Some cities have done away with sidewalks not to have to deal with the confusion!
US generally is not pedestrian friendly. In Glendale, CA there are crosswalks that you can push the switch and there would be flashing lights for the cars and you can walk across. Kind of dangerous for drivers from out of town IMHO.
I work in downtown Salt Lake City where there are quite a few marked crosswalks that aren’t at intersections. In the last couple of years the police have periodically set up stings throughout the city where plainclothes cops will walk into the crosswalk and drivers who don’t stop get picked up down the road by hidden motorcycle cops. Word spreads as the stings usually get covered by the evening news. Compliance at downtown crosswalks has improved tremendously.
A long time ago, a man I knew in the Midwest visited California, no memory of where.
He wanted to cross the street, and it was a very long block. So, he thought he’d work his way across between cars. The minute he stepped off the curb, every car slammed the brakes on in a panic stop.
A cop came up and gave him Hail Columbia for jaywalking. When he learned he was out of state, no ticket, but he told him never do that again. Pedestrians at that time in that place did have absolute right of way, but jaywalking was strictly punished as a trade-off.
OK, so how about joggers who refuse to jog on the sidewalk and must jog in the roadway??
transman
Oh well in Southern California, OC to be specific we have bike lanes and that is where they jog. They sway into traffic once in a while. Then they become a trauma victim. I can’t understand the combination of health conscious nature of a jogger and running in the middle of the street full of cars and pollution.
Naw, that’s a little strong. Not a prosecutor in the country that would attempt a murder charge. Manslaughter maybe or vehicular homicide depending on the negligence but not murder.
They are prime candidates for Darwin awards and are too clueless to realize it.
My experience in Califonia is that the law that pedestrians have the right of way when in a marked or unmarked cross walks but that law is not enforced. Some drivers will stop but the majority will glide right through. The Calif. pedestrian has to negotiate the crossing with the drive either by getting their assent or waiting until traffic is clear. If traffic conditions look hazardous to a yielding driver, I usually yield and signel the cars through. I know if I wait long enough I will find an attentive, courteous driver or a gap in traffic. However, I have seen some traffic situations develop when I yield but the crossing driver will not take the right of way.
The pedestrian is in a cross walk, the driver is going twice the speed limit, and callously hits the pedestrian. That sounds like murder to me. Not premeditated murder, necessarily, but I still think the crime deserves to be punished that severely.
“OK, so how about joggers who refuse to jog on the sidewalk and must jog in the roadway?”
There are several reasons:
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If you run on the sidewalk, there are a lot of ups and downs at the curbs. I think the runner is also less visible to cars when he is on the sidewalk than running at the side of the road.
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Some runners believe that the asphalt road is softer than the concrete sidewalks and that it will not damage their joints as much. They are half right. But the difference in surface hardness is not enough for them to benefit.
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The runner has to compete for space on the sidewalk with walkers, strollers, young children on bikes, lawn mowers, low-hanging branches…
I run at the side of the road and in the opposite direction of traffic if I’m in a residential area. I try not to run on busy arteries where the speed limit might be 40 or 50. If I have to, I’m on the outer edge of the shoulder or on the grass, if possible. When I run in a busy area with sidewalks, I run on the sidewalks. There are plenty of foolish runners in addition to foolish drivers.
But the bottom line is still the same, the roadway is for vehicular traffic and not for pedestrians. If a jogger absolutely can not run on the sidewalk, then he/she should drive to their closest school and run on their track, or even the local park. The roadway is no place for pedestrians.
transman
“But the bottom line is still the same, the roadway is for vehicular traffic and not for pedestrians.”
What do you consider bicyles, and should they be on the road?
I can only speak for out here where I am. Bicycles share the road with motor vehicles. Bicycle lanes are almost non existant here.
transman
In MA, at least, they have to be IN the crosswalk and heading across. Milling around on the sidewalk looking at the crosswalk does not count. Once they start, though, they get to cross.
In some places pedestrians are required to be not on the street if there are sidewalks.
Bicyclists share the road with motorists, but motorists rarely share the road with bicyclists.
Some consider bicycle lanes to be a bad idea because the foster the idea that the cyclists only belong in bicycle lanes and not on other streets and lanes. I am one of those believers.
In WA state you stop at marked crossings. If I am the pedestrian in the crosswalk I think that cars stopping is a theory that is unproved until they stop. I have found that they tend to stop for me if I am using my cane, but again, it is a theory that they will stop. The bigges idiocy (and child abuse!) that I have seen was a young dad pushing his toddler’s stroller out into an unmarked crosswalk as a weapon to make people stop. I was taught defensive driving in high school; the same applies in pedestrian situations.
What do you consider bicyles, and should they be on the road?
In most (if not all) states, bicycles are legally considered vehicles, and must obey all the same laws as motor vehicles (including speed limits, traffic signals, and stopping for pedestrians). Some places permit bicycles on sidewalks; some don’t.
I am a believer in giving the pedestrian an even break. In Beautiful Golden, Colorado, I had experience with four lane (two each direction) roads and pedestrian crossings that left me midly confused. I would be in the right lane, stop for the pedestrians and cars coming down the road would whiz on by in the left lane, making me think I was endangering the pedestrians and baby strollers as my car obscured their view of the traffic coming beside me and I cursed the fools sailing by my left front fender. I took to leaving the pedestrians, baby strollers and all, on the curb for their own safety on four lane roads, stopping for them on two lane roads. jkd