The surprisingly complicated politics of the California crime everyone commits
There’s something of an unspoken rule among city residents of many major metropolitan cities, whether it be D.C. or San Francisco or New York City: If you’re standing at an intersection with traffic lights, no cars are approaching and you’re waiting at a red light, you can cross the street.
Now, this isn’t standard practice everywhere — nor is it probably a great idea on, say, an intersection by a highway exit or an extended, dual road. It's also not much of a thing in super car-centric places like Los Angeles, as you'd expect. But in many instances, jaywalking is a relatively harmless act when done appropriately — and whether you’d like to admit it or not, you’ve probably done it.
So, it begs the question: Why did Gov. Gavin Newsom veto a bill that would decriminalize jaywalking? In his veto message, he expressed concern that California still has high rates of pedestrian fatalities, ranking eighth in the nation for every 100,000 people. Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request from SFGATE for more context on the decision.
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Ting, who represents California’s 19th district, including portions of San Francisco, told SFGATE that his primary goal in writing this bill was to encourage more of his constituents to explore their cities by foot. He was, in part, inspired by the fact that jaywalking initially originated as a car manufacturer promotion to establish motor vehicles as the standard mode of transportation in America. (This 2015 Vox explainer dives deeper into that.)
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Assembly Bill 1238 would have banned fines for jaywalking "when there is no immediate hazard" and permitted pedestrians to "use a crosswalk on a yellow light." The bill would still prohibit risky jaywalking, such as on a crowded throughway or on a highway.
https://www.sfgate.com/california-politics/article/Gavin-Newsom-veto-jaywalking-bill-California-Ting-16545646.php
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