You might not realize these pedestrian violations exist in Chicago
Soon, "distracted walking" can come with a fine. Two Chicago Aldermen, Edward Burke (14th) and Anthony Beale (9th), have proposed an ordinance that states: "No person shall cross a street or highway while using a mobile electronic device in a manner that averts their visual attention to that device or that device’s activity."
This means that crossing the street while scrolling through Twitter or sending that last text message can cost you upwards of $90–$500.
This ordinace has not passed yet, but is creating a lot of conversation.
However, did you know there are already quite a few ordinaces on the books that would lead to fines for pedestrians? These are things that people do daily, such as not yielding to the right-of-way of cars at marked crosswalks. Against common belief, pedestrians actually do NOT have the right-of-way.
Here are a few ordinances currently on the books that might surprise you:
1. If you run across to cross the street when a car is coming, that is a fine.
Legal terms: "No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield."
2. Stay inside the lines.
Legal terms: "No pedestrian shall cross a roadway at any place other than by a route at right angles to the curb or by the shortest route to the opposite curb except in a marked crosswalk."
3. If there is no sidewalk, there are still rules.
Legal terms: "Where sidewalks are not provided any pedestrian walking along and upon a roadway shall when practicable walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing traffic that may approach from the opposite direction."
