Bill advances allowing pedestrians to safely jaywalk
Mar. 19—Legislators appear willing to make jaywalking legal across the islands—when safe—arguing in a Senate bill that pedestrians' judgments are better at reducing injuries and deaths than traffic lights and traffic markings.
Legislators appear willing to make jaywalking legal across the islands—when safe—arguing in a Senate bill that pedestrians' judgments are better at reducing injuries and deaths than traffic lights and traffic markings.
The latest version of Senate Bill 2630 continues to move through the House after crossing over from the Senate at the midpoint of the legislative session.
It follows a failed effort in 2023 that would have increased jaywalking fines to $200 from $100. SB 1479 stalled quickly in 2023's session.
Instead, SB 2630 would allow "pedestrians to act contrary to the statewide traffic code when a reasonably careful pedestrian would determine that there is no immediate danger of a collision with a moving vehicle."
There are "numerous benefits to walking, that can include greater physical longevity, lower personal expenses for transportation, and a decrease in the carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, " according to the bill.
If it becomes law, Hawaii would follow other states and cities to either repeal or "reform " jaywalking in Virginia, California, Nevada, Denver, Anchorage and Kansas City, Mo.—representing about 52 million residents, according to a study by the Hawai 'i Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, which submitted testimony in support of SB 2630 during a March 12 House Transportation Committee meeting.
Along with Hawaii, similar legislation has been proposed for New York City and Washington, according to Hawai 'i Appleseed.
In a report this month, Hawai 'i Appleseed analyzed Hawaii court records from 2018 to 2023 that show Hawaii law enforcement agencies disproportionately issue jaywalking citations compared with officers in Washington.
"During this time period, 5, 028 jaywalking citations were given per year in Hawai 'i, which amounts to 349 jaywalking tickets given for every 100, 000 people, " according to its study titled "Freedom to Walk : Decriminalizing Jaywalking and Shifting Investment Towards Safe, Accessible Pedestrian Infrastructure."
"In comparison, in Washington state, on average only six jaywalking tickets are given for every 100, 000 people. ... Although jaywalking is often cited by government enforcement officials as a tool to keep pedestrians safe, analysis of pedestrian tickets in cities such as Jacksonville show there is no strong relationship between where jaywalking tickets are being issued and where pedestrians are being killed."
On the mainland, Hawai 'i Appleseed said, jaywalking tickets are disproportionately issued to people of color.
For the March 12 House Transportation Committee hearing on SB 2630, Leah Laramee—coordinator of the Hawai 'i Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission—submitted written testimony neither in support nor opposition.
But Laramee wrote that it would "address equity issues as jaywalking contributes to racially-based pretextual police stops and the overrepresentation of people of color in the criminal justice system."
"This, combined with the State of Hawai 'i's history of disproportionately policing and incarcerating Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI ) further enforces racial injustice in the state. ... NHPI were involved in over one third of police force incidents despite making up only a quarter of the population."
Opposition to SB 2630 has come from the Honolulu Police Department, state Department of Transportation and state Department of Law Enforcement.
In its written testimony, DOT officials said the bill could put children and senior citizens at risk for injury or death—"our most vulnerable road users "—following 132 pedestrian fatalities and 459 serious injuries from 2019 through 2023, "Pedestrians aged 17 and younger or aged 65 and older were involved in 39 percent of pedestrian fatalities and 33 percent of pedestrian serious injuries, " DOT wrote.
The Department of Law Enforcement wrote that SB 2630 "essentially ties the hands of every law enforcement officer when it comes to pedestrians illegally in the roadway unless the officer is able to identify and clearly articulate how a reasonably careful pedestrian would think it is safe to do so. ... This bill will significantly increase the number of pedestrians crossing the road, something that is currently a substantial problem in areas of our community. It is also highly likely that many will feel that it is within their statutorily given right to step into traffic."
State health officials also declined to take a position on SB 2630, but submitted testimony that removing jaywalking penalties has little effect.
"Initial data from localities where decriminalization of jaywalking was implemented (Virginia, Kansas City, and California ) show that there has been little to no change in the number of traffic injuries and fatalities. In addition, cities with the lowest traffic death rates (mainly in Europe ) do not have jaywalking laws."
