Support the Freedom to Walk Act
Eliminate unjust ‘jaywalking’ laws.
CalBike is sponsoring AB 1238 (Ting), the Freedom to Walk Act, to repeal California ‘jaywalking’ laws. This crucial legislation will protect vulnerable pedestrians against arbitrary, racially-biased, pretextual policing, as well as burdensome fees and fines, and unnecessary, and potentially lethal, interactions with law enforcement.
If a police officer cites you for CVC 21955, crossing the road outside a designated crosswalk, you may face a fine as high as $250. That number can get higher as additional violations are added. This jaywalking fine is higher than most parking tickets and some common traffic citations. A jaywalking ticket may also cost you $1,000+ in insurance hikes and penalties.
The Freedom to Walk Act does not change existing law that already requires pedestrians to avoid potentially hazardous situations on the roadway. It will merely legalize what people are already doing: finding the best routes to safely walk in their neighborhoods.
The Freedom to Walk Act, AB 1238, will:
Dear California Assembly Members, Senators, and Governor Newsom:
Black San Diego residents are 4.3 times more likely to be stopped for jaywalking than White residents, even though the Black population is much smaller. The figures are similar in other California communities. On top of that, decades of neglected infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods make it harder to find a legal crossing. In addition, jaywalking fines place an undue burden on the people who are least able to pay.
It’s time to end this pretext for unjust policing and harassment of low-income Californians. Decriminalize walking. Vote Yes on AB 1238, the Freedom to Walk Act.
Across California, police departments are stopping Black pedestrians more often than others. From 2018-2020, data from the California Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) shows that Black Californians are severely overrepresented in being stopped for jaywalking.
Police department data also show that Black Californians are up to almost four and half times more likely than white Californians to be stopped for jaywalking, for select agencies (right chart).
‘Jaywalking’ was created by car clubs and manufacturers in the 1930s to shift the blame for traffic fatalies from drivers to pedestrians. It’s time to decriminalize walking.
The very concept of jaywalking creates and reinforces the belief that public roadways belong exclusively to people in motor vehicles. Drivers, believing they are asserting their right-of-way, may threaten pedestrians with their vehicles, whether pedestrians are ‘jaywalking’ or not. Decriminalizing safe street crossings will discourage vehicular aggression towards pedestrians.