Sun-Times Says Daley Has, In Effect, Killed Plan To Ticket Jaywalkers
By Sam Bakken in News on Sep 28, 2005 7:11PM
Last week Andrew Velasquez, the city's emergency management executive director, announced his plans to write a city ordinance giving city traffic aides permission to ticket jaywalkers and individuals that cross against "Don't Walk" signs in the Loop. A number of aldermen denounced the idea saying, among other things, it isn't practical and that a crackdown shouldn't focus on pedestrians in the Loop but on reckless drivers throughout the entire city.
In her article today about the plan, Fran Spielman writes:
But, the mayor left little doubt that the plan to bring the hammer down on pedestrians would never see the light of day.
We didn't quite get that idea from the quotes she included in her article, especially this one:
Pressed on whether he would be ticketing pedestrians, Daley said, "Well, you don't know. You just want to make sure. First, it's a safety factor. That's number one."
Not a very definite answer if you ask us. Like us, it sounds like he's still mulling it over. Jaywalking is dangerous, at times, and the possibility of a $25-$500 ticket would decrease its occurrence in Chicago. We can't tell you the number of almost-accidents we saw just this weekend because of an over-eager pedestrian (fine, only anecdotal, but still a bit worrisome). And yes, enforcement could get a bit sticky. We also think some sort of information campaign that encourages drivers to be more wary of bicyclists would be time better spent.
And to be fair to Spielman, she did include a quote from an anonymous mayoral aide that said of the plan:
"It just looks like it's a little too much. If you make a mistake and cross the street the wrong way, you're going to be subject to a ticket? Some taxes [or fines] can be viewed as kind of goofy. This would fall into that category."
But again, we don't read anything that warrants a "Jaywalkers safe as mayor backs off ticket plan" headline.
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