Disclaimer, not asking if it’s practical to walk everywhere instead of driving.
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If you live in the suburbs or a more rural place, can you just go for a stroll from your home?
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Would/could you be in trouble for jaywalking as soon as you step off your property into the road?
Just roads and private land?
Are there public access footpaths of some kind or do you have to go to a park?
Edit: this shows the kind of place I am thinking of 41.300593,-80.811023
49 comments
Lmao
Is this a serious question?
Do you think police are waiting roadside to nab pedestrians crossing roads?
I’ve been a lot of places, people everywhere generally walk on sidewalks or paths unless they’re in a very rural or quiet residential area where walking in/along the road is safe.
We have sidewalks.
There…there are sidewalks. And if not, there are still shoulders or land alongside the roads you can walk on.
We don’t solely live next to interstate high-speed highways.
What?
Of course we can go for walks. What are you on about?
Yeah, of course. Where’d hear this nonsense? Europe?
A lot of suburbs will have sidewalks along at least one side of the road so you can walk around easily, there might not be many crosswalks depending on the traffic light/stop sign situation but in that case you could just jaywalk when it’s clear which is what a lot of people do.
My head hurts.
My dad went out for a walk when i was 6 and i haven’t seen him since. I assume he got picked up by the police and thrown in jail. It’s dangerous out there
We might not have as extensive of a right to roam as exists in much of Europe, but nobody can or would justly arrest someone simply for walking.
I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for jaywalking in an area of low-traffic streets without sidewalks or crosswalks. My parents and a lot of other people that I know live in such areas, and you can just walk on the road and cross wherever you like, no problem. It’s really only prohibited in practice in busy urban areas and on highways with a lot of fast traffic.
Yes you can walk, jaywalking is really only enforced in urban areas. You can walk on the side of the road or even in the road if it’s quiet enough. There may or may not be a sidewalk or path depending on where you are. But many people prefer to go to a park to walk.
This isn’t even good trolling. 0/10
I go for walks all the time. Sometimes my wife even lets me off the leash.
No, we have to file a permit before, specifying the purpose and path of our walk. You are usually approved but not always. The government also conducts random checks to see if we are walking on our predeclared route. Also it has to be filed at least 72hrs before and we are required to pay a tax per step taken, which is why so many of us have fitbits and apple watches, to dispute the tax if we are overcharged.
What do these people think is happening here? This would be a valid question for someone on North Korea, not North America.
Allowed?? Who’s going to stop me if I want to walk somewhere?
Serious question, where are you getting your information on the US?
No, stepping foot outside your property without explicit government consent results in immediate and well deserved annihilation via hellfire missile.
….seriously OP, what the fuck do you think?
I live in a rural town of less than 300 people, and we have 1 sidewalk. Jaywalking is never enforced here and I don’t think it ever will be, despite it technically being illegal
People are constantly out walking with dogs and kids, or walking/jogging for exercise, even if they are not in a “walkable” neighborhood – that phrase mostly just means easy to walk to shops, schools, etc.
I would only use the term “jaywalking” to describe crossing city streets, where there are designated crosswalks, without using the crosswalks.
It is not illegal to go outside.
>If you live in the suburbs or a more rural place, can you just go for a stroll from your home?
I don’t see why one wouldn’t. I grew up in a suburban subdivision in northwest Indianapolis and didn’t have sidewalks, but it was perfectly safe to walk on the road, play sports games, or fry eggs in the summer.
>Would/could you be in trouble for jaywalking as soon as you step off your property into the road?
That isn’t what jaywalking is.
Jaywalking is mostly not enforced and even when it is enforced, generally it is only within the confines of the downtown area or central business district.
>Are there public access footpaths of some kind or do you have to go to a park?
Sure.
[This is a northern suburb of Indianapolis with a 27 mile rail-trail cutting right through it](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9783351,-86.129999,3a,75y,95.56h,83.88t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sS9_nP1qwqd5ZMuvfYE1giQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DS9_nP1qwqd5ZMuvfYE1giQ%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D71.91537%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192).
Jaywalking is more of a movie trope than anything. There are places in major cities where you may get in trouble for not using a crosswalk. But most places in the US you can cross the street wherever you want to.
Did you know Jaywalker originates from Jaydriver, who historically was a carriage driver refusing to follow traffic laws. Jay was once a derogatory term for hick.
None of this answers your question, but your question is so odd I felt random facts were warranted.
So my parents live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks. At least a dozen people walk by every day. Not a lot, but it’s not a dense neighborhood and there are sidewalks in neighboring neighborhoods so it’s only mostly people who live there. They walk in the street or on the edge of people’s yards. There’s not a lot of traffic. If there was, there’d be pressure for the town to put in sidewalks.
I live in a different suburb. We have sidewalks, but I live in a part with more foot traffic than car. People walk on the sidewalk or in the street.
There’s also lots of small parks and a few big ones. A few pedestrian access paths, mostly designed as fire access routes to cul de sacs but closed to regular traffic.
I’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for jaywalking outside of a few select cities.
Seriously, Americans can and do walk places. We aren’t shut into houses with welded shut doors, and most surface streets (not superhighways) are accessible to pedestrians. Especially the streets where people live.
I’ve never heard of anyone getting in any kind of trouble for jaywalking. If you’re being reckless and holding up traffic or you otherwise look suspicious I suppose cops would stop you and investigate but no one gets in trouble just for jaywalking. And I’m pretty sure it only applies if there is a crosswalk and you don’t use it. If you’re miles away from the nearest crosswalk you’re not expected to use it.
Hell it was encouraged during the lockdown. Many neighborhoods do not have sidewalks though, so you have to factor in local traffic.
Furthermore there are many many options to take walks locally( Fl Panhandle). Paved and non paved. Drive to the parking lot and have at it. Dog to drag you at his speed optional.
Jaywalking is crossing against established safety procedures. Such as a red light. Or outside of marked pathways( usually at corners).
In the United States, jaywalking is generally understood to be either crossing against a pedestrian walk signal (i.e., walking across a crosswalk when it says “don’t cross, or crossing when the opposing traffic has the right of way) or crossing outside of a crosswalk where one is present. In many cities such as New York and Boston, jaywalking is omnipresent and [basically impossible to get in trouble for](https://www3.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2017/05/24/what-does-guy-have-get-jaywalking-ticket-this-town/9BDQOg1luOChfuwZhhevSK/story.html?arc404=true).
The US is not a police state. People are allowed to walk around outside.
Really?
Stay off private property. No, we do not have access across private land unless the property owner allows it.
You can walk anywhere that’s public access.
Jaywalking is really only a “thing” if there’s a crosswalk nearby and you’re not using it, or if you cross against the signal. And even then, it’s usually only enforced if you’re crossing in a dangerous way.
It is generally legal to walk along a road (unless it’s a limited access highway) or cross a road if there is no crosswalk. My mailbox is on the other side of my street, it isn’t illegal for me to get my mail.
…Yes?
I’m… confused lol. Why is this a question? Of course we’re allowed to walk. Where did you hear we weren’t?
If you’re just asking about jaywalking, basically, if there’s a sidewalk, use it. If not, you just walk on the left side of the road so you can see oncoming traffic.
The only time I saw someone get in trouble for jaywalking was in Berlin. This is so weird.
I live in a nice, little circle about a half mile around and has about 20 houses . If it is not blazingly hot or bitterly cold, I try to get out and walk the circle almost daily. This circle is off a heavily used two lane highway with no sidewalks, and I would not feel comfortable walking along this highway. This circle is otherwise surrounds by privately owned, heavily wooded land. There is not a right to roam in the US, so it would be trespassing to walk through them without owner permission. Also, people hunt that land so I would not want to be on it during hunting season.
There are several small parks within about a 15 minute drive that I rarely go to. Within an hour I can get to three national forests: Sumter, Nantahala, and Chattahoochee. I do frequently visit these for longer hikes and overnight camping.
Yes, you can basically walk anywhere you want along the sidewalks, roads, and on public trails and paths.
I could be naked and on fire and step off my property and no one would even see me.
Of course you can walk outside your home. People do this all the time.
I grew up in suburbs and we would walk from our home to areas with businesses and restaurants all the time.
Jaywalking is really only applicable to busier streets in which you are expected to cross at the crosswalk for safety reasons. It’s rarely enforced.
In my neighborhood people go for runs in the street all of the time. As a kid me and the other neighborhood kids would play baseball and football in the street. If a car comes we would just pause until it passed.
Sidewalks are all over the US. Rural areas may not have them or they may stop at the end of a suburban development going out into larger road, but that’s usually because there is nothing practical to walk to.
I live in an apartment in a suburban development. We have sidewalks as well as ponds where people fish, woods, and parks. You could walk to a shopping complex with a grocery store, businesses, and restaurants if you wanted to.
There are many dense cities that are a lot more strict on jaywalking than suburban or rural areas. There are very few people who walk on the main roads. Most anyone who wants to go for a walk sticks to local roads within the community.
“jaywalking” is the act of crossing the street *in an unsafe fashion*. There is nothing unsafe about crossing the street in a quiet suburban neighborhood like at the location you included in your OP, and thus doing so is not jaywalking.
The United States is a big country and laws vary from state to state, county to county, city to city, and town to town.
For example, in my suburban town we’re required to cartwheel everywhere. Stairs are a bitch.
I recently moved into a rental home while we add an addition onto the house we own and the neighborhood where I’m temporarily living doesn’t have side walks. It’s not arterial roads so there isn’t much car traffic. Generally people just walk on the road and when a car comes they get over.
I suppose a cop could ticket you for doing that but realistically I dont think that’s something that they would bother with.
Walking is not permitted. We’re only allowed to scoot on our bums.
I don’t live in a suburb, though the layout is similar to many. My neighborhood doesn’t have sidewalks. Neither does the neighborhood right next to mine, so I walk in the street, often through both neighborhoods. So do other people. Doing so has never been a problem, because it’s not against the law.
There’s also a park nearby where I walk sometimes, and I walk through both neighborhoods to get to it.
I think it is legal to walk in the road if there are no sidewalks. At any rate, I live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks (it sucks! I hate it!!!!) and have never been ticketed for walking around.
Going for walks is extremely common and most people in my neighborhood do it every day. I imagine they get around the corner and talk about what a creepy recluse i am.
>If you live in the suburbs or a more rural place, can you just go for a stroll from your home?
Yes
>Would/could you be in trouble for jaywalking as soon as you step off your property into the road?
Jaywalking is crossing the road, bot walking on the side of it. Technically illegal but hardly ever enforced.
>Just roads and private land?
Don’t go on other people’s land.
>Are there public access footpaths of some kind or do you have to go to a park?
We can walk on the lefthand side of the roads, or if there is a sidewalk, then you can walk on that.
Of course we can. Where I live there are no sidewalks or crosswalks, and there is often 20-30 minutes between cars passing by. I could go dance in the middle of the road and no one would care, as long as I get out of the way of what little traffic we have.
You are generally allowed to walk along the side of the road if there is no available sidewalk. You are usually supposed to be on the side so you’re facing traffic.
With the exception of (most) limited access highways, roads are typically not restricted to only be used by cars – you could ride a bicycle or even a horse on most. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea in terms of safety to do that in all areas, but it’s legal.
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> Would/could you be in trouble for jaywalking as soon as you step off your property into the road?
(Jaywalking laws vary in exact details, and do not necessarily exist/have any enforcement in all areas).
Jaywalking laws do not prohibit crossing roads on foot in general. Phrasing varies, but jaywalking laws prohibit you from not using the crosswalk/intersection when you are relatively near one, and from ignoring the signals (if they exist) indicating when it is your turn to cross at the crossing.
They’re about running across the road in the middle of a city block. Or trying to cross when it’s not your turn at the intersection.
Beyond that, they will typically say that the pedestrian *doesn’t* necessarily have the right of way if they are crossing somewhere that’s not an intersection.
In a rural area that has no designated crossings and no road intersection anywhere nearby, you could cross the road anywhere when no cars are coming.
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> Are there public access footpaths of some kind or do you have to go to a park?
> Edit: this shows the kind of place I am thinking of 41.300593,-80.811023
You could walk down the side of this road. You could likely also cross this road anywhere nearby when a car isn’t coming.
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Speaking specifically about my area (Northern New England) – you are actually allowed to walk/hike wherever you want on most *private* undeveloped land unless it’s specifically posted no trespassing, which most isn’t. So I could go hike around in the forest without caring who owns it. However, this is not the case in most states.
Uh..yeah? We are free to walk wherever.. Jaywalking is only when you purposefully do not walk on a cross walk when one is available.
Switzerland has a reputation for strict pedestrian obedience but I still saw jaywalking and crossing on red so you can imagine that the US is far less concerned as it disastrously prides itself on liberty. Now if you walked in a rural area and you looked like “you didn’t belong ” then you might be questioned.
>If you live in the suburbs or a more rural place, can you just go for a stroll from your home?
We aren’t in China under lockdown, so yes, we can walk where we want as we please.