In most big cities around the world, it is common to see pedestrians crossing the road using the designated crosswalks or using road-crossing facilities such as foot overbridges or underpasses. In fact, in many big urban centres, while crossing the road using a crosswalk, pedestrians also have to abide by the pedestrian traffic signal. Pedestrians are not even seen crossing roads using the crosswalk if the pedestrian traffic signal does not tell them to.
This is because jaywalking, or pedestrians crossing the road when and where they are not permitted to do so, such as crossing the road at places where there is no crosswalk, climbing across the road divider, crossing the intersection when they are not permitted to do so, violating the pedestrian traffic signal, etc, is dangerous and is considered a traffic offense. And just like any other commuter, a pedestrian found to be committing a traffic offense is supposed to be penalised.
Jaywalking is considered a traffic offense because motorists only expect pedestrians at a crosswalk when they are permitted to cross the road, but when a pedestrian jaywalks, drivers are often caught unawares, having to swerve abruptly or slow down or even come to a complete standstill, to avoid hitting the pedestrian.
If the motorist is attentive then he or she may be able to avoid hitting the pedestrian and the pedestrian may be able to cross the road safely.
However, if the driver is driving at a high speed, or is unaware, or if the traffic is heavy, then they may not have enough time to slow down or swerve in order to avoid hitting the pedestrian, or even realise the presence of the pedestrian, leading to a vehicle-to-pedestrian collision. In the worst cases, jaywalking may lead to a multi-vehicle pile up, including the pedestrian getting hit, creating a proper traffic mayhem.
To ensure safe and smooth flow of traffic, just like vehicles, it is important for pedestrians to adhere to traffic laws, such as having to cross the road using designated road-crossing facilities and at crosswalks -- they have to cross the road only when they are permitted.
Pedestrian-to-vehicle collisions happen almost every day here in Dhaka. There is no doubt that reckless driving is one of the major reasons for pedestrian casualties but jaywalking is also another prime reason for pedestrians falling into danger. Pedestrians are even seen to be running across the road even when they are next to a foot over-bridge.
Jaywalking also severely hampers traffic flow. In the daytime, many of the roads in Dhaka remain clogged due to traffic congestion. However, when vehicles get a chance to move, they have to continuously slow down or come to a halt to avoid hitting jaywalkers or even other vehicles. This is worsening the already “stop and go” traffic condition and disrupting traffic flow even further.
Although most pedestrians understand the risk of jaywalking, they seem to be doing it anyway. To encourage pedestrians to refrain from jaywalking, authorities need to conduct large-scale campaigns about the dangers of jaywalking, provide more safe and convenient road-crossing facilities throughout the city, and maintain the existing road-crossing facilities.
In addition, to prevent jaywalking, the authorities have to increase the height of road dividers, fix them in the spots where they are crumbling down, and most importantly, penalise jaywalkers.
