Jaywalking is the act of pedestrians walking in or crossing a roadway if that act contravenes traffic regulations. The term originated in the United States as a derivation of the phrase jay-drivers, people who drove horse-drawn carriages and automobiles on the wrong side of the road, before taking its current meaning. Jaywalking was coined as the automobile arrived in the street in the context of the conflict between pedestrian and automobiles, more specifically the nascent automobile industry.
Sign prohibiting jaywalking in Singapore's Orchard Road
An anti-jaywalking poster created in 1937 as part of the United States WPA's Federal Art Project
Jaywalkers cross a congested street in Midtown Manhattan, 1973.
Fences, like here in Beijing, deter jaywalkers from crossing the road.
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. Pedestrians may also be wheelchair users or other disabled people who use mobility aids.
Pedestrians on a crosswalk in Buenos Aires
A sign in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, directing pedestrians to an overpass for safe crossing.
Pedestrian signal in Santa Ana, California.
The pedestrian Bauman Street in Kazan, Russia.
