Fearless, defiant, detested: Meet the Boston jaywalker
To harried Boston drivers, they are a scourge — those ambling pedestrians who casually cross the street in defiance of green lights.
And woe to anyone who honks at them in frustration.
“You get a lot of fingers,” grumbled one Boston cab driver parked in Downtown Crossing. “A lot of cursing.”
“I’m not a nasty person naturally, but it can make you nasty,” said Jan Shepherd, a mild-mannered freelance writer who has found herself in screaming matches with jaywalkers. “It can ruin your day.”
The long-running tension between the city’s drivers and its pedestrians spilled into City Hall last week after Mayor Martin J. Walsh took to the radio and suggested people pay more attention when they walk and bike around the city. He was instantly slammed by cycling and pedestrian advocates who accused him of victim blaming.
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