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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   32425 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 31, 2022

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My girlfriend and I probably jaywalked

No you didn't. Another thing you may come to appreciate about British life: people are free to make their own informed decisions about when it is or isn't safe to cross the road.

Indeed. I learned that from the Beatles.

Oh, that's a relief, I guess I've been watching too much American media and forgetting things aren't the same across the pond.

Or more likely, it's the fact that pretty much everyone was using designated crossings, and my Indian brain assumed there had to be some kind of penalty for not rushing across the street whenever you feel like it, traffic be damned haha

It's funny you think this is related to your Indian heritage, because I always thought "there must be a law against it if nobody is doing it" was a thoroughly western concept. It's definitely a popular way of thinking with the Danes and Irish I know.

The UK is full of "things that are legal but not done." Sadly, not as much as in the good old days, e.g. British queuing is going Continental.

It's pretty unusual for anti jaywalking laws to be enforced in America, even if it is technically illegal in some cities. Usually you'd have to be being intentionally disruptive before the cops would give you a hard time. The only city I've seen try to enforce it was DC.

Yeah, my understanding is that it's mainly illegal to simplify situations where someone darts in front of a car and gets hit.

I only know about the late 90s attempt in NYC from a throwaway futurama joke.

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