We thought this was a joke at first. Automakers made up the crime of “jaywalking”. This occurred in the @cityofredmond in the state of Washington in the United States. The term Jaywalking was promoted by the auto industry to shame people off the streets in the 1920’s. Streets were vibrant places of community with many uses and users one hundred years ago. When the automobile showed up then the killings started and then an outcry from people against the automobile on their streets. In response to looming anti auto industry legislation they pushed the term jaywalking to shame people from being in the street. “Jay” is a term for idiot or hick. They started lobbying police to ticket people and began entering schools with “safety” programs claiming that streets are for cars not people. Cyclists get the same treatment as “jaywalkers”. People have been taught their whole lives through our institutions and media that streets are only for automobiles. This is changing around the world as people begin to understand there are other more human scale ways to live. Check out Peter Norton’s book Fighting Traffic: Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City #skatebordingisnotacrime