Graffiti 2009-10

CHARLES LEE

Time for my daily crime. Check for cops, nope. Look around for any obstacles (especially those little, old ladies). Okay, time to creep into the street, waiting for an opening. Now! Dash across Yonge. Safe in front of HMV. Time for lunch. Why take the chance? I just saved 10 precious minutes.

If you go out for lunch, you know you can’t deny that you are a jaywalker. “I always jaywalk when I go out for lunch just like other people,” David Kang, a grade 10 student, said. Jay-walking in front of the Indigo is just so much quicker, better, and more efficient than walking to the cross walk. Anyways, you only have to get to the other side, so why bother walking to the cross walk while everyone else is jay-walking?

Kevin Lee says, “In New York City, traffic lights are for décors. Everyone jaywalks there, why can’t we?” and this seems to be the mindset of most North Toronto students.

Students jaywalk at least 2 times a day, 5 days a week to save time and energy but they also may be choosing the safer route across Yonge. In fact, jaywalking can be much safer than crossing at a crosswalk. Think about it. Do you ever look around before you step onto a crosswalk? No. You assume that the cars will stop. However, when you are jaywalking, you have to be constantly on the lookout and also make eye contact with the drivers before you proceed. Because pedestrians are more alert while jaywalking, they are more careful. Jaywalking is faster. It is more efficient, and it is safer.

But is it actually safer? True if everyone agrees to watch for each other and is paying attention, then it probably is safer. Unfortunately, people are distracted by cell phones and iPods and so there is a risk of an accident because either a driver or a pedestrian just isn’t paying attention. As Mr. Reid, co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee, puts it, “everybody’s moving quickly, pedestrians are moving blindly and nobody’s communicating.” Even if drivers do see pedestrians and slow down, then the jaywalker is impeding traffic flow. Impeding traffic flow causes an increase in commute times and makes drivers impatient and more aggressive, leading to more preventable accidents. Above all else, jaywalking is illegal and if caught, you will receive a ticket for $85, “which is too much for me as it is my monthly allowance,” Peter Ryan, in grade 10, claims.

So what’s the other option, supposedly, the “better” option? The legal option is to walk to the corner and use the crosswalk, obviously. Although some people suggest that jaywalkers are safer, there is no data that proves this to be the case. “Jaywalking is incredibly dangerous towards the person and the driver. When Jaywalking, you are assuming that the drivers of the cars can see you but the reality is that when there is no cross light, you are not always visible. In addition, when jaywalking, you are so focused on making sure that the coast is clear that you’re not always thinking straight and this could be potentially very dangerous,” says Jacob Cappe. Crossing at a crosswalk is a safe and efficient means of making pedestrians while minimizing traffic slowdowns. By following the rules of crosswalks, pedestrians can make the system efficient for everyone.

So is crossing at the cross walk the perfect choice? After our field was demolished, we had the burden of having gym in Eglinton Park. Lots of us, if not all, avoid the crosswalks when heading to Eglinton Park for Gym classes because we feel that it takes too much time and effort to walk 2 blocks out of the way to go to a crosswalk. As David Crombie says, “I jaywalk because there are no convenient crosswalks and also I know there will be no consequences.” And so, we face the current jaywalking dilemma.

North Toronto is a busy school with lots of students and time is tight. No one is forcing you to jaywalk nor to cross at the crosswalk, but be reminded… you will never, and this is never, win against a car.