The Observation Deck

Is walking in the middle of the street -- when clear sidewalks are available, illegal? Is this a violation like jaywalking? If so, should Lakewood try to enforce it before someone gets hit by a car?

apparently it's not illegal if you're a teenager. I'm also noticing that kids are not paying attention to crosswalk signals, and just cross a street when they come up to it, assuming that cars will stop for them.

Geez, I must be getting old when I start wondering when all that changed, because I certainly remember being taught how to properly cross a street, and wonder why it's not taught anymore!

c. dawson wrote:apparently it's not illegal if you're a teenager. I'm also noticing that kids are not paying attention to crosswalk signals, and just cross a street when they come up to it, assuming that cars will stop for them.

Geez, I must be getting old when I start wondering when all that changed, because I certainly remember being taught how to properly cross a street, and wonder why it's not taught anymore!

I must be getting old too! I just think this is a safety issue, my wife came close to hitting a couple kids on our street last night.

Maybe reflective boxer-shorts would be a good idea for these kids to wear when walking the streets at night since most of them seem to enjoy putting their underpants on display.

But seriously, I don't want to see somebody get hit by a car.

walkin in da midda of da street is how we do it in da hood

just go down Kinsman if you don't believe me

Hopefully they will also arrest the lazy butts who do not shovel their sidewalk

Doug

I frequently find myself walking in the street when a driver is impeded by another driver or pedestrian. The driver will honk their horn urgently. This is very aggravating to me, as I am not insulated from the sound by glass, fiberglass, and steel.

So...cars should have a sort of tazer that launches from the front of the car. An Electric Prod if you will.

It is the people jogging after dark or in the morning before sunrise without reflective clothing in the street that scare me.

Please, if you plan to jog, wear light clothes or put reflective strips on your jogging outfit. It really is a safety feature.

s walking in the middle of the street -- when clear sidewalks are available, illegal? Is this a violation like jaywalking? If so, should Lakewood try to enforce it before someone gets hit by a car?

This conversation was had back in October and it was proposed that the street walking might simply be a minor inconvenience and a sign of a vital, thriving, community as opposed to a rel problem. Efforts to encourage others to speak out against this (particularly to young children who are modeling the behavior that they are seeing daily) were met with extreme hostility.

In the end there was no real agreement if this was a problem or not.

The advice in the end was drive slow, beep the horn if they have completely impeded the right of way, and all will be fine.


Charyn

The subject does seem to get people worked up, at least on this board. It was fascinating how ugly it got. I didn't chime in then so as not to get caught up in the cyber-fighting.

My take: I notice people of all ages (definitely not just teenagers) street/jay walking. I've often mused that it's impossible to drive in a straight line down Madison (don't even get me started on Detroit), what with people just wandering out into the street. On my way to Charter One one day, I counted three people between Warren and Belle out in the street. I call for Safety Town for adults!