Sometimes the traffic deities encounter even higher authorities. A curious fact of Los Angeles traffic life is that, at roughly seventy-five signals, in places ranging from Century City to Hancock Park, the button does not always have to be pressed to cross. These intersections run instead on what is known as Sabbath timing. As Sabbath-observant members of the Jewish faith are not supposed to operate machines or electrical devices from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, or during a number of holidays, the act of pressing a button to cross the street is viewed as a violation of this tenet. With the only alternative rampant jaywalking, the city installed automated "Walk" signs at certain intersections (causing what Fisher jokingly calls "sacrificial interruptions" to traffic flow even when no pedestrians are present). "We have the Hebrew calendar programmed into our controller," Fisher told me.
When the DOT suggested installing "smart" devices that would sense the presence of a pedestrian at a crosswalk and activate a flashing signal, it was gently rebuffed by the Rabbinical Council of California, which opined that activating the light via a signal, even if it was done passively, violated the Sabbath restrictions. If pedestrians were unaware that their presence was triggering the device, the council noted, the smart device would be acceptable, but "people would quickly realize its presence and avoid using the crosswalk on the Sabbath."
Sometimes the traffic deities encounter even higher authorities. A curious fact of Los Angeles traffic life is that, at roughly seventy-five signals, in places ranging from Century City to Hancock Park, the button does not always have to be pressed to cross. These intersections run instead on what is known as Sabbath timing. As Sabbath-observant members of the Jewish faith are not supposed to operate machines or electrical devices from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, or during a number of holidays, the act of pressing a button to cross the street is viewed as a violation of this tenet. With the only alternative rampant jaywalking, the city installed automated "Walk" signs at certain intersections (causing what Fisher jokingly calls "sacrificial interruptions" to traffic flow even when no pedestrians are present). "We have the Hebrew calendar programmed into our controller," Fisher told me.
When the DOT suggested installing "smart" devices that would sense the presence of a pedestrian at a crosswalk and activate a flashing signal, it was gently rebuffed by the Rabbinical Council of California, which opined that activating the light via a signal, even if it was done passively, violated the Sabbath restrictions. If pedestrians were unaware that their presence was triggering the device, the council noted, the smart device would be acceptable, but "people would quickly realize its presence and avoid using the crosswalk on the Sabbath."
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