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1

Can't say I agree with wasting police man hours on jaywalkers, but there's nothing I hate more than slamming on my brakes and/or swerving to avoid an oblivious pedestrian... and on Capitol Hill, that happens A LOT.

Posted by UNPAID BLOGGER | December 27, 2007 3:17 PM
2

Ooooh prowl...zzzz
I was told not 2 cross while hot-orange blinking man-thing is in on/off mode on that same corner a year ago by a cop.
About 6 months ago, I got yelled at by a cop on that corner for biking across while white man-thing light stayed put, albeit a funeral procession was going by.
About 3 months ago, I chatted with the jaywalking cop on that corner for about 10 minutes.
Now, I'm going to walk up to that corner and issue a ticket to Rite-Aid for the misspelling of its name.
Keep up the alertness brad.

Posted by June Bee | December 27, 2007 3:22 PM
3

Offer the officer a blow job if you get a ticket. See if it will get you out of it?

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger | December 27, 2007 3:27 PM
4

Really puts that whole shortage-of-police-officers thing in perspective, doesn't it?

Posted by Greg | December 27, 2007 3:27 PM
5

my little bro got one on first avenue first time he came to visit.

instead, how about concentrating on the rampant downtown red-light running? its out of control.

Posted by max solomon | December 27, 2007 3:28 PM
6

i sense a protest.

Posted by superyeadon | December 27, 2007 3:29 PM
7

I think here in Ann Arbor it's okay to cross against the light if there's no traffic. I'm sure I read it somewhere. At least that's what I tell myself when I jaywalk. . .

Posted by Michigan Matt | December 27, 2007 3:38 PM
8

They should ticket idiots who walk out in front of oncoming traffic (that shit gives me a heart attack every time), but it's a waste of paper to hand tickets to people crossing an empty street.

Posted by keshmeshi | December 27, 2007 3:39 PM
9

Bradley, posting that email is illegal. Christ, do you not have a lawyer you can consult? Get it off there, ASAP.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty | December 27, 2007 3:48 PM
10

Hey,

At least they didn't place the "Anti-Crime Team" at that corner to enforce jaywalking laws... to them, jaywalking is an offense worthy of a beatdown.

Hey, anyone know what's up in Belltown? There's a ton of SPD officers, firetrucks, and paramedics up and down 4th Ave from Wall Street up to Seattle Center.

Posted by Packratt | December 27, 2007 3:49 PM
11

Imagine if they spent time ticketing the drivers who kill pedestrians (or hit SLUTs) instead!

Posted by Mickymse | December 27, 2007 3:55 PM
12

Good God, this is what we do with our police force? I'm a lifelong pedestrian. I have the whole look-both-ways thing down pat.

I got a ticket in 2004 by the downtown library. The cop came roaring around the corner on his motorcycle with the siren on because I crossed a street completely free of traffic. It cost me 40 bucks and made me late (and cranky) for work.

Posted by Jason Josephes | December 27, 2007 4:06 PM
13

Good. They should give jaywalkers tickets more often. Especially downtown, where the Walk/Don't Walk signals have a timer coutndown. Once the Don't Walk signal comes on YOU DON'T GET TO CROSS.

Posted by Stan | December 27, 2007 4:09 PM
14

Ah Seattle, where they go so far to the left on the political spectrum that they land on the right.

Seriously.

If you don't beleive me just play pac-man sometime and try to go off the left side of the screen. You'll appear on the right. It's just like that.

Posted by thaumaturgistguy | December 27, 2007 4:12 PM
15

@10

Nevermind my question.

Sadly, it appears a woman killed herself in her truck near Wall St. on 4th Ave today.

Posted by Packratt | December 27, 2007 4:43 PM
16

I wonder if it's the same old Broadway cop that goes on jaywalk enforcement rampages from 15 years ago. How many moving violations does he witness per jaywalking ticket given? A dozen? How is this a good use of anyone's time?

Posted by Dougsf | December 27, 2007 4:57 PM
17

Holden, get off your ass and write a Prop 72 for Jaywalkers!

Posted by Crimewatch | December 27, 2007 5:09 PM
18

another reason nyc is superior to seattle: no stupid motherfucking jaywalking tickets. any dope in seattle who agrees with them is a small town rube with no sense of proportional need for policing.

Posted by Bellevue Ave in NYC | December 27, 2007 5:17 PM
19

i got yelled at by a cop in front of the jack in the box on bway last summer. i crossed on a flashing do not walk. i always thought that was like a yellow light for cars. flashing red is just a more emphatic "stop" turns out.

that said, it's good to remind people about jaywalking. seattle pedestrians get so used to cars stopping for them that they get complacent and just walk into traffic like Alzheimer's patients.

Posted by some dude | December 27, 2007 7:27 PM
20

oh, and @18 - nobody gets jaywalking tickets in NYC because jaywalkers end up in body bags before the po-po can give them a ticket.

p.s. only insecure big city rat-finks think being from a "small town" is an insult :p

Posted by some dude | December 27, 2007 7:29 PM
21

Jaywalking is essential to a civilized society.

Posted by Fnarf | December 27, 2007 7:39 PM
22

i heard that they called the anti-jaywalking squad, but they declined to respond.

Posted by geoffrey | December 27, 2007 8:21 PM
23

In 1988 or 89 my boyfriend got a jaywalking ticket walking in front of the ferry terminal. He was not crossing Alaskan Way, he was crossing the drive-on ferry entrance, walking parallel to the terminal. About 15 people were walking in the crosswalk and the cop yanked my boyfriend out of the group. My friend and I stupidly stood a few feet away and watched as the cop wrote out a ticket.

Why was my boyfriend singled out? I think the motorcycle leather jacket and bad boy vibe had a lot to do with it. :P Apparently the cop didn't want to ticket two teenage girls though, he didn't even talk to us.

Posted by Kristi in Kitsap | December 27, 2007 9:16 PM
24

what the fuck is ratfink? are you one of those lame people that tries to pretend they are still living in the 50's? who doesn't actually live in a small town or work a blue collar job but drives a pickup truck?

regardless, I've jaywalked hundreds of times in the past few days and I havemt seen one person hit or almost hit. nyc cops are actually fighting real crimes in a real city. nyc, greatest city on earth.

Posted by Bellevue Ave in NYC | December 27, 2007 9:40 PM
25

I wonder if they give out many vehicle citations at that intersections. Whenever I'm on the corner I almost always see at least one car doing typical car things: speeeding up to go through a red light; or making a turn and nearly hitting pedestrians when the people in the crosswalk have the right of way; or getting stuck in the intersection and messing up the cross traffic, etc.

Posted by stinkbug | December 27, 2007 9:54 PM
26

Newly elected council person, Tim Burgess, supports strong law and order priorities and says that the problem of jaywalking is simply solved - fine 'em and put them in jail.

Other crimes, silly billy. With SPD in total control now, there is no crime problem.

Welcome to Singapore.

Yes, I did not support him, but the Stranger did. Get ready. (by the way, messing with the fags on C. Hill is top cop humor, always livens up the day)

Posted by Essex | December 27, 2007 10:06 PM
27

Can we have more cops ticketing drivers like the one that went around me on I-5 at 70 mph, then went over into the carpool lane to pass a guy ahead of me? That shit was subpar.

Posted by Greg | December 28, 2007 7:20 AM
28

Seattle's rate of violent crime is below the national average, and we're among the safest cities in America. However, our property crime rate is 150% of the national average, and cops do nothing about it. There's where they could spend their time.

Posted by Gitai | December 28, 2007 9:31 AM
29

Much better than wasting time on people smoking MJ, IMHO.

They're cops. This is what they do.

Posted by Will in Seattle | December 28, 2007 9:31 AM
30

I'm surprised we dont have the counting cross lite walks up here. If they have them in white center, where is ours?

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | December 28, 2007 9:40 AM
31

By the way, my ticket was actually for $56, not $46. That's more than a parking ticket. Guess I'll just start driving places when I'm late, and not worry about parking in appropriate areas, since it'll cost me less!

Posted by davida | December 28, 2007 11:14 AM
32

Challenge the ticket. I've been ticketed for jaywalking twice by Seattle's asshole cops (who don't do a fucking thing about car prowls) and both times I challenged the ticket and won. This is nothing more than the city attempting to raise some money, but you can throw a spanner into that process by requesting a court date, which reduces their profit ratio. Interestingly enough both magistrates I dealt with told me that they wished that the cops would stop wasting their time with so many jay-walking tickets.

Posted by wile_e_quixote | December 28, 2007 11:49 AM
33

did they just dismiss the ticket, or did you say you didn't jay-walk, or what?

Posted by geoffrey | December 29, 2007 11:08 AM

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