This morning was unexpectedly expensive. 
At 7:15, I was walking to a downtown restaurant for a breakfast meeting, as I do every Thursday, and I came to the intersection of Seneca Street and 3rd Avenue. The light was against us, and so I waited with half a dozen other pedestrians for it to change. I was watching the traffic light for Seneca Street, which was devoid of cars. The light changed from green to yellow, and I put my right foot on the crosswalk. One second later, four things happened:
- the traffic light change to red,
- the pedestrian signal changed to “WALK”,
- I pushed off from the kerb with my left foot, and
- I heard the sound of a Harley Davidson revving; this was closely followed by a police siren.
I had been nicked for jaywalking.
I was quiet and scrupulously polite, remembering the case of Professor Fernandez-Armesto in Atlanta. I showed my ID, answered the officer’s questions, and received a citation1 for $56. I have no idea how he arrived at that fine2 – the Seattle City code simply states that the fine shall be “not more than $250″ (whew!). I also think that it’s odd that the fine should be nearly twice that for parking in a handicapped-only space, but then I come from a country, England, in which there is no such thing as jaywalking, and from a city (Boston) where the jaywalking laws have apparently not been enforced since 1976.
I guess I’m a real Seattlite now.
--
Entries (RSS)
Wow! Very impressive Geoff!
Our parking in a handicapped only space is $500 minimum.
Are you going to contest it? Was anyone else also in the street and not get a ticket?
Does anything bad happen if you get too many jaywalking citations? I guess they can’t take away your right to walk
I think Merry is right.
Eh, he’s probably just trying to get your phone number.
And some folks wonder why some of us don’t really consider visiting the USA! 8~) (Not your experience, Geoff, but Professor Fernandez-Armesto’s – and a few other horror stories.)
Of course, I visit India cheerfully enough. Which country is actually riskier is hard to establish. The risks in either depend upon the individual involved – how well they know the ropes, and many other things about them.
Don’t the police have to provide any evidence or do they just choose the fine to be low enough that it is not worth contesting?
Your predicament, plus the comment on the differing meanings of ‘citation’, reminds me of a story told by the English comedian Jasper Carrott. He was driving in the USA and caught speeding. As he told it, the cop levelled a gun at him and said “OK, buddy, out of the car, put your hands on the fender!”. Having complied with this slightly alarming request, Carrott is asked to show his ID and hands the officer his British driving license. The cop peruses it for a few moments and says “Hey, it says here you’re a pretty good driver!”. Confused, Carrott asks what he means. The cop replies “it says here you’ve been endorsed three times!”
Interestingly enough jaywalking in California is only valid if you are on a block where both ends have red/yellow/green lights. If one or both ends have stop signs the Jaywalking laws don’t apply …
Someone sued SF City and the State a couple of years ago over overly zealous enforcement and won …
sort of sucks though – a jaywalking ticket. I’d take it to court and watch the cop hopefully no-show … and then get off with it …
on a Friday too … sucky ..
Unfortunately, in Seattle the cop can give written evidence for traffic misdemeanors. I checked. So no opportunity to go for a “no show” dismissal…
I wonder if I should be more careful during my morning commute, or if I should continue to risk jaywalking tickets.
Welcome back to town! Beer sometime soon, maybe?
Hey Geoff, as a guy who’s spent some time in Credit Card Fraud, I HIGHLY suggest you remove that picture.. or obfuscate it some more…
[...] I am, celebrating my first year of working at Amazon and living in Seattle, and feeling thoroughly acclimatized here, and then Alec goes and posts a little blog entry that makes me all homesick for [...]