Mentalist, on 02 November 2016 - 01:27 PM, said:
Dadding, on 02 November 2016 - 01:10 PM, said:
Captain Needa, on 02 November 2016 - 12:59 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.
Politely disagree. Cars go on roads, it's their territory, not pedestrians. It's like asking the stampede to be careful of the Cowboy ... who happens to have his head in a phone.
The law says "pedestrians have right of way", but common sense says "but I am small and squishy".
Roads being the "territory" of cars is a relatively recent invention (thank the automobile lobbyist for that). That being said, we're talking about crosswalks here, which are extensions of the sidewalk, which is by virtue of their name, the territory of walking pedestrians. If we go down the road (pun intended) that pedestrians shouldn't even get priority here, then we risk thinking that if we want to get anywhere we should be driving. That walking is this outdated technology that doesn't deserve a second glance. This mindset of driving being the superior/only way of transporting means we get fatter and we contribute more to climate change, two 'epidemics' that are pretty serious business nowadays. I think it's exactly because the pedestrian is small and squishy that they deserve priority. A driver isn't going to be hurt hitting a pedestrian, but a pedestrian is certainly going to hurt being hit by a driver. Same thing applies for cyclists.
That being said, a lot of people disagree not-so-politely, so I appreciate that!
I'm pretty sure Rachel's OP was directed primarily at jaywalkers who cross anywhere they feel lik it and expect the world and traffic to stop for their sauntering.
As someone who walks, bikes or takes transit to 95% of possible day-to-day destinations, I'm gonna echo Sombra here: if you are th squishy one, it's comm sense to maintain watch and make sure no metal murderbox is malfufunctioning towards you- ESPECIALLY if you choose to cut across "empty street" in order to save those precious 30 seconds it'd take to walk over to a crossing at the end of the block.
Hell, when we were kids, we used to walk on the road from school- not just walk, but cross a soccer ball from one side of the road to another- but we were always on the look out for cars, and seeing one was enough to make people run to the safety of the sidewalk.
"Right of way" is all well and good, but at no point should it replace your own instinct to be aware of potential dangers around you.
Further to this, and Sombra's post, I'd suggest the following:
There are more cars than pedestrians. Unfortunate, but factual. This means that a pedestrian is a rarity and therefore the special case, not the norm.
Pedestrians have a LOT more time to plan their upcoming actions, and therefore have a better perspective from which to be making decisions about the safety of their actions.
Pedestrians, odd as it may seem, are VASTLY more maneuverable than cars. They can stop on the spot, no braking distance due to momentum, they can turn on a dime, without carrying any forward momentum, and perhaps most importantly: they only have a very small distance to avoid a collision. It's the same as when you are driving - the gap required for you to cross a road is vastly less than the gap required to turn in front of a car and travel along with it. Pedestrians crossing the road have only a couple of meters to finish crossing to avoid a car, ergo they only need a few seconds to get out of the way (basically, it takes a very small amount of time to move two meters, even when you're walking, compared to the time it takes a car to travel 100m).
Just to be clear: I don't disagree that drivers have a responsibility to avoid hitting pedestrians (or cyclists - though honestly cyclists should not be on the road, either the footpaths need to be repaired and maintained to a standard fit for cycling, or cycle lanes need to proliferate. Forcing cyclists onto the road along with cars is extremely dangerous for all parties, as cycles are slow, still have an issue with stopping distances, require effort to be exerted to keep them moving, can be unbalanced very easily, and are ultimately unprotected from collisions with cars, no matter who is at fault).
And I certainly think that drivers need to be much more aware of what is happening than they are - far too many drivers are not even bothering with obeying the road rules as it is.
But.
Unless you are on a pedestrian crossing, or in a shared zone, crossing the road is inherently dangerous. And expecting a one-ton-plus vehicle to stop for you just because you're squishy is not a practical attitude to take, especially when you don't have right of way. Look both ways before you cross. Keep looking as you cross. It's not hard. And at the end of the day, isn't it better for BOTH parties to take responsibility for road safety? Means that if the driver isn't paying attention, the pedestrian might be. Or vice versa.
Also, all of this is just another reason why self-driving cars need to become a thing, and fast. Take people away from the wheel and cars become a LOT safer, and more efficient.
My friends and I even had a running joke about the pedestrian thing at one point - when crossing the road, someone would make some comment about the chances of being hit by some car or other. The response? "It's fine - they have to stop!" Not because we actually thought that, but because it was fun to laugh at the idea that a law would somehow prevent a metal box hurtling along at 50km/h from killing you if you just stepped out in front of it without warning.
Edit: cross-post with QT.
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