Quebec Jaywalking Awareness billboard
- Thread starter unassuming
- Start date
For drivers, they have little decals of people on the side of their cars like fighter pilots in WW2
Let's be clear, there is a difference between "jaywalking" and "traffic interference". What we're seeing in the above video is "traffic interference".
Jaywalking is a US term. The word, to the best of my knowledge, doesn't even appear in Canadian provincial traffic laws because there are no laws against it.
In Ontario, I know for a fact you are free to cross streets at any point you wish -- even if that big, bright red hand is up at the crossing -- provided it is safe for you to do so (if you force oncoming cars to slam on their brakes, this is traffic interference, and you may be fined for it), and this is the way it should be.
In the US, as is my understanding, you need to walk to a pedestrian crossing (you cannot cross mid-street) and wait for the "Walk" sign to appear before crossing the road or you can be fined for "jaywalking", which I think is silly.
Jaywalking is a US term. The word, to the best of my knowledge, doesn't even appear in Canadian provincial traffic laws because there are no laws against it.
In Ontario, I know for a fact you are free to cross streets at any point you wish -- even if that big, bright red hand is up at the crossing -- provided it is safe for you to do so (if you force oncoming cars to slam on their brakes, this is traffic interference, and you may be fined for it), and this is the way it should be.
In the US, as is my understanding, you need to walk to a pedestrian crossing (you cannot cross mid-street) and wait for the "Walk" sign to appear before crossing the road or you can be fined for "jaywalking", which I think is silly.
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Jaywalking does appear to be a term used in Montreal and it is a punishable offence.
This article is a couple of years old.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5336075/...r-punishment-as-part-of-road-safety-campaign/
It might be a Montreal municipal law -- here's a link about pedestrian crossings in Montreal: https://spvm.qc.ca/en/Fiches/Details/Traffic-Rules-for-Pedestrians
To be honest, it's fucking ridiculous. I completely agree with fining pedestrians who carelessly step off curbs and into oncoming traffic being fined, but there is absolutely no way in hell I'm going to wait 30 seconds to cross a street with no traffic at a crosswalk. Thankfully, that dumb law does not exist in Toronto/Ontario.
