Lawmakers in New York City have abruptly halted legislation designed to decriminalize jaywalking due to internal conflict over the extent to which the bill would hold drivers who hit a pedestrian outside of a crosswalk liable, and other amendments made to the law, Gothamist reported.
The legislation was pulled on Thursday after street safety advocates and public defenders withdrew their support following a last-minute change to the law that would provide legal coverage to drivers who hit pedestrians.
On Tuesday, the bill had passed in the Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, seeking to end the NYPD’s practice for ticketing people who illegally cross the street. According to data recorded by the city, the jaywalking law has been disproportionately enforced against non-white New Yorkers, particularly Black and Latinx people. The data shows over 90% over jaywalking summonses issued in 2023 were given to people of those two racial backgrounds. Black residents were issued 59 percent of the tickets while Latinos were issued 33 percent, as cited from Streetsblog NYC.
In relation to the wider scope of the city’s population, Black people make up 21 percent of all New York City residents, whereas Latino residents comprise 29 percent. In comparison, white people make up 32 percent of the population while receiving 5 percent of tickets, the data shows.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams didn’t move the decriminalization bill to a full vote on Thursday, saying it was still going through the legislative process and that “things are still being discussed.”
This pause on moving the law forward came days after officials amended the bill, adding language that would still place people in legal trouble for jaywalking if they do not “yield to other traffic that has the right of way.” The new version also included a clause that would require the city’s transportation department to create a street safety education campaign to inform/remind New Yorkers to be cautious and steer clear vehicles when crossing the street.
“The legislation should go further to protect pedestrians and clearly protect their right to safety and security on our streets, especially during one of the deadliest years for pedestrians in the past decade,” said Elizabeth Adams, interim co-executive director of the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, which supported the bill before it was amended. “City Council can right one wrong without creating another, and New York City can better protect pedestrians by redesigning safer, slower streets with better visibility — not criminalizing pedestrians or blaming them for their own deaths.”
Mayor Eric Adams office also raised concerns about the new bill, arguing it encourage jaywalking, and leave jaywalkers subject to civil suits if they cause or involved in a car crash.
Yet, an opposing argument of many says laws governing jaywalking are outdated, as they’re from the 20th century, and came after the term was coined to promote the automobile industry and deter pedestrians from occupying street space. In recent years, states such as California, Virginia, and Colorado have successfully decriminalized jaywalking.
