Is jaywalking a mortal

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steve99n

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Can jaywalking be a mortal sin? Can you show some examples , because i crossed the street where there was no cross walk but there were no incoming cars at the time, is that a sin?
 
No, because it wouldn’t count as grave matter.

Of course if you deliberately walked out in front of a moving car in order to injure or kill yourself, that would be a different matter, but simply disobeying a local ordinance about where the appropriate place is to cross a road is not grave matter and, I’d say, barely even venial.

So if you crossed the road somewhere ‘wrong’, it’s nothing to worry about in Church. The only thing you need to worry about is getting a citation from a law enforcement official.
 
No, jaywalking is not a sin. However, if you do it anywhere in New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles, you need your head examined!
 
George_Stegmeir said:
No, jaywalking is not a sin. However, if you do it anywhere in New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles, you need your head examined!
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It is a sin to disobey just laws, any just law. Whether it is mortal or not is perhaps a matter for debate, but consider this: are you willing to gamble with jaywalking when the possibility exists of being hit and immediately killed by a vehicle and going straight to Hell? If you’re OK with that possibility, what about the possibility that you will survive, and sue for personal injury in a court of law, and lose because you were the one breaking the law, not the driver? Are you OK with the potential to cause a traffic accident as people swerve and brake to avoid hitting you? Are you OK with being caught by the police, and having to pay a ticket or appear in court to answer for your wrongdoing?

With all these possibilities it seems to me like the Christian thing to do would be to cross lawfully.
 
One only needs to obey civil laws where they are enforced by authorities. Police do not care if somebody crosses an empty street with no traffic. Also the intent of the law is to avoid dangerous situations such as busy intersections. So there was no sin, and definitely not a mortal one!

Your question immediately jumped out at me because my daughter used to suffer from scrupulosity. I don’t know you, nor have I heard any of your other posts, but a question like yours sounds like someone who may have the condition of scrupulosity. You may want to talk to a priest if you have a lot of thoughts about whether this little thing or that little thing is a mortal sin. 🙂
 
Joseph6279 said:
One only needs to obey civil laws where they are enforced by authorities.
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Please cite Church teaching and documents which state this to be the case. It seriously jeopardizes souls to tell people “no sin” when there is real danger. That is a more dangerous sin than jaywalking.

The intent of the law is to keep pedestrians out of zones where they have no business. If a lone driver were to come along and hit you, he would not be at fault because you were out of bounds. Is there “no sin” to drive up on the sidewalk, as long as you don’t see people walking? Is there “no sin” to drive through a red light, because you don’t see other cars crossing? Is there “no sin” to go just a little faster than the speed limit, because it’s a lonely highway? How do you know a priori whether a law is enforced or not? Do you call your local police station and give them a list of laws you’d like to break, and see whether they will choose to enforce them against you?
 
Elizium23 said:
Please cite Church teaching and documents which state this to be the case. It seriously jeopardizes souls to tell people “no sin” when there is real danger. That is a more dangerous sin than jaywalking.

The intent of the law is to keep pedestrians out of zones where they have no business. If a lone driver were to come along and hit you, he would not be at fault because you were out of bounds. Is there “no sin” to drive up on the sidewalk, as long as you don’t see people walking? Is there “no sin” to drive through a red light, because you don’t see other cars crossing? Is there “no sin” to go just a little faster than the speed limit, because it’s a lonely highway? How do you know a priori whether a law is enforced or not?** Do you call your local police station and give them a list of laws you’d like to break, and see whether they will choose to enforce them against you?**
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Actually, many in law enforcement would encourage this sort of forewarning… 😃
 
In my opinion it would not be. In my area it could easily be fatal and is the jaywalker’s fault. Since we are on the subject how about drivers who run red lights at top speed?:dts:
 
It can be extremely mortal if you get run over.

I tried it in New York City once and had to run for my life. I’ve never heard so many car horns honking in unison.

But in some European cities, it’s okay, provided that you just step out, ignore the traffic and keep going. If you look at the cars you will get hit!
 
JimG said:
It can be extremely mortal if you get run over.

I tried it in New York City once and had to run for my life. I’ve never heard so many car horns honking in unison.

But in some European cities, it’s okay, provided that you just step out, ignore the traffic and keep going. If you look at the cars you will get hit!
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I wouldn’t advise jaywalking anywhere in Germany. If the politzei don’t apprehend you, you will most likely get a severe lecture about your anti-social behavior and being a scofflaw by an irate public!
Jaywalking is a crime that drives Germans right up a wall! It is worse than butting ahead in a bus or tram line. People will actually call a policeman on you for either action.
 
steve99n: I would strongly recommend that you make an appointment to meet with your pastor concerning your recent questions and the possibility that you may suffer from scrupulosity.
 
Monte_RCMS said:
Rome is ok.
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Two of my daughters have a very different opinion.

They almost lost their lives to drivers who decided it was too inconvenient to brake for a group of children crossing and decided to just drive around and through them. :mad:

Sarah x 🙂
 
Elizium23 said:
are you willing to gamble with jaywalking when the possibility exists of being hit and immediately killed by a vehicle and going straight to Hell?
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So, one can live a holy and innocent life sanctified by the sacraments of the Church, yet find themselves in Hell because they jaywalked? I doubt that any serious theologian or minister of the Church would subscribe to such a point of view.

I think that you are overthinking things.
 
Boy, I never thought the issue of crossing the street where there are no cars would become such a heated topic.

If a street is a small side street and there are no cars in sight it is not even a venial sin, let alone a mortal sin to cross the street without a crosswalk. In response to Elizium23, yes, I believe that if you asked a policemen if they would ticket you in such a situation, that they would say no. But it would take courage to ask the question as he may laugh at you. Often one would have to walk a 20 houses down just to get to the nearest crosswalk.

If there is no perceivable risk, but nonetheless there are cars around and one ignores the crosswalk and crosses (without sufficient reason like an emergency), there could be a venial sin due to being disobedient to the law.

I believe a mortal sin in crossing a street and ignoring a light and/or crosswalk would be where one is taking a gamble on their life due to immanent oncoming traffic.
 
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