Every time I drive past north City Market on Main Avenue, I see people in the middle of Main crossing from the supermarket or liquor store to the Spanish Trails Motel. They are obviously not in a crosswalk. Could you please clarify the laws regarding stopping for these people if they are not in a crosswalk? Thank you, Steve Stahl
If scofflaws choose to play “Frogger” on north Main, motorists are under no obligation to accommodate. That comes from our friend Cpl. Nick Stasi with the Durango Police Department. Nick cited a section of the Colorado Revised Statutes (42-4-803) that deals with jaywalking.
By the way, the law doesn’t refer to “jaywalking.” It’s called “crossing at other than crosswalks.”
“Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway,” the law reads.
Nick laments the safety hazard. “Being in the middle of north Main waiting for a break in traffic is not a good place to be,” he said.
“We would much appreciate using the crosswalk that is provided just half a block away,” Nick added.
But there is one last thing. Why do we call it “jaywalking?” Action Line turned to the world’s most infallible source of information, the Internet.
Apparently, around the time when automobiles were becoming common, city dwellers called rural people “jays.” It was a rude term that meant simpleton or naïve person prone to doing dumb things like stepping into traffic.
Thus, a “jay” would be a person who “fell off the turnip truck.”
It makes you wonder why it was never called “turnip-walking.”
Now that the City Council elections are over, what should we do with the lawn signs? Since this council pushed for single-stream recycling, can the metal sign posts that help them get into office be put in the blue bins? – Patriotic Durangoan
Ah, a loaded post-election question. Of course, Action Line will take the bait.
No, the metal sign holders cannot go into your recycling bin. Action Line confirmed with the city’s Recycling Center.
The only metallic things that the city recycles are aluminum and steel cans, metal jar lids and clean aluminum foil and pie plates. You can also recycle aerosol cans if you puncture them first.
But scrap metal like lawn sign holders? Nope.
However, that doesn’t mean they can’t be reused. Which is the point of recycling.
Action Line just happened to run into our friend Dick White, the city’s green champion who won re-election last week.
Dick chose his lawn signs based on the recyclability of the paper sign part. As for the metal sticks, he’s collecting them for the next election.
Not that Dick can be re-elected to the City Council; he’s now term-limited.
Instead, Dick is gathering up the metal sign holders for someone else’s election.
“We’ve already rounded up most of mine and Sweetie’s from around town,” he said. “But if we missed any, please call or email, and I will pick them up.”
Dick’s email is info@dickwhitefordurango.org.
Or maybe we should repurpose the political signs. We could paint them over, emblazon the words “No Jaywalking!” and put them up between City Market and the Spanish Trails Motel.
Either that or modify Sweetie Marbury’s re-election signs to read “Be a ‘Sweetie’ and use the crosswalk.”
On second thought, let’s just save them for the next election.
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if you are a FLC Skyhawk who doesn’t use the crosswalk, thus becoming a jayhawk.
