Hawaii has already seen three pedestrian fatalities this year, and many more serious injuries. Local media coverage rarely mentions the drivers’ role in the collisions, or the impact of the roadway conditions.

News stories tend to underscore that pedestrians do not have the right of way, and typically label the events as “pedestrian crashes.” But these stories leave out what or who crashed into the pedestrians.

In 2019, a team reviewed 162 local news articles on crashes involving pedestrians or bicyclists in Hawaii — 69% of the articles did not mention a driver or vehicle.

Only 15% of the articles covered traffic safety solutions. This rhetoric shifts the focus away from addressing the root causes of roadway safety — distracted driving and poor urban design — and unfairly places the burden of responsibility and blame on the victims, who are often vulnerable road users.

“Victim-blaming” rhetoric is tied to jaywalking laws. Although jaywalking is foundational to the way many Americans understand roadway safety, these laws were only enacted in the 1920s, following a campaign by the auto industry to shift the blame onto pedestrians for the national rise in traffic fatalities.

Auto groups also lobbied police to publicly shame transgressors by whistling or shouting at them.

It is from this shaming strategy that the word jaywalking originates. During this time, the word “jay” meant something similar to a “hick” — someone who didn’t know how to walk in a city.

Jaywalking laws have not prevented the nation’s dramatic rise in traffic violence. Instead, they have created a perception that pedestrians alone are responsible for their safety, deflecting the responsibility that traffic engineers, city planners, and especially motorists have in creating safe streets for all.

Enforcement Doesn’t Make Us Safer

The number of jaywalking-related citations given in Hawaii is significantly higher than other localities in the U.S.

The Freedom to Walk report, recently published by Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, found that between 2018-2023 in Hawaii, police issued more than 30,000 jaywalking citations, an average of roughly 5,000 citations per year. By comparison, Washington State (population 7.7 million), only gives out about 400 to 500 jaywalking citations per year.

The Hawaii Appleseed report also found that 78% of these jaywalking tickets are given in densely populated areas of Oahu. Within these areas, certain streets and intersections generate a disproportionately high number of jaywalking citations. For example, in 2018 an estimated 1,316 citations were given along Hotel Street alone (16% of the 2018 total).

Racial information was not obtained by the police for these jaywalking citations. However, data from other localities such as New York City, Jacksonville, and Sacramento where jaywalking enforcement was studied shows that jaywalking citations are given disproportionately to people of color.

While roadway safety is the justification given for jaywalking laws, even the staggeringly high number of jaywalking citations in certain locations do not appear to be linked to reduced traffic violence. While the Honolulu Department of Transportation Services identified some of the jaywalking hot spot locations as high injury locations in their Oahu Pedestrian Plan, others (mainly downtown/Chinatown and Waikiki) are safer for pedestrians than many other parts of the island.

Globally, the cities with the lowest traffic death rates do not have any jaywalking laws. And over the past few years, legislation to repeal or reform jaywalking laws has been enacted in Virginia, California, Nevada, Denver, Kansas City, and Anchorage. About 52 million Americans now live in places where jaywalking has been decriminalized in some form.

Preliminary data show that there has been little to no change in the number of traffic fatalities in these localities. However, the decriminalization of jaywalking and other minor traffic violations has helped to reduce financial burden on the justice system and has provided opportunities to redirect funds to more constructive traffic safety solutions.

A diverse coalition including Hawaii Appleseed, the Hawaii Public Health Institute, Hawaii Bicycling League, Hawaii Workers Center, Ulupono Initiative, KVIBE-Kalihi Valley Instructional Bike Exchange, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, the Transportation Equity Hui, Get Fit Kauai and the Rice Street Business Association have joined this national movement by calling on the legislature to pass Senate Bill 2630 — the “Freedom to Walk” bill.

This bill would prevent pedestrians from being stopped by a law enforcement officer or fined for jaywalking unless there is an immediate danger of a collision with a moving vehicle.

Our policing tactics, media coverage, and government policy must all shift away from blaming pedestrians for vehicle collisions and punishing them with fines. Instead, roadway safety policy should prioritize addressing the underlying systemic issues that lead to traffic violence, and promote a shared responsibility among all road users.

It’s time to stop scapegoating pedestrians and start working toward a future where safe streets are a collective priority.