A new study in Israel suggests devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to be risk-taking pedestrians as their neighbours in secular communities.The truth is, I never thought there was a problem with the pedestrians. I always thought it was the drivers. When's Rosenbloom going to study that?
Tova Rosenbloom of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan suspected religious beliefs might play a role after hearing complaints about pedestrian behaviour in the ultra-Orthodox community of Bnei-Brak. "Drivers who get to Bnei-Brak complain that they need seven eyes," she says. "People walk on the roads as if they were footpaths."
To find out more, Rosenbloom and her colleagues watched more than 1000 pedestrians at two busy junctions, one in Bnei-Brak and the other in Ramat-Gan, a largely secular city. They totted up the number of times a pedestrian either jaywalked, walked on the road rather than the footpath, crossed without looking for traffic, or crossed without holding an accompanying child's hand. The ultra-Orthodox inhabitants of Bnei-Brak were three times as likely to break these rules as people in Ramat-Gan, the team found.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
How did the Orthodox Jew cross the road? Not so carefully, it seems
There's now scientific proof for one persistant complaint about the frum velt:
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4 comments:
Interesting.
I'd like to know whether this reflects on Haredi Jews generally, or on the culture of Bnei Brak specifically. Are Jews in Williamsburg or Gateshead or Telstone similarly inclined to cross the street without looking? Sometimes it's about the city, not specific people -- hence New York City's decision to put barriers between many sidewalks and streets in Manhattan, to prevent jaywalking.
Of course, we COULD blame that on the Haredim in the diamond district . . .
Any scientist knows that this study is painfully unscientific in terms of her conclusion. All this study suggests is that people in Bnei-Brak are more dangerous pedestrians than people in Ramat Gan. The conclusion that this applies to ALL ultra Orthodox Jews anywhere is illogical. Properly Ms. Rosenbloom ought to diversify her random sampling. Perhaps the socialical norms of Bnei-Brak and Ramat Gan don’t apply elsewhere.
Miriam,
This is also a huge problem in Teaneck and Englewood. There have already been injuries, and unfortunately more will probably happen before people change their habits. On erev Shabbat and Motzaei Shabbat people walk 5-6 abreast right down the middle of the road, and seem entirely unaware that cars often don't expect them to be there and/or don't spot them when they round corners.
I have a suspicion that in the case of erev Shabbat this behavior is davka b'shita, since people would rather walk down the middle of a dark road then risk inadvertently tripping a motion sensor and turning on a light bulb over someone's garage.
Can anyone say "Chasid Shoteh?"
- Roads
Miriam,
This is also a huge problem in Teaneck and Englewood. There have already been injuries, and unfortunately more will probably happen before people change their habits. On erev Shabbat and Motzaei Shabbat people walk 5-6 abreast right down the middle of the road, and seem entirely unaware that cars often don't expect them to be there and/or don't spot them when they round corners.
I have a suspicion that in the case of erev Shabbat this behavior is davka b'shita, since people would rather walk down the middle of a dark road then risk inadvertently tripping a motion sensor and turning on a light bulb over someone's garage.
Can anyone say "Chasid Shoteh?"
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