Jacksonville has made the news again. This time its about pedestrian laws and their enforcement.
Here's a nice little quiz to see what's legal and what's not:
https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/jacksonville (https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/jacksonville)
Here's the full story by ProPublica and Florida-Times- Union:
https://features.propublica.org/walking-while-black/jacksonville-pedestrian-violations-racial-profiling/ (https://features.propublica.org/walking-while-black/jacksonville-pedestrian-violations-racial-profiling/)
QuoteWhat the analysis does show is that the pedestrian tickets — typically costing $65, but carrying the power to damage one's credit or suspend a driver's license if unpaid — were disproportionately issued to blacks, almost all of them in the city's poorest neighborhoods. In the last five years, blacks received 55 percent of all pedestrian tickets in Jacksonville, while only accounting for 29 percent of the population. Blacks account for a higher percentage of tickets in Duval County than any other large county in Florida.
And here's a video shot in Jacksonville by ProPublica and Vox on this story:
https://youtu.be/lJFqvRwOiis (https://youtu.be/lJFqvRwOiis)
Great investigative journalism. I was interviewed for this story about a month or two ago. I'm glad to see it finally out. Hopefully, it leads to change with JSO and more multi-modal infrastructure investment in areas that lack political influence in city hall.
I've only lived in this town for 45 days. One thing I have discovered is, red lights for automobiles are purely suggestions. I have driven in some of the craziest cities in the US (Boston being #1) and I have NEVER seen anything that is even close to this. It is of epidemic proportions. (I have yet to see a single car pulled over for this.) If I were a PSO and I was spending my day writing tickets for pedestrian violations in a city that has cars blazing through red lights on a regular basis, I would have to question my own sanity as well as my pledge to "protect and serve".
^ and people just laugh at stop signs
I think this is just as much a statement on Jacksonville's poor record of pedestrian safety as much as it is about race or law enforcement. Have you tried being a pedestrian in Jacksonville outside of walkable areas like Riverside? It's a nightmare. I live across the street from a grocery store. The nearest crosswalk is almost a quarter mile down the road and is in fact more dangerous because it is an intersection of two major four lane roads. I have to cross illegally and it is unsafe. Jacksonville has one of the poorest records in respect to pedestrian deaths. We used to say that there was news of a shooting every night on the local stations, but pay attention, there is almost always a story of a pedestrian getting hit.
Quote from: lastdaysoffla on November 16, 2017, 07:11:59 PM
^ and people just laugh at stop signs
I think this is just as much a statement on Jacksonville's poor record of pedestrian safety as much as it is about race or law enforcement. Have you tried being a pedestrian in Jacksonville outside of walkable areas like Riverside? It's a nightmare. I live across the street from a grocery store. The nearest crosswalk is almost a quarter mile down the road and is in fact more dangerous because it is an intersection of two major four lane roads. I have to cross illegally and it is unsafe. Jacksonville has one of the poorest records in respect to pedestrian deaths. We used to say that there was news of a shooting every night on the local stations, but pay attention, there is almost always a story of a pedestrian getting hit.
Yep. I'm a runner and when I have to cross Atlantic, I'm safer to do it illegally, crossing half of it then waiting in the safe median for the other half to clear, than I am to do it the "right" way. I'm waiting for the first interaction that I get to have with JSO about this.
In Duval County, roughly 16 percent of drivers (110,914 of 697,224) don't have the proper license to be behind the wheel.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/how-many-drivers-illegally-behind-wheel
Quote from: Lunican on November 17, 2017, 08:53:39 AM
In Duval County, roughly 16 percent of drivers (110,914 of 697,224) don't have the proper license to be behind the wheel.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/how-many-drivers-illegally-behind-wheel
That is because it's impossible to get around without a car, so people keep driving even if they lose their license.
Quote from: Tacachale on November 17, 2017, 09:10:06 AM
Quote from: Lunican on November 17, 2017, 08:53:39 AM
In Duval County, roughly 16 percent of drivers (110,914 of 697,224) don't have the proper license to be behind the wheel.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/how-many-drivers-illegally-behind-wheel
That is because it's impossible to get around without a car, so people keep driving even if they lose their license.
It must be equally impossible to obey the law and not lose your license... those darn laws...
Quote from: BridgeTroll on November 17, 2017, 09:12:23 AM
Quote from: Tacachale on November 17, 2017, 09:10:06 AM
Quote from: Lunican on November 17, 2017, 08:53:39 AM
In Duval County, roughly 16 percent of drivers (110,914 of 697,224) don't have the proper license to be behind the wheel.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/how-many-drivers-illegally-behind-wheel
That is because it's impossible to get around without a car, so people keep driving even if they lose their license.
It must be equally impossible to obey the law and not lose your license... those darn laws...
(https://jewishhomela.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/torah-musings.gif)
In this particular case, it seems half of the pedestrians profiled by JSO were actually following the law. Unfortunately, JSO officers issuing tickets don't know the law. Assuming you're ticketed and can't afford to pay it, you can damage your credit and lose your license. That's pretty screwed up for those who don't have the financial means.
Quote from: BridgeTroll on November 17, 2017, 09:12:23 AM
Quote from: Tacachale on November 17, 2017, 09:10:06 AM
Quote from: Lunican on November 17, 2017, 08:53:39 AM
In Duval County, roughly 16 percent of drivers (110,914 of 697,224) don't have the proper license to be behind the wheel.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/how-many-drivers-illegally-behind-wheel
That is because it's impossible to get around without a car, so people keep driving even if they lose their license.
It must be equally impossible to obey the law and not lose your license... those darn laws...
It actually is for about 1/4 of the population. They get some kind of traffic ticket, for speeding, turn signal, whatever it is, doesn't really matter, we all get them eventually, but when you live hand to mouth, some people can't afford to come up with an extra $150 this month. The legislature has increased traffic fines at a rate disproportionate to either inflation or the average household income in the state. So their license gets suspended for failure to pay. Then the late fees are added in, and Duval county in particular has a bad reputation for farming the debts out to predatory collection agencies, who in turn tack on their own fees and costs. I have seen so many clients who had fines that had run up like this totaling thousands of dollars, all of which have to be paid to get your license back.
It's like drivers' license debtors' prison for poor people. It's a real thing.