PHOENIX — Hanging around a road median, for whatever reason, could soon land people in jail.

The Arizona House on Monday gave preliminary approval to making it a misdemeanor for a pedestrian to be on a median “for any purpose other than to cross a street.”

Violators could be locked up for 30 days and face a $500 fine.

The proposal needs a final roll-call vote before going to the Senate.

Rep. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, who is promoting House Bill 2474, called it a matter of public safety.

“We can’t have people standing out in the medians,” he said. “They distract drivers. They’re going to get hit. They have been hit in the past.”

He cited one example of a boy on the side of the road, not in a median, who was killed when a truck going around the corner clipped him.

“The same thing could happen if somebody was making a left-hand turn. They would go over the median,” Payne said.

But during floor debate Monday, opponents said the proposal ignores the reason that some people are in the medians in the first place.

Rep. Richard Andrade, D-Glendale, said he saw two separate instances last weekend in his legislative district.

One, he said, was a family collecting money to get treatment for a child with cancer. The other involved family members who said they were trying to raise money for funeral expenses, Andrade said.

“I want everybody to think about that,” he said. “We’re prepared to throw people in jail and fining them to cover costs that they can’t cover because they’re not fortunate enough because of a medical emergency, medical condition or a death.

“It’s going to imprison people for doing the thing that they should be able to do with no problem.”

Rep. Kirsten Engel, D-Tucson, said the proposed legislation threatens to undermine First Amendment rights of people, not only to solicit funds but also to stand in a median holding protest signs. Those are the kinds of protests teachers engaged in during their 2018 walkout that eventually resulted in Gov. Doug Ducey agreeing to significant raises, Engel said.

She also suggested the law could be used to harass certain people by leaving it up to police to determine whether someone in a median was intending to cross the street.

And Rep. Isela Blanc, D-Tempe, questioned whether such a law is legal, citing a 2013 federal court ruling striking down a statute that made begging of all kinds illegal. That ruling involved a broader law that dealt with activities anywhere, not just on road medians.

Tucson and Pima County already have ordinances against lengthy stays on roadway medians.


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