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RACHEL, on 04 November 2016 - 12:17 AM, said:
Dadding, on 02 November 2016 - 02:10 PM, said:
QuickTidal, on 02 November 2016 - 01:40 PM, said:
Dadding, on 02 November 2016 - 12:53 PM, said:
RACHEL, on 01 November 2016 - 04:14 PM, said:
Fucking teenagers and their slow sullen walk across streets holding up traffic is pissing me off today. Why do people do this, its not just rude, its really dangerous. There are more and more drivers out there and more and more reasons for distracted driving and yet some idiots think it is a good idea to slowly make their way across a street ( not even in the crosswalk) and assume that everyone should slow to a halt to accommodate them. I see young kids look both ways and then quickly cross a street but when kids reach a certain age they assume the whole world revolves around them. It infuriates me to the point of almost wanting them to get hit by a car just to wipe that angsty look off their faces. I do not text and drive, I rarely talk on the phone while driving, I don't have kids to distract me and I'm not much of a speeder and I am well aware that pedestrians have the right of way, but for fucks sake move your asses. If you are stupid enough to trust that every driver is just waiting to stop their car so you can take your sweet time then maybe we don't need you among the living anymore. I know who is going to win when it is me versus a car at any speed so I always cross streets quickly or just flag the car along and then cross. In all honesty I don't want to see anyone get hurt while crossing the street but to me it seems incredibly reckless to risk your life by assuming some stranger is not only going to see you but also stop on time for you. When I was 13 I was on a bike ride with two friends and we got to a crosswalk and the car stopped so we rode our bikes across the street. We were in a line and I was the last in line and as soon as I got in front of the car he started up and hit me. Besides a sore arm I was unhurt and even though the cops came I didn't press charges or go to the hospital. I had followed all the rules, we waited for the car to stop and we were in a crosswalk quickly crossing the street and the driver still was not paying enough attention to see me coming right after my two friends so I know how easy it is to get hit by a car even when you are doing everything right. I may be sensitive to this issue but a slow walk into traffic is asking for trouble so why risk it.
I see where you're coming from, but shouldn't it be the responsibility of the drivers to not hit the pedestrians not the other way around? I mean the drivers are the ones with the big metal murder boxes. It's like telling people they need to protect themselves from being shot by wearing a ballistic vest all the time. It's the responsibility of the people with guns not to shoot people, not the other way around. I do agree that pedestrians often don't pay enough attention (because the fact of the matter is that drivers don't pay enough attention either so you need to protect yourself), but in this car-centric world it seems like vehicles are treated as what "should" be on the streets, and pedestrians are just inconvenient obstacles, whereas I think it should be the other way around.
I would actually say that it's a collective agreement between the two. Cars should be cognizant and respectful of pedestrians (especially when they have the right of way [I can't tell you how often cars treat this as not so and just shove their way wherever they wish]) and vice versa pedestrians ought to be cognizant of the fact that cars are also trying to get where they are going, so don't dawdle.
As for me, when I'm a pedestrian (every day to and from work), I will fast walk across the crosswalk (not run or even jog mind you) and not "stroll" as I know cars are waiting to turn (usually). So I feel like I'm fulfilling my part of the bargain in that I'm not overly pushing myself, but I'm not remotely dawdling across either...so cars can get where they are going. Unless you have something that prevents you from walking moderately briskly across a crosswalk (eg. the elderly, or the infirm), you should be doing so.
When I'm driving, I will attempt to give pedestrians the right of way as much as I can, and be wary of them possibly choosing to cross at the wrong time of make a mistake.
The problem is that too many pedestrians feel it is their god-given right to stroll at whatever pace they want to, string down at their phones, or just generally lollygagging...or worse crossing against the green light. There is an intersection near my condo that is usually green because the cross street is a major street, so it's red much less...and pedestrians apparently get annoyed with following the rules and cross on the green...as I'm trying to drive through...and no amount of honking seems to even be registered by them, they thnk they can do what they like.
So there are assholes on both sides of the coin...but I've always seen it as an agreement that some people follow and others don't.
Oh, and don't even get me started on cyclists...think they can be pedestrians when it suits them and vehicles when it suits them...there are more cyclist lawbreakers in my city than anyone else. And in fact I've been almost hit by more cyclists than I have cars....though I was hit by a pickup truck once.
I might agree with you that both sides share a collective burden if both sides were equally likely to hurt each other. But the fact of the matter is that drivers kill pedestrians. Pedestrians don't kill drivers. Cars kill 30,000 Americans every year. Pedestrians don't. In Canada, in Toronto, a person is hit by a car every 3 hours, every day. We should want to make the streets safer for pedestrians (to avoid death..) rather than more convenient for drivers (to avoid.. being late?).
Before cars, roads were considered this public place that everyone had an equal right to use. Then after the automobile industry encouraged it, we decided to criminalize pedestrians by introducing jay-walking. Suddenly the cars were the top dogs. All this despite some seriously damning evidence: In the first four years after WWI, when cars were becoming more and more prevalent, more Americans died in car-related "accidents" than during the war itself. We've been trained to think of car accidents as unavoidable and accidents, when if we just shifted our priorities, we could prevent a lot of these deaths.
There's a really good article that sums it up here
Then you get the added bonus that less cars means less pollution - Paris is closing down roads for that very reason. And research shows that people are happiest, and even more well-to-do in pedestrian-friendly cities.
All this being said, don't be stupid as a pedestrians, things are the way things are, so you might as well be safe to prevent your own death. But society has definitely got things backwards.
Sorry I meant to reply to this before but my kindle messed up my reply and I kind of forgot about it till now. What actually happened is I was driving home and three teens walked slowly out into the street, never even looking up at traffic, not in a crosswalk, and when I am forced to come to a complete stop and I blare my horn repeatedly at them they barely glance up even then. My problem is not with pedestrians because of course I think they have the right of way and drivers should be on the lookout for them. My problem is when I see people leave their life in the hands of complete strangers who are probably texting and driving. In my opinion it is next level stupid to just walk out into a road without even looking and just take it for granted that everyone will stop for you. This is asking to get hit and possibly die when all you need to do is glance around a little. I know that drivers should be looking out for pedestrians but it is a fact that they don't so why would you be so stupid to risk your life. People are not supposed to text and drive, drive under the influence, speed ect. but a lot of people do so why would you assume that the person whose car is coming toward you is abiding by the law just because they should be. People are not supposed to steal but I still lock my car and my house.
