Jaywalking at ERHS

Photo taken by Nyda

Los Angeles, California, is a city infamous for its abundance of traffic. Being the second largest city in the US, it’s not surprising that many residents own a car, with 80% of households in LA owning/having access to at least one vehicle. Though this helps with long distance travel and getting around the city, being car-centric has its cons, such as the high rate of pedestrian fatalities, some of which are caused by jaywalking.

Jaywalking is described by OxfordLanguages as such: “to cross or walk in the street or road unlawfully or without regard for approaching traffic.” That being said, jaywalking can be done in many different ways. This includes things such as crossing the street without being on a marked crosswalk, stepping into oncoming traffic, and walking across a crosswalk despite being warned not to go by signs or people. 

Though jaywalking was made legal back in 2023, this doesn’t mean you can just step off into the street with cars going past you and expect to be let off scot free. If a person jaywalks recklessly, or risks a collision, a citation may be issued. But, even if people don’t break the law while jaywalking, it doesn’t make it less of a problem. Some jaywalking incidents get so bad that cars don’t even get a chance to drive. 

Despite not being illegal anymore, jaywalking is still a nagging common occurrence in LA. In my 13 years of living here, I’ve seen my fair share of jaywalkers. Most occurrences I’ve seen happen here, around ERHS, and in Eagle Rock. I wanted to dig deeper on this, and answer some of my questions. I did some research on pedestrian fatalities in LA, and I also sent out a Google form to students and drivers about jaywalking. Here is what I have learned.

34.7% of the 98 people who filled out the survey said they jaywalk “occasionally,” and both “sometimes” and "often" followed closely behind, having around 25% each. “Always” and “Never” were the options with the least number of votes, only having 6.1% and 9.2% respectively. After doing a bit more deep digging, I have figured out that 80% of 7th graders jaywalk (with 33% of 7th graders jaywalking occasionally, 26% jaywalking sometimes, and 26% jaywalking often,) 90% of 8th graders jaywalk (with 50% jaywalking occasionally, 20% jaywalking sometimes, and 20% jaywalking often,) and 95% of 9th graders jaywalk (38% for occasionally, 19% for sometimes, 28% for often, and 9% for always.) 10th graders have a jaywalking rate of 92%, with most of them (38% of 10th graders) jaywalking sometimes. 11th graders bring the scale back down with 84% of them jaywalking, but have 38% of them jaywalk often. Finally, all fifteen 12th graders who answered my form have jaywalked, with 40% of them jaywalking sometimes.

The most common reasons for people who jaywalk always/often include: there being no cars around at the time of crossing, the fact that it is easier/more convenient, and also there being no crosswalks around. For those who said that they never jaywalk, they mainly have answers such as saying that it “feels wrong” or that it’s “illegal” (as I have said earlier, jaywalking is legal in LA, but you can still get a ticket for it, so be safe!) For those in the middle, they say that they only jaywalk if there are no cars around or if there isn’t a nearby crosswalk. Most of these responses include the idea that jaywalking is safe if done properly (looking both ways, making sure there are no cars etc…) but that got me thinking: how safe is jaywalking really?

20.6% of people who filled out the survey have almost been hit by a car while jaywalking. Though that seems like a small percentage, this is 20 people. While still not a big number, it’s kind of concerning that 20 people have almost been injured due to this “safe” action. 

When asked about how risky students think jaywalking is (on a 1-10 scale,) their answers seem to have fallen between 3 and 6. After asking this question, I informed the respondents that usually 100 (maybe more, around 150~180) pedestrian deaths occur in LA per year (please note that this number doesn’t include jaywalking deaths exclusively, and also includes other fatalities.) 77.6% of respondents said they weren't aware of this. After that, I asked them about how risky they think jaywalking is again to see if their opinions changed. 

After a bit of calculating, I’ve come to the conclusion that 45% of the respondents' opinions went up (i.e: they switched from believing jaywalking is only a 5 on the risk scale to an 8.) 42% of opinions stayed the same, while for some unknown reason, 11% of respondents’ opinions went down. 

I didn’t just ask for students' opinions though, I also sent out a form for parents and drivers to fill out. What’s the view of the people in the driver's seat? Let’s find out, shall we?

52.4% of the 21 respondents said they have seen jaywalkers around “occasionally,” correlating with the 34.7% in the student survey who said they jaywalk occasionally. The opinions on jaywalking were pretty split. Some people say that they think jaywalking is extremely dangerous in LA, while some think it’s safe if you look both ways or run, and some don’t really have an opinion.

Of course, most drivers jaywalk themselves. The most popular answer being “occasionally” yet again with 42.9% of people choosing it. This is probably because of reasons stated in the student survey (convenience, time, etc…)

Unlike our student survey, 61.9% of drivers have almost hit a jaywalker before, and when asked about the death toll, it was a 50/50 split of people knowing and not knowing. 

Though I don’t drive myself, I think that your view on jaywalking depends on whether you are in the driver's seat or out on the street. I noticed that some of the drivers say that jaywalking makes them feel a bit anxious―which is understandable. Being in the driver's seat means you have to be aware of everything around you, and the unexpected nature of jaywalkers doesn’t help with that.

Overall, jaywalking, while sometimes dangerous, will forever be a part of LA’s culture and society. Everyone has their different opinions on jaywalking, as seen in this article. Whether it was for convenience, time, or just because you like living life on the edge, I’m sure you’ve jaywalked at one point or another. With LA’s car-centric culture, jaywalking won’t be gone anytime soon, but please remember that while legal, jaywalking is still dangerous, and should only be done in safe situations. This article isn’t saying that you should run around in the street whenever you want to, and is simply a window into jaywalking at ERHS.