Jaywalk at Your Own Risk
You Could Be Dead Right - or Dead Wrong
By Jim Evans

The "Oxford English Dictionary" traces the word jaywalker to 1917, when the word jay was used in the slang sense of referring to a stupid or dull person - a simpleton - so people who ignored traffic regulations were given this condensed name.

The term is still used today and probably encompasses every man, woman, and child in America at one time or another, although most of us would not like to think of ourselves as stupid.

Jaywalking might actually be the most widespread crime in this country. After all, is there anyone in Ramona - or anywhere else in the country - who would not admit to jaywalking at least once in his/her life?

Is there a day that goes by that someone is not seen dashing across Main Street just ahead of oncoming cars or standing on the center stripe waiting for a break in the traffic with cars speeding by at 45 mph in both directions?

But it's just jaywalking, and everybody does it, so what's the big deal anyway?

The facts make it a big deal. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) National Center for Statistic and Analysis, 4,641 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in the United States in 2004.

An average of one pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident every 113 minutes and one pedestrian is injured every 8 minutes. Another 68,000 pedestrians were injured in 2004. Most pedestrian fatalities occurred in urban areas (72 percent), at non-intersection locations (79 percent), in normal weather conditions (89 percent), and at night (66 percent).

More than two-thirds of pedestrians killed in 2004 were males. Older pedestrians (70 years old and up) accounted for 15 percent of all pedestrian fatalities - higher than for any other age group - and 6 percent of all injuries, which may simply show that older adults cannot run as fast as younger people.

Of course, not all pedestrian fatalities and injuries can be attributed to jaywalking - pedestrians are sometimes killed or injured in crosswalks, and cars have been known to drive up and over the curb to strike pedestrians on the sidewalk, too. However, jaywalking does significantly increase the likelihood of a fatality or injury.

Still, human nature and our impetuosity to "get to the other side" will probably cause most people to ignore the risk and continue jaywalking - at least once in a while - rather than walking the extra half block to relative safety of the crosswalk. The choice may be dead right - or dead wrong.