Murder

Meniscus

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That's why I walk defensively, too. I never put myself in a situation where a driver would have to use their brakes -- because, after all, can I be sure that they'd see me? Whether on foot, on my bike, or in my car, I try to make eye contact with whichever vehicle or person has even the slightest chance of crossing my path. If I can't see their eyeballs looking at me, I expect them to be completely idiotic.

At last, a sensible pedestrian! They do exist. I'm in Massachusetts, where drivers have to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Unfortunately, that means that a lot of people just walk across the road without looking first or giving drivers any chance to stop. Pedestrians may have the right of way, but they also need to have common sense. Stop, look both ways, make eye contact with anyone coming your way, make sure they see you and are stopping for you, THEN cross the road.

From a driver's perspective, cyclists are the worst, though. Too many of them act like they own the road: they don't look, they don't signal, they come out of nowhere, and when they travel in groups they spread out into the road rather than riding single file. One time as I was stepping off the bus I nearly got run over by a cyclist who yelled at me for not watching where I was going. I nearly threw my bag at him, and he would've taken a good fall if I hit him right.

But at least I don't see cyclists talking on cell phones. Yet.
 

findfirefox

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I'm quite the aggressive pedestrian I will (and have) thrown myself onto the hood of a car if I feel the need to make a point.

Also why is it that people either don't stop or they stop way to far away or way too early?
 

RideRocket

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Although I find most cell phone talkers equally annoying, those on 'hands-free' devices can be equally irritating. In the past year, the Army put out an order that all Soldiers must use a 'hands-free' device when using a cell phone or pull over and stop to talk. However, just as many people are busy shaving, reading the newspaper, eating, putting on make-up, etc and you don't see laws being enacted against those acts.

The point is that when you do any of the above, your attention is distracted from the task at hand you should be focusing on, and that's driving your DAMN CAR!
 

LeeEJ

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At last, a sensible pedestrian! They do exist. I'm in Massachusetts, where drivers have to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Unfortunately, that means that a lot of people just walk across the road without looking first or giving drivers any chance to stop. Pedestrians may have the right of way, but they also need to have common sense. Stop, look both ways, make eye contact with anyone coming your way, make sure they see you and are stopping for you, THEN cross the road.

The rules here in DC are the same way. My approach to "pedestrian-ing" seems to be the exception, not the norm.

Sometime last year, a guy in an SUV stopped to ask me for directions. He had a cell phone open and was holding a map in his lap. I pointed him in the right direction, and continued on my way to the corner store, which happened to be down the same block that the SUV driver was heading down (or "the same block down which the SUV driver was heading" :wink: ).

That was when I saw an older guy and his little boy (or grandkid, maybe) walk from the store and into the street in front of the SUV. The SUV was going slow, sure, but the guy put up his hand -- I don't know if he was being apologetic or motioning for the SUV to stop, but I don't care -- and kept walking leisurely across. The boy, holding his hand, also put up his own hand to the driver.

I couldn't fucking stand it. I yelled at him, asking him if he was out of his mind. How could he know that the SUV driver was actually paying attention? I'll tell you: he couldn't. He's just LUCKY that neither he nor the little boy ended up as a stain on the pavement. He didn't even need to cross the street at that point -- he should've continued on my block (maybe even getting a casual "How's it goin'?" from me) and crossed at the intersection like reasonably intelligent people do.

Some civil statute is not going to fucking "save" anyone from a couple tons of poorly-piloted steel and glass. Okay, sure, a supposedly "injured" pedestrian might be in court later, trying to fuck over whoever ran over their toes. But when it comes down to it, they'll still be hurt, crippled, or even become fucking WORM FOOD just because they expected a few lines of text to protect them.

Around here, we even had a rash of bus-pedestrain "accidents". Bullshit. Buses aren't invisible. Those fucking assholes got themselves hit by buses on purpose, seeking injury compensation or whatever else they could screw out of the metro company. Now, all the buses have extra flashing lights so that asshole pedestrians have no more excuses.

I don't know about them, but I'd rather be alive & healthy than stealing money from another hardworking citizen.
 

Meniscus

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I used to drive through downtown on my way to and from work each day, and being a college town there were always lots of pedestrians around. Lots of them were near crosswalks, but I have no way of knowing if they intend to cross or if they are going to walk past, so I drive slowly, keep my eyes moving, and hope they are smart enough not to step out in front of me. I swear, pedestrians sometims act as if crosswalks are some sort of magical safe zone where as soon as you step into one, all traffic instantly stops.

Some civil statute is not going to fucking "save" anyone from a couple tons of poorly-piloted steel and glass...

Exactly. It's not going to save you from a well-piloted vehicle, either, if you step out in front of one that's only a few feet away. Cars that are still some distance away from a crosswalk can stop in time (if they see you), but cars that are right on top on the crosswalk, even if they are going slowly, can't stop instantly. Pedestrians have to let them pass.

I was driving through downtown on my way to work one morning, with a police car behind me, and an older man walking a little dog stepped into the crosswalk in front of me without even looking. I was just a few feet away, so although I hit the brakes, but there was no way I could stop that fast. Fortunately he was still pretty close to the side of the road and was able to jump away, yanking the the dog back with the leash--it was like one of those cartoons where he actually lifted the dog off the ground and into the air and the poor dog made that horrible squealing, yelping noise. Then had the gall to give me a dirty look.

There was a police car right behind me and I wondered if I was going to get pulled over. The fine for not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk is $100. I resumed driving and glanced back into my review mirror to see what the cop was going to do. It's hard to tell, but I thought he gave me a sympathetic "it's not your fault" look. In any case, he didn't stop me, though he obviously saw the whole thing.
"...these babies...were apparently being used as some kind of traffic testers. Their mothers would be pushing them along in their strollers--and they would come to a busy street--and the mother can't see what the traffic is like because of all the parked cars--so she just sort of edges the stroller out into the street and cranes her head out afterwards. And the most striking thing about this is the expression on these babies faces as they're sitting there in the middle of traffic, stranded, banging those little gavels they've all got..."
--Laurie Anderson, "Beginning French"