By Ruth Rosas
In a historic step, New York City has decriminalized jaywalking! This new law, passed by the City Council, addresses long-standing concerns over the unfair enforcement of jaywalking laws, especially on Black and Latine residents who receive over 90% of jaywalking tickets.
This shift follows similar moves by other states and cities, signaling a broader change to how we think about road safety.
From Shared Streets to Jaywalking
Jaywalking laws are presented as measures of street safety by restricting when and where people can legally cross the street. The idea is that by controlling pedestrian movement, jaywalking reduces the likelihood of crashes with vehicles. However, the real-world effectiveness, impact and history of jaywalking laws tell a different story.
Before streets were dominated and adapted to accommodate vehicles, streets were vibrant, shared places where people walked, stopped and played freely. Streets were not exclusively designed for a particular mode of transport, instead they were a place where different forms of traffic coexisted. With the widespread adoption of automobiles at the beginning of the 1900s, the number of people, especially among vulnerable groups like the elderly and children, killed by cars increased significantly.
Automobiles and speeding were blamed for these tragic deaths. The auto industry saw this blame as a threat to their growth and embarked on strategic campaigns that shamed and ridiculed people for getting in the way of car traffic.
Jaywalking is born out of the auto industry protecting itself from public criticism and framing walking in the street as a reckless, and even criminal, activity. These campaigns successfully co-opted two narratives: 1) pedestrians who crossed outside crosswalks are foolish and irresponsible, labeling them “jaywalkers”, and 2) streets were no longer shared spaces, they are spaces primarily for cars where pedestrians were expected to stay out of unless crossing at designated points.
Jaywalking laws promote car-first mentality under the guise of safety. These deeply held narratives across communities make it challenging to advocate for safety measures that truly keep all road users safe.
Who Gets Stopped?
Jaywalking has also brought unintended consequences that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Despite a large percentage of people who have jaywalked frequently, these laws are enforced depending on the location, time and discretion of the law enforcement officer. The discretionary nature of jaywalking law enforcement leads to biases, whether intentional or unintentional. Jaywalking serves as a pretext for police stops that have led to the harassment and arrests of primarily young Black and brown men.
The criminalization of jaywalking disproportionately affects people who are already vulnerable, such as those without stable housing and low-income communities. This problem is compounded by lack of street design, such as poorly-marked crosswalks, sidewalks that end and unsafe driving behavior. Because of this, people cross where they feel safe. Penalizing pedestrians ignores the issues that create unsafe walking conditions in the first place.
While jaywalking laws were not intended to disproportionately punish vulnerable communities, racial disparities has become an unexpected and troubling side effect of their enforcement. Addressing this issue requires a multifaceted approach to pedestrian safety, rather than enforcement practices.
Data shows that cities that prioritize infrastructure for people and slowing cars down achieve greater safety outcomes. Wide roads, high speed limits and lack of pedestrian infrastructure have made communities less walkable, less accessible and more dangerous for everyone. When cities prioritize police enforcement over street redesign, they not only fail to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities, but they also exacerbate existing disparities and inequities in communities.
A New Approach To Street Safety
New York’s decision reflects a growing recognition that safety should come from addressing the broader issues that contribute to dangerous streets. Cities like Hoboken, New Jersey, have achieved zero pedestrian fatalities by focusing on street redesign used to enhance all forms of traffic, prioritizing the most vulnerable road users, those walking and rolling, rather than police enforcement. By decriminalizing jaywalking, New York City joins other cities like Denver and Kansas City, states like Virginia and California, in shifting the narrative from punishment to practical, infrastructure-based solutions.
Even though jaywalking laws have been in place for about 100 years in the U.S. pedestrians are killed every day by vehicles. Pedestrians are not killed because they are jaywalking, they are killed because their towns and cities lack safe infrastructure, prioritize speeding, distracted driving and the prevalence of SUVs on the road.
So decriminalizing is only one step. To fully protect all road users, we must invest in people-first street design. This means creating streets with safer crosswalks, reducing speed limits, improving lighting, narrowing roads, pedestrian infrastructure and shifting responsibility from pedestrians to the built environment.
Imagining Streets For Everyone
If we want safer streets, we need to imagine them as places built for everyone. As New York takes this step forward, we hope that other towns, cities and states will follow suit, reassessing the role of jaywalking laws in their communities and begin investing in true pedestrian safety.
Decriminalizing jaywalking is a crucial step toward reclaiming streets as shared spaces where people can move, walk, play and thrive without fear. Decriminalizing jaywalking is more than a legal change, it’s a commitment to build safer, inclusive and accessible streets for everyone.
If you’re looking to make a difference in your community, start by getting involved locally! Across the country, programs like Open Streets and Safe Routes to School give communities the chance to experience streets in new ways and support safer public spaces.
Another powerful action is advocating to your local government for Complete Streets and Vision Zero strategies, which prioritize infrastructure that slows traffic, improve pedestrian visibility and work to reduce crashes. For a hands-on, eye-opening experience, join the Week Without Driving. This initiative allows you to connect directly with decision-makers, encouraging them to experience life in the community without a car. Connecting with neighbors and local leaders through these actions is a powerful way to reshape our streets.
How Can We Help
If you are working on decriminalizing jaywalking in your town or city, we’re here to support you! America Walks provides resources, connections and advocacy strategies for building safer streets. Reach out to Ruth Rosas at ruth@americawalks.org for guidance, tools or just to discuss your vision. We’d love to be part of your journey toward creating streets for everyone.
