Jay-walkers in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur will be fined RM300 for not using appropriate pedestrian bridges starting next week, so I heard from the news just now. Do we have to put the blame totally on jay-walkers when they are not using pedestrian bridges? I'm not saying what they do is right. I'm just questioning why are they not doing the right thing. I am a jay-walker too, especially when these circumstances occur:
1. Pedestrian bridge located way too far from the point where I'm crossing;
2. Deserted bridge which makes it possible for crime activity;
3. I'm in a hurry;
4. The road is clear so it's safe for me to jaywalk.
Safety is always a factor viewed too lightly by us humans most of the time. Making excuses (or justification like me) does not make jay-walking a right thing to do. In fact, it shows how humans always have the answer to justify their wrongdoings. And when things like this happen, we have nobody else to blame but ourselves for our ignorance.
By the way, I was suddenly fascinated by the word (jay-walker / jay-walking / jay-walk) and thus did some research on its origin. Because it's has JAY in it I thought it might be associated with jays, a type of very noisy European bird with brightly coloured feathers. However, it is not. I was so wrong!
According to Oxford Students Dictionary (1989), 'jay-walker' means 'a person who walks across a street at an authorised place'. Based on AskOxford web, the word 'jay-walker' was originated from the U.S. all the way back in 1917. The word 'jay' has a few slang references and the one that's logically associated with word 'jay-walker' carries the definition of 'a stupid or a dull person, a simpleton'. The U.S colloquial or informal speech has been using the term 'jay' for 'stupid' since 1900s. It seems in Boston, people who stupidly ignored traffic regulations were given this compact name.
Haha. So I'm stupid because I ignore traffic regulation, huh? I guess I am. Putting your safety and life in jeorpady by ignoring rules which was set up to protect you IS kind of stupid. But when you're facing situation no.1-4 as listed in my jay-walk-justification above, how can you not be a stupid person and join the jolly jay-walk community?
In my humble (or stupid?) opinion, building a pedestrian bridge is not always the best solution to lower or diminish pedestrians' accident rate. Do you know that simple & cheap solution like these works like a charm when it comes to lowering accident rates (provided Malaysian drivers are educated and clever enough to understand basic traffic regulations)? They are:
1. Cross-hatch road marking: Raised yellow road marking across the road, spaced close to each other. Gives out annoying 'bump-bump-bump' sound when you drive over it.
2. Road studs : This one will annoy you too. Ha-ha.
3. Bumper / speed hump: You have no other choice but to slow down when you see this.
4. Raised plateau: Just like speed hump, this one is wider than the hump and can make your car jump in the air like car-stunts in the movies.
5. Zebra crossing (preferably with safety beacon): You run over a person here and you'll be charged of manslaughter.
6. Raised plateau-zebra crossing combo
And yes, all of the above can be implemented in big cities & busy roads!
By all means, no tolerance shall be given when it comes to safety. But we jay-walkers are mighty bunch of stubborn & stupid people who keep on violating traffic regulations just because we think it's the most sensible and logical thing to do. To make this 'no-jay-walk-rule' work, law enforcers should put sensible number of traffic officers at popular jay-walk spots. This will absolutely turns off a jay-walker to do his ignorant jay-walk. Question is, can this regulation be enforced well enough? Will they really issue RM300 fine to the Bukit Bintang jay-walkers? Or will it be just another meaningless hoo-hah? Let's just wait and see ;).. Till then, enjoy these!
Funny eh? ;D
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