DALEY: PEDESTRIANS MUST STOP DOING WHAT I MADE THEM TO DO

Mayor Daley has halted the controversial plan to ticket pedestrians who tie up downtown traffic by jaywalking and racing across streets after the light has changed.

In your Chicago Sun-Times, Daley discussed jaywalking:

"I don't know about ticketing them. But, it's a safety issue. When someone . . . tries to run across, like Lake Shore Drive, and they get killed, don't blame the city and don't blame the driver," Daley said.

"Jaywalking is very dangerous. A lot of people get seriously injured or killed."

Run across Lake Shore Drive, Rich?

What would make Mayor Daley think that folks would jaywalk across the ten -- count 'em -- ten lanes of Lake Shore Drive, much less that they would blame the city for getting hurt doing so?

Oh yeah...

As your Chicago Tribune reported in July, the Mayor's Traffic Management Authority permanently closed the Lake Shore Drive crosswalk linking the Buckingham Fountain to the Queen's Landing lakefront promenade.

Now pedestrians -- who used the crosswalk to get from the fountain to Queen's Landing -- now must hike nearly half-a-mile to the cross-walks at Jackson and Balbo.

Or jaywalk.