Jaywalking Tickets In Los Angeles More Expensive Than Illegal Parking
Jaywalking tickets are apparently over twice as expensive as those for illegal parking. It seems Los Angeles is having a serious problem with people who abuse the “Walk” signal at intersections.
It’s been well known for a while that driving in Los Angeles is a time consuming mess during rush hour. A lot of people are in a hurry to get to one place at the same time, and it only results in a multi-lane bottleneck. It was even used as a joke in the movie Office Space that it actually takes longer to drive than it does to just walk.
It seems that more and more people are realizing it and, as a result, Los Angeles has a pedestrian problem. The Los Angeles Police Department is cracking down on jaywalkers as a result of people not paying enough attention to walking laws, and issuing more jaywalking tickets than ever before.
When you reach an intersection, you push a button and wait for the signal to tell you to walk. That’s how the law expects you to do it, and it seems that too many people are ignoring that rule. Pedestrian rules are there for your protection. There are people in large vehicles who could severely injure or kill you if you happen to be in front of them when they’re going too fast to stop. It’s only logic.
Illegal parking isn’t as big a problem, apparently. A parking ticket will cost around $58 at its cheapest, while jaywalking will get you fined $197 or more. If people won’t listen to the law, perhaps they will listen to their wallets. That’s how the LAPD sees it.
(One way to keep everybody in cars.) Police handing out $197 jaywalking tickets in #LA‘s walkable downtown. http://t.co/1IyYnY8Bml
— Taras Grescoe (@grescoe) December 27, 2013
Parking isn’t as dangerous, in all reality. It’s a stationary object, while walking makes you a moving target in the wrong situation, such as jaywalking. Fines are much higher the more dangerous the risk is, and it only makes sense.
Los Angeles law is trying to keep you safe, so the next time you feel the urge to walk when or where you shouldn’t, ask yourself if you have some extra money to cover a jaywalking ticket.
