Jaywalking

To clarify, jaywalking is any walking which takes place outside of a crosswalk.

This seems like a silly law, overall, but it does have at least one legitimate purpose: it creates a rule that faults a particular party in the event of an automobile/pedestrian accident. Specifically, the pedestrian is at fault unless he/she is in the crosswalk. Drivers should not be concerned with crazy pedestrians filing suit for darting out in front of cars and getting hit.

Now I am not sure if this is actually the way the law plays out in the event that an actual accident occurs. However, the law can certainly be justified on these grounds. Note that this says nothing about fining people for jaywalking (which rarely happens anyway). A better law might create the standard while refraining from penalizing those who jaywalk and are not involved in an accident.

Any other justifications for this law? Think mine is bunk? Comments open.