Is Jaywalking in the Eye of the Beholder?

When cars entered the mainstream in the 1920’s, they were considered a menace to pedestrians, who were killed in great numbers. Cars rarely hit pedestrians anymore; they hit jaywalkers. The term jaywalking shifted the blame for accidents from motorists to walkers, and ownership of the streets from walkers to motorists. (Jaywalking is rarer in some places, like Vancouver.) But who counts as a jaywalker? And what does bias among police and newspaper reporters have to do with it? Tom Vanderbilt explains. [%comments]