Causes
The reasons people jaywalk vary from the mundane and technical to the religious. For example, traffic signal synchronization produces green waves for motorists but not necessarily for pedestrians, who may encounter little or no conflicting traffic at cross streets where signals instruct them to wait, where signalized crosswalks require a pedestrian to trigger their operation. Pedestrians are generally unwilling to observe lengthy wait times at signals. They are also more likely to make "informal crossings" at wide roads. Pedestrians in London were found to be more likely to follow the traffic-engineer preferred way through intersections with a design that is attentive to the needs of pedestrians. Cultural norms about jaywalking vary by locality but cannot simply be explained by corresponding variances in law. Cities like Copenhagen and New York have similar restrictions on jaywalking at signalized crosswalks, but the practice is far more common in New York.
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