northernlights

I notice it almost every time a pedestrian is crossing the street they almost always fail to look either way before crossing. They see the walk signal or green light and just assume it is safe to cross the street. I see their head looking straight forward but never moving, or looking straight down into their phones without ever looking up.

What if a driver fails to notice you crossing the street because he is talking on his or her phone, is drunk, distracted, or is in a hurry to go somewhere? What if a driver is speeding and doesn't have time to stop before running into you?

I don't understand this mentality at all. Ever since I was in grade school I would always look both ways before crossing the street. Whether walking, driving or cycling it should be done with a defensive mentality and always safety in mind. Are people so stupid and lazy they can't bother to take a few seconds to look around to be aware of their surroundings? Why would you entrust your life to complete strangers who are driving multi-ton vehicles that can kill you within a fraction of a second? All it takes is one distracted driver and you're a goner or in a wheelchair the rest of your life. Having the right of way won't protect you from drunk drivers, speeding drivers, distracted drivers, drivers who are high on drugs, drivers talking or texting on their phone, elderly drivers, youthful inexperienced drivers, drivers who are just having a bad day, the list goes on. 9 times out of 10 pedestrians and cyclists have the right of way when they are killed or injured by drivers.

FBinNY 

I'm with you.

I consider lights only to be suggestions or guidelines. Driving, cycling or walking, I eyeball cross traffic and don't move across the front until I have clear signs that they're stopping.

catgita

"Look both ways" seems grossly inadequate. You need to look left, right, ahead and behind for turning cars. Any and all directions where a car or bike might approach. Looking behind when walking on the right side of the street seems to be the most important, and least often checked. Look for drivers looking for a gap to make a turn, because they are looking only for cars, not pedestrians or bikes. And then you have to watch for salmon and sidewalk riders who are not going to stop or look for anything.

coominya

Might be just nature's way of solving the overpopulation problem?

genec

Nah, not efficient enough... something like a flu epidemic works better.

mr_bill

It amazes me how many people driving cars fail to yield to pedestrians.

-mr. bill

BobbyG

+1

I grew up in Chicago in the 1960s and understood at an early age that drivers aren't looking out for you.

In the 1980s I lived in Iowa City and then Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where drivers did generally watch out for pedestrians and encountered a preponderance of well-meaning, overly polite "niceholes" (although when walking I appreciate them more).

I now live in Colorado Springs, and "obliviot" drivers seem to be multiplying weekly. I bike commute and then walk at lunch. There is one intersection where traffic isn't expecting pedestrians, despite the crosswalks and walk signals. Before crossing I must make eye contact with cars in the right-turn lane and even then I don't trust 'em because enough of them just don't stop for me. Once I get half way across I have to turn and look behind me to make sure there are no left turning cars trying trying to fly through the intersection.

I feel much safer on my bike where I have a glasses mounted mirror and my AirZound airhorn. I often think about wearing the mirror and carrying the airhorn on my lunchtime walk.

I suppose in the future when we have self-flying vehicles, personal anti-gravpacks and multi-level traffic like in the sci-fi movie, "Time 5th Element" we will be discussing preoccupied flydestrians who "ascend" up through traffic willy-nilly without checking their real-time situ-wareness nav units. (And people will still be complaining about cyclists, who will seem even more quaint, while the future version of "hipsters" will be flying around on some sort of flying stationary "spinning" bike whose fusion-powered progress is somehow dependent on them pedaling some mechanical or virtual approximation of cranks; the most obnoxious ones "pedalling single-reactor, constant fusion units sans gravity-brakes weaving in and out of traffic in three dimensions (and possibly four) while the latest VR holo-music videos on their viso-phones blind and deafen them to the world around them.

genec

It all started with right turn on red... and failed when the "stop" component was ignored by drivers and LEOs.

jefnvk

To be fair, if the pedestrian has the signal, we should be bashing the driver who ignored theirs. It would be like blaming someone who got t-boned going through a green light for not stopping and looking before proceeding.

genec

Indeed we should be bashing the driver... And no doubt certain cities have realized that this IS a driver issue...

SylvainG

To OP, what I find worse is cyclists running a stop at an intersection but do not look for incoming cars! I know it's a 4 way stop and they are probably going less than 10 km/h but still...

Skipjacks

I can't stand the pedestrians who are staring at their phones who just waltz into the road without slowing down. They assume they are safe because they are in the crosswalk and are legally protected.

But they never stop to remember that all the legal protections don't prevent you from getting run over by a truck. They just make the truck driver wrong after the fact.

work4bike

I see it all the time. It's one thing to yield, it's quite another thing to slam on the brakes to prevent hitting an idiot walks/rides directly in front of you.

indyfabz

More and more similar signs are showing up in downtown Philly. Also, in the busy center city area, where there is heavy pedestrian traffic, virtually all (if not all) intersections are signed for no right turn on red.

genec

Yup, it's a law few obey. A cop could make their entire "quota" in one day by watching for violators of right on red-after a stop.

B. Carfree

If the OP observed me walking, he might assume that I am not looking all directions before I proceed because I do everything I can to make it appear that I am not aware of the motorists around me. In fact, I am fully aware of all of them. When I exercise my right of way at unmarked crosswalks, it may appear to an untrained person that I am risking my life, but if you pay attention you will see that I always have several outs.

This strategy works well because if you look at motorists, they assume you will yield to them and will proceed accordingly. Motorist entitlement has become the norm; I refuse to accept it without a fight. However, I resist without putting myself in needless danger, although it may appear that I am to someone with a windshield perspective on road use.

Chris0516

What about, how many motorists' don't pay attention to their driving.

work4bike

I wonder how many cyclists would obey the No Right on Red law if it were passed as some claim they'd like to see?


This is kind of like the Idaho Stop law. I see cyclists do it wrong all the time. They seem to think that it means that cyclists can just roll thru all stop signs at any time.

rydabent

Many are what I call smart phone zombies. They simply are not aware of what is going on around them.

mr_bill

Sure was vitally important for these people to queue up at the red light.

-mr. bill

jon c. 

People ..... they're the worst

genec

An ingenious way to ensure that motorists slow down for pedestrians...



Of course the peds better be paying attention too, lest they "slip through the cracks."

JonnyHK 

I almost feel bad about laughing...

Actually, don't laugh about this one. My sister is a paramedic in Melb. AUS where a nasty strain of flu is killing people old and young all over the place.

I'm not amazed at all. The average driver is rather average.

At least one pedestrian had to replace a phone due to my warning shout when cycling past. She dropped it in fright as I passed - luckily - behind her at 45km/h on a descent when she wandered across the road without looking.

JonnyHK 

Faaaaarking hell!

Remind me not to visit your home town!

roadfix

That's because most of them don't drive so they're unaware of these dangers from the drivers' standpoint.