most commonly recurring offenders are phone zombies on e-scooters. Possibly due to being more dangerous than pedestrians and more noticeable than a distracted highway driver.

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@PuddleOfKittens@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-12 20:20

>Isn’t that why jaywalking is a crime in the US? No. Jaywalking is a crime because auto industry propaganda literally invented the term "jaywalking" ("jay" basically means "Hick* or " country bumpkin") and pushed it in part of a big media campaign in the, IIRC, 1920s, and then lobbied to make illegal. Before then, everyone blamed the cars for murdering people by tearing down the streets (which belonged to *people*, not cars, before cars existed - playing sports on the actual street was *normal*) and not stopping in time. Whatever rationale has been invented in modern times, the reality is that jaywalking was invented as a victim-blaming campaign by the car industry. Pure and simple.

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