# Jaywalking and The Slippery Slope **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506 "2011-07-10T13:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DHMO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@DHMO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DHMO)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/21 "2011-07-12T23:22:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **Bisected8** :Where in the USA was this? I’ve never seen any police officer ever enforce any law against jaywalking, nor give so much as a stern talking-to to anyone who’s done it. Here in Denver, CO not too long ago (February 2009) a [bus driver](http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/24/injured-good-samaritan-gets-ticket-his-trouble/) let off two older women (at a regular, marked bus stop), who wished to cross the street to their residence. There was a light snow, and the bus driver, and another passenger, got off to help the women cross the street. It was at an intersection, but there was no marked crosswalk at that point. Traffic stopped, however, to allow the four people to cross safely. A man in a pickup got impatient, and moved into the oncoming left-hand lane to pass the cars stopped to allow the pedestrians to cross. The bus driver saw the pickup barreling down, and pushed the women and the male passenger out of the way, and was hit, and seriously injured when the pickup plowed into him. The Colorado State Patrol made sure to issue the bus driver a ticket for Jaywalking, lest other people think it is OK to try to help others, and to save their lives. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/22 "2011-07-13T12:44:11Z")
> [@DHMO](#): > > Here in Denver, CO not too long ago (February 2009) a [bus driver](http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/24/injured-good-samaritan-gets-ticket-his-trouble/) let off two older women (at a regular, marked bus stop), who wished to cross the street to their residence. There was a light snow, and the bus driver, and another passenger, got off to help the women cross the street. It was at an intersection, but there was no marked crosswalk at that point. Traffic stopped, however, to allow the four people to cross safely. A man in a pickup got impatient, and moved into the oncoming left-hand lane to pass the cars stopped to allow the pedestrians to cross. The bus driver saw the pickup barreling down, and pushed the women and the male passenger out of the way, and was hit, and seriously injured when the pickup plowed into him. > > The Colorado State Patrol made sure to issue the bus driver a ticket for Jaywalking, lest other people think it is OK to try to help others, and to save their lives. Wow. Seriously, really? You do have different laws: in Germany, when a bus is stopped at a bus stop, both the traffic behind it and on the opposite lane has to slow to a crawl to minimize risk of injury to the passengers getting on and off and across the street. You are also not allowed to overtake a bus stopped at a bus stop, this is very seriously punished. So if you’re stuck behind a bus at a stop as a car driver, that you are being delayed for 5 min is of no concern to the law - suck it up! - compared to the danger to the passengers on foot. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/23 "2011-07-13T12:45:46Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Is armed-robbery even actually illegal in Germany? I think this is a whoosh, but don’t get what you’re referring to, so answering seriously: yes, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/24 "2011-07-13T16:11:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > … I’ve never seen any police officer ever enforce any law against jaywalking, nor give so much as a stern talking-to to anyone who’s done it. Cleveland police now and then cite people for jaywalking, IME if they’re doing so in a particularly dangerous and/or careless way. Slippery slope arguments can be 'way overstated. Come on. Occasional jaywalking is not necessarily going to lead to a five-state killing spree. Citizens in a free country may and often do choose to ignore minor traffic and pedestrian laws where they can do so safely and where no one is thereby hurt, _but_ if they’re caught by police and cited, well, they just have to suck it up and pay the fine. They did, after all, break the law. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/25 "2011-07-13T16:56:19Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Slippery slope arguments can be 'way overstated. Come on. Occasional jaywalking is not necessarily going to lead to a five-state killing spree. Yeah, I’m thinking that either the friend pulled the OP’s leg without him noticing, or the friend is one of those overzealous law-enforcers that are considered typical German, but are really the bane of everybody. (There was a movie made a few years ago about such an earnest, obsessed guy who starts handing out punishments for small infractions to improve society, but I just can’t remember the title. The trailer showed him removing the steering wheel of a speeder for example. He goes on a roadtrip with a journalist student to chronicle his quest to stop the decay of society by enforcing the laws again, and (expectdly) it quickly devolves into dark material about vigiliantism.) Generally, somebody who adheres to the letter of the law without getting the spirit is in danger of becoming an[Inspector Javert](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WellIntentionedExtremist), and therefore it’s recognized as not good to stop at this stage of moral development. The third possibility I already mentioned: the friend works with children and therefore needs to be an example all the times, because children can’T judge situations in traffic like adults can and need to obey rules in traffic rigidly. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/26 "2011-07-13T19:21:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **Bisected8** :Where in the USA was this? I’ve never seen any police officer ever enforce any law against jaywalking, nor give so much as a stern talking-to to anyone who’s done it. Go to Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![kaltkalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kaltkalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaltkalt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/27 "2011-08-04T11:10:28Z")
Slippery slope is a fallacy if you say it WILL lead to a bad result. It’s not a fallacy if you say it may/can lead to a bad result. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/28 "2011-08-04T15:05:54Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Go to Seattle. Yeah when I was in Seattle, Doper **needscoffee** warned me first thing that they definitely will ticket for jaywalking there. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/29 "2011-08-04T15:13:44Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Wow. Seriously, really? You do have different laws: in Germany, when a bus is stopped at a bus stop, both the traffic behind it and on the opposite lane has to slow to a crawl to minimize risk of injury to the passengers getting on and off and across the street. … In New York, this is only true for school buses, and the traffic has to actually stop. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506/30 "2011-08-04T16:40:37Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > In New York, this is only true for school buses, and the traffic has to actually stop. Likewise in Ohio. Bus drivers are trained to write down the license plates of anyone who passes them when stopped, for later reporting to police. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaywalking-and-the-slippery-slope/588506.md?page=1)