Is this inconsiderate...

[Miss Chicken]

As someone who is far more frequently the pedestrian than the driver, I always hurry when someone is waiting. Yes, it's rude to maintain the same pace when crossing in front of traffic that you use when wandering in the park; I don't expect someone with a walker to break into a trot, but at least make some effort. A healthy adult who saunters past will in fact get the "idling in first gear" rev.

This reminds of something I once saw. I was crossing at the lights. There was an old lady with a walker coming the other way and it looked like she would miss the light because she was still on footpath. Suddenly she lifted her walker up and ran to the road. And when I say ran I mean ran. She really got some speed up. She managed to get to the road just before the little man started to flash "Don't Walk". The looks on everyone's faces was priceless (even mine I suppose).

 

[Lookingglassman]

I know what you mean. What burns me up are the fat chicks taking forever to walk into my local Walmart. Most walk diagonally and take forever. I also hate how they see you coming, but pretend they dont see you and walk out in front of you anyway.

 

[Trekker4747]

Ok, here's something that gets me and there's not much of an "easy answer", but....

Many years ago I would often visit someone 100 miles away on a college campus/town.

The students on that campus practiced not a single iota of self-preservation.

As I'm sure many would expect there's a lot of pedestrians on a college campus and crosswalks and the like, so driving along there you can encounter a lot and in many places there was no stop sign before the crosswalk it was just there on the road.

Now this, to me, is a tricky situation. A) There were often times when crowds and crowds of people would be going across the crosswalk without a break making it difficult if not impossible for a car to get through and the biggest of all was that the students showed no sign of self preservation by darting right into the crosswalk from the sidewalk without pausing for a single moment to check the traffic.

Sure, pedestrians "have the right away" but they can also change their speed faster, move faster and react faster than an automobile. A person can step onto a crosswalk, see a car coming, and step back onto the crosswalk faster and easier than I can screach to a stop before turning them into a greasy stain on my catalitic converter or even reverse my forward motion.

My reccomendation to pedestrians: You have the right away, yes, in the practice of law so that is something happens you've got a case to sue or for the driver to get in legal trouble. However, in practicality it doesn't work out that way. Learn an ounce or two of self-preservation and be aware of your surroundings, what the cars on the street are doing and be prepared to make a radical movement (step back onto the crosswalk, run, etc.) It is, however, YOUR life on the line. Act like it matters to you.

 

[thestrangequark]

I think the pedestrian/car relationship in NYC is a bit different from most places -- at least most other places that I've been. The only people who wait for cross signals here are tourists. Still, I try to be polite when crossing the street. I do walk more quickly if some one's waiting (though I don't think everyone should be expected to do so). I also make eye contact and wave thanks when a car let's me go at an unmarked intersection.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Pedestrians who act as if physics were not tragically against their surviving against a car are fucking annoying, as well as stupid. Darwinism in motion.

But what irks me isn't slow pedestrians. It is the bastard children who, upon getting out of school, invariably spill out into the streets, and simply walk, several abreast, in the middle of streets, only to slowly yield to oncoming cars. They do this all times of the year, not just in winter, where apparently shoveling has long fallen out of favor. Entire sidewalks are sheets of ice, untouched through an entire winter's snow. But back to the bastard children. Occasionally one gets the urge to just gun it, and let them scramble for their little bastard lives. But we musn't do that, no, Precious. We musn't.

 

[shapeshifter]

I'm a pedestrian. I don't have a car. I have a child. We go as qiuick across the crosswalk (on our walk sign) as we can, as long as the weather is good. If it's snowing or raining, it takes us longer so we don't slip. I've lost count at how many drivers turn on our ankles. I had to stop, with my child, more than once in the crosswalk so we wouldn't get hit by a car. One time, the driver nearly hit us and screeched to a halt right in front of us. I was so mad I hit his hood of his car and yelled at him for nearly killing my son! And he had the nerve to roll his eyes at us!

So, wait. It won't kill you. Not waiting might kill someone else.

As someone who is far more frequently the pedestrian than the driver, I always hurry when someone is waiting. Yes, it's rude to maintain the same pace when crossing in front of traffic that you use when wandering in the park; I don't expect someone with a walker to break into a trot, but at least make some effort. A healthy adult who saunters past will in fact get the "idling in first gear" rev.

I also never, ever expect a car to stop unless I have the walk sign and they have a red light. If they stop when they don't have to, I usually just wave then on since they can get through the intersection much faster than I can.

QFT Allot of drivers need a lesson in slowing the **** down. It'll be shame if they learn that lesson by running someone over!

 

[Trekker4747]

It'd be a shame for someone to learn a lesson by getting ran over for not practicing some self-preservation by looking both ways before entering the street.

 

[Kaziarl]

It'd be a shame for someone to learn a lesson by getting ran over for not practicing some self-preservation by looking both ways before entering the street.

Most of the times I've come close to getting run over, it was by a car coming out of the turn lane AFTER I was already half way across the crosswalk. I'm a driver and a pedestrian, so I've seen both sides. And honestly, I swear a blind man can drive better then some of these people.

 

[thestrangequark]

It'd be a shame for someone to learn a lesson by getting ran over for not practicing some self-preservation by looking both ways before entering the street.

Most of the times I've come close to getting run over, it was by a car coming out of the turn lane AFTER I was already half way across the crosswalk. I'm a driver and a pedestrian, so I've seen both sides. And honestly, I swear a blind man can drive better then some of these people.

The same thing happened to me not long ago. I was halfway through a crosswalk, with the white light still on, when a car turning left nearly ran me over. I've also had some close calls on my bicycle, all of which were the car's fault (cutting me off, opening doors into traffic, etc); it sometimes seems as if drivers don't mind risking a collision with a cyclist, because we aren't going to damage their cars like another car would. Hopefully the white bicycle campaign will help remind drivers that cyclists have as much claim to the roads as they do. Sometimes pedestrians can be rude or inattentive, and they shouldn't be, but it is still a driver's duty to be extra attentive just in case.

 

[shapeshifter]

Defendant: "Your Honor, it was his fault for walking too slow."

Judge: "So, your one of those inpatient butt-holes I am always running for my life from in crosswalks. Hmmm... Maximum penalty!"

 

[Chess Piece Face]

I happen to think it's polite to make haste to get out of someone's way if you're impeding their movement.

I don't hold the "I have the right, so fuck you and wait" belief.

I just think it's inconsiderate.

This guy gets it. I always jog/move quickly. Who the fuck am I to be holding people up?

Get over yourselves.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I usually walk fast and if the car is trying to catch a light (usually in contexts of a car turning), I'll speed up. But, in my mind, they are sitting down, while I'm walking, so it's not a major inconvenience either way.

 

[Kaziarl]

I happen to think it's polite to make haste to get out of someone's way if you're impeding their movement.

I don't hold the "I have the right, so fuck you and wait" belief.

I just think it's inconsiderate.

This guy gets it. I always jog/move quickly. Who the fuck am I to be holding people up?

Get over yourselves.

I don't think anyone is saying they shouldn't be considerate and move as quick as they can. I think many of us, or atleast me, are simply saying that the drivers should be more patient. There's no reason for them to be on our heals as we're crossing the street.

 

[Armygrognard]

Let me try here. I posted in another thread:

I apologize for barging into this thread. I am unfamiliar with the operation of this board style and didn't want to spend the night looking up how to start a new thread. Perhaps one of you will be kind enough to give this news the place it deserves.

One of your own, Smeos (a virtual friend of mine from the Delphi board, PC Gaming online) has passed away. I don't know if his roomate has been able to get around, or in his grief, the desire to get around to everywhere Smeos went and pass the word.

At any rate, our friend died after a short illness: http://www.legacy.com/can-vancouver/...onId=123972358 His roomate said they believed it to be a bacterial abcess of the brain. That is unconfirmed, and really doesn't matter now.

I miss his wit very much. I see he had about 1,000 posts here. Maybe I'll come back and look for them. I don't know.

He was 23.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gentlemen and ladies, one of your own has passed away. Will someone please make a posting to that effect? He deserves that much.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I know what you mean. What burns me up are the fat chicks taking forever to walk into my local Walmart.

Warning for Trolling. Comments to PM.

 

[Chess Piece Face]

I happen to think it's polite to make haste to get out of someone's way if you're impeding their movement.

I don't hold the "I have the right, so fuck you and wait" belief.

I just think it's inconsiderate.

This guy gets it. I always jog/move quickly. Who the fuck am I to be holding people up?

Get over yourselves.

I don't think anyone is saying they shouldn't be considerate and move as quick as they can. I think many of us, or atleast me, are simply saying that the drivers should be more patient. There's no reason for them to be on our heals as we're crossing the street.

Really? I think some people in here are def saying "fuck cars - I have the right of way." Seriously! And those people are douchebags who have no common courtesy.

I certainly agree with your point of view, it's reasonable. I'm betting you have common courtesy IRL.

 

[Kaziarl]

This guy gets it. I always jog/move quickly. Who the fuck am I to be holding people up?

Get over yourselves.

I don't think anyone is saying they shouldn't be considerate and move as quick as they can. I think many of us, or atleast me, are simply saying that the drivers should be more patient. There's no reason for them to be on our heals as we're crossing the street.

Really? I think some people in here are def saying "fuck cars - I have the right of way." Seriously! And those people are douchebags who have no common courtesy.

I certainly agree with your point of view, it's reasonable. I'm betting you have common courtesy IRL.

I like to think I do have common courtesy, as well as common sense to think that the cars bigger then me, I should get out of the way. I don't recall anyway saying "fuck cars - I have the right of way." I know the legal point of pedestrians having the right of way was addressed, which is entirely true.

Now since my car died, I've been a pedestrian again. However, one thing I can take to heart is that no matter how slow or fast the pedestrian walks, I'll still get there faster if I'm in the car. So whats the hurry?

 

[CaptJimboJones]

What are we talking here, at most, maybe 5-10 seconds? At most? Is that really something for drivers to get so enraged over?

If someone isn't walking fast enough, who cares? Take those 10 seconds and enjoy the radio. Life's too short to get worked up over little crap like this.

 

[Trekker4747]

What are we talking here, at most, maybe 5-10 seconds? At most? Is that really something for drivers to get so enraged over?

If someone isn't walking fast enough, who cares? Take those 10 seconds and enjoy the radio. Life's too short to get worked up over little crap like this.

Sit there in your chair and count out 10 seconds. (1-one thousand, 2-one thousand, 3-one thousand...)

Imagine sitting in your car "listeing to your radio" during this time someone plods along the crosswalk, your opening in the cross traffic closing.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I put on iTunes, counted off 10 seconds on my clock while listening to the radio. Then I continued to sit in my chair listening to the rest of the song. I don't see what the big deal is.