oboeguy

I swear, sometimes I think people hate their children. I'm gunning it to get through an intersection -- yes, the light is still green! -- well below the city speed limit of 30mph, when I spot a woman and her two little kids start to cross the street across my path. Note that this is totally normal behavior in NYC, all part of the spirit of coopetition in getting from A to B.

What was different today is that the woman was not holding her daughter's hand, so the little girl darted out directly into my path. It took two yells from me to have her stop -- yes, I was braking hard, but smoothly. My words were pretty benign like "WATCH OUT!!!".

The woman's response? in broken English: "you stop @55hole!". I finally had a modestly witty response to JA_'s comment: "Eyes up! I had a green light. Try again!" I think a guy on the sidewalk heard it and laughed. <sigh>

stevo9er

You are dangerous oboeguy..

oboeguy

That's right, I'm a bad man. Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!

But seriously, that's not bad, avoiding a crash with a five year old, the possibility of it entirely created by the stupidity of the mom. Taking stock of the parenting in action: 1) it's OK to cross a street without looking if the signal says don't walk, 2) it's OK to run from mommy in the middle of a busy street, 3) those words mommy uses are OK to use, and worst of all 4) people on bikes are bad!

AEO

some people here actually try that in front of a police cruiser.

vtjim

People need to get this idea out of their heads, that pedestrians have 100% right of way, all the time, anywhere. It simply isn't the case. Not in Vermont, anyway, and we supposedly have "strict" pedestrian ROW laws.

I've scolded peds once or twice for blatant arsehattery too.

roadiejorge 

The one thing that annoys me most of living/commuting in NYC is the fact pedestrians have the nerve to get mad at you when they're crossing against the light and you're trying to get through. In all of my years crossing NYC streets I always assumed it was my responsibility to stay out of any vehicles' way when I'm crodding against the light, if someone honks I acknowledge it's my mistake. I've seen people crossing against the light and give others the finger when they're endangering themselves and motorists and cyclists. Sure she was probably startled but her hand should have been holding her daughter and eyes on any moving vehicles since they have the right of way.

jyossarian

Too bad that woman isn't an aberration. There's lots of people who don't bother to hold their kids hands when crossing the street. Then they get all indignant when their kid almost gets run over.

chephy

That's because the kids get *almost* run over, but not quite. Natural selection isn't given a chance to take over.

DunderXIII

I actually had a similar (but different) story yesterday. I guy in a minivan did a U-turn and ended-up half on the MUP to wait for his daughter who started walking towards the car without looking while I was coming towards them at 35km/h. Never slammed brakes that hard! First time I really put those Kool-Stops for a test and man do they brake.

I don't know what makes bicycles so hard to see or look for, perhaps it's the size (thinness) or the popular belief that they can't go fast. Even on a dedicated bike lane people just don't give a damn about being killed by a bicycle; it's impossible, it can't and won't ever happen.

Buglady

Um, most MUPs have speed limits considerably lower than 35 kph, so maybe that was part of why they weren't looking for you... not that they wouldn't have done the same thing on a road, because I think you're right about people not seeing bicycles, but on the pathway I think you have to take the expected overall speeds into account.

Mr. Underbridge

I've never been to New York, but these pedestrians sound completely insane. I'd be happy around here if drivers stop when I have the right of way.

I've never understood the righteous indignation of people who *know* they're breaking the law. Nuts.

oboeguy

Generalized.

HardyWeinberg

My MIL seems to want to prove she's from downstate NY by dragging my kids into the street only in the middle of blocks and if she does find herself at an actual corner, only against the light.

kenmc

Something similar happened to me a couple years ago - was caning it going up a hill through a green traffic light. Little anklebiter < 4-5 years old darts into the road. Slam on the brakes, barely miss the thing, yell something at the dad along the lines of "Holy **** man look after your ****in kid" - Bit fuzzy 4 years on, but that's the gist of it. Response : "You watch your ****in language".....
Hello????...... Not a parent myself yet, but I think I'd be more worried about nearly having a squished kid than one that learnt a new bad word....

akatsuki

I think it is the way the law is written- it says that pedestrians are the most vulnerable, so they are generally allowed too much leeway. The truth is that pedestrians also have the most maneuverability and control over the situation. If we adopted rules where if a pedestrian is hit on the street anywhere outside of a crosswalk with the light means they are assumed to be at fault, I think it would reduce pedestrian casualties massively - coddling in that case actually worsens the situation.

drizek

I started reading his post as "too bad that woman...didn't...an abortion". I had to go back and reread it carefully.

thebarerider

I don't get it.

Chiro69

I understand your frustration with this particular pedestrian. However I have a problem with the title of your heading. JAP is a very racial slur, whether you try to hide it with (edstrian) or not. There are alot of different asian races out there so you donnot know if in fact they were japanese. She called you an xxxhole not a racial slur so why not just call her one back? Why use a racial slur?

barba

I think it is a play on the JAM abbreviation (Jack A** Motorist), but I agree that it is a very bad idea, especially with the broken English comment.

HardyWeinberg

I think in NY it's a different slur entirely. But I am pretty confident the OP wasn't thinking of any of the myriad gutter possibilities of his acronym.

Flimflam

I have a problem with all of the jaywalkers in the city. There was an elderly possibly homeless lady last night crossing, barely able to walk (with a walker/cart thing) and another person was trying to stop traffic getting her across the road. Not 25 metres down the road on either side was a crosswalk or set of lights - needless to say I didn't slow/yield for them - I yelled "Tell her to use the freaking crosswalk!" - her disability in walking should give MORE reason to use the crosswalk, FFS. I don't care about jaywalking, just don't ***** at me if I don't move for you - do it at your own peril, not mine.

As for the apparent "racial" slur - seriously, it's obviously not a slur in this context - why even bring it up? Racism hurts everyone in equal/opposite ways - and being ignorant and narrow minded enough to think it IS a slur is a touch on the silly side IMO and really only serves to perpetuate the racist side to the term.

This thread is about an idiot pedestrian, that is all.

oboeguy

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS. Are you people seriously pulling the race card? What is wrong with you? The "broken English" was b/c what she said was, duh, in broken English. Is now the time to mention that English is *MY* second language? I guess so, although how "broken English" is even remotely racist is beyond me. Also, Jap =/= JAP*. This thread is about a dumb ped who almost got her kid killed. Nothing more. Don't you dare try to call me racist.

I think next time I'll fill out a disclaimer before posting.

(* And yes, "JAP" can be a slur in NYC but doesn't apply to a grown woman with two kids if you know the meaning)

mtnwalker

So, was she asian or not?

I used to think that JAP(jack ass pedestrians) could be misconstrued as racial too. Then I though about JAW(jack ass walkers). But then somebody might say I'm a bigot against a certain facial area since its so near to a "chin". Then the whole racial problem just starts all over again.

JustBrowsing

So what exactly is "broken" about saying "You stop, *****hole"? That seems like a grammatically correct sentence to me. Or was it that she said it in some sort of accent?

oboeguy

LOL mtnwalker. I'm almost afraid to make a statement on what I perceived to be the ethnicity of the JAS(troller). <snicker/>

As for what made it broken, two things: there was strong hint of non-USA dialect (don't mess with me -- I used to be a linguist) and also it was haltingly said, as much as something said quickly in anger can be.