Roads started for people walking. At a min, it should be allowed for any method of moving. I dislike the idea of some roads not being allowed to move along the shoulder at least. Not everyone can have a car or bike. At a min, one should be a able to roam, which is god given.
Completely agree. People don’t really realize that J-walking had to be seen as a bad thing to people because before cars it was completely normal to simply walk across the street. And it was normal and accepted. But fast moving cars made it too dangerous so enter the crosswalk, and j-walking tickets.
What’s kind of interesting is that a motorist must pass a test and know the rules of the road to get a license. And if you violate those rules you may get a ticket. But a j-walker is just a person walking down the street that decides he wants to go to the other side. I don’t see how J-walkers can even be cited, without ample signage stating that it is a crime to cross the street except at crosswalks.
Agreed. And this is easy to do. Build sidewalks in urban and suburban areas and wide shoulders on rural roads. This should be considered part of the normal cost of the road.
In my neck of the woods, the first problem is roads where the original sidewalks and shoulders were long since taken to build more traffic lanes, and never replaced. This is cheating by the automotive lobby. The carheads should not be permitted to degrade other people's neighborhoods. Sidewalks are important for the people who live there, and motorists should come second. If your commute is too long, live closer to your job.
The second big problem is suburban communities where the developers saved money by not building sidewalks or adequate shoulders to begin with. This is just stupid. As the area grows and densifies, as young commuters get married and have kids, and as older residents age and retire, the need for non-vehicular mobility will inevitably emerge. It is relatively cheap to build sidewalks and shoulders at the front end. It becomes very difficult and expensive to retrofit that capacity in areas built with only cars in mind. 20 years later, people wake up and wonder, "what in the world were they thinking/"