Posted on 12/03/2005 6:18:24 AM PST by mslee
Man issued jaywalking ticket after hit by car
WASHINGTON A former secretary of the U-S Commission on Fine Arts has gotten a five-dollar ticket for jaywalking even though, at the time, he was lying critically injured in the street, having been hit by a car.
D-C Police tell The Washington Post that 73-year-old Charles Atherton was conscious when he was issued the ticket before being taken to the hospital Thursday night.
But witnesses report that Atherton was unresponsive and struggling to breathe. They say he had been knocked out of his shoes and was bloody from hitting his head on the vehicle's windshield.
Police say Atherton received the ticket because he caused the accident by crossing busy Connecticut Avenue in the middle of the block.
Atherton's daughter says that's puzzling since her father "always felt strongly about crossing at intersections," especially since a friend was killed crossing the same street.
Not that I've lost any sleep over it but "inquiring minds want to know".
JAYWALKING - "dates back to the early part of the century, when 'jay' was a popular slang term meaning 'countrified' or 'rustic.' A 'jay' was pretty much the same as a 'rube' and was so used by George M. Cohan in the lyrics of one of his most famous songs, 'Forty-five Minutes from Broadway.' A farmer, strange to the ways of the city and perhaps frightened by the newfangled automobiles churning down the streets at fantastic speeds up to fifteen or twenty miles an hour, might have been expected to cross the street in an erratic fashion, without paying too much attention to signals. Hence, 'jaywalking.'" From the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?sm1=VG86IG1zbGVlIEkgaGF2ZSBhbHdheXMgd29uZGVyZWQgaG93IHRoZXkgY2FtZSB1cCB3aXRoIHRoZSB0ZXJtICJqYXl3YWxraW5nICIgKG9yIGotd2Fsa2luZykuICBOb3QgdGhhdCBJJ3ZlIGxvc3QgYW55IHNsZWVwIG92ZXIgaXQgYnV0ICJpbnF1aXJpbmcgbWluZHMg&fw=13&fc=3&ss=-1&es=-1&gwp=11&ver=1.0.2.84&method=1
Jaywalking is a term used to describe when a pedestrian crosses the street without regard to traffic regulations. In common use, the term generally refers to someone crossing a busy street outside of a designated crosswalk.
Etymology
The word jaywalker traces back to 1917, though it may have been in use as early as 1900. It is generally considered to have originated in the United States, possibly from the city of Boston. It is a portmanteau of the words jay and walk; in this context, jay is used in the obsolete slang sense, referring to a stupid or dull person. At the time, vehicles and traffic signals were a new concept, gaining popularity in the larger cities, so this term would have been most commonly used to describe newcomers who were unfamiliar with these recent developments.
If the ticket was written before he died, is his estate responsible for the fine?
Damn, j00 g0t 5killz.
I'm better than I thought?!?!?
Exactly and there is probably something in the regs about the ticket having to be issued close to the time of the offense.
GOOD! These two kids were getting ready to cross a busy intersection and I was on the most right hand side....figuring they'd wait for the cars to pass....but NOPE....they decided to make ME move LEFT so he could get a head start. They literally jumped into the street ... My sister screamed ...I pulled left...the car on my left pulled left....and these jaw-walking punks merrily run across the street....I really wish someone else would of hit them....
One time in Chicago I and a friend were driving down a sidestreet at ~25mph, in a rather rough neighborhood. All of a sudden, these two teens started walking across the street in the middle of the block. No way we were going to stop. At the last moment, they realized they would have been roadrubble, and one scattered left and the other right (laughs)! I'm sure ever since they always look left and right before crossing.
Of course they do, jay.
(Just kidding, cwa.)
I had a similar situation some years ago but I was in my 65 Ford. I stomped on the accelerator to make my intentions known, (Big V*'s make a lot of noise) and boy did they move!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.