Jewish officials in Melbourne are in talks with the state’s traffic authority after two Orthodox Jews were fined for jaywalking over the holidays.
The two incidents – one on Yom Kippur and the other last Shabbat – prompted the Jewish Community Council of Victoria to ask for more automatic pedestrian lights to be installed at intersections in Jewish neighborhoods. Several automatic lights for pedestrians already exist.
Police, who have embarked on a crackdown on jaywalkers in Melbourne, have apparently ignored the fact that Orthodox Jews jaywalk because Jewish law prohibits them from pressing buttons on Shabbat and Yom Tov, according to the Australian Jewish News.
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