it absolutely blows my mind when Iâm driving around town and see the number of people that will just walk out into a busy street without looking even 1 way, much less both ways before crossing.
Many of these are at intersections or crosswalks, and have the legal right of way- but you still gotta look and make sure others are paying attention so you donât get hurt!
Being ârightâ is often substituted for being âsafe.â
Common where I live is Jaywalking, pedestrians will cross a road within 30 feet of a controlled crosswalk.
How about in parking lots where people walk right in the middle of the isle. Wonât move to one side or the other. I followed behind a pedestrian the full length of Menards the other day.
risk management for cars that back out and hit people
did they check whether clothing color has an effect?
I suspect more people wearing black (and other dark colors) is a contributing factor â I consciously choose lighter colors, or something with reflective parts, if Iâm going to be out around traffic in the dark (or sunset/sunrise)
In Boston - Iâve seen pedestrians get hit by the aggressive drivers. Drivers run through red-lights all the time in Boston, and if thereâs a turn on red many wonât stop of there are people in the cross-walk. You have to be very diligent when walking in Boston.
Thatâs something I didnât think of, but the other day the guy was walking in the main aisle along the front of the building. No cars to back out.
maybe he was âoffâ in some way or just on that day â lots of reasons why people might be âoffâ
You guys do bring up good points about pedestrian shortcomings, but the article was more about cars, trucks, and drivers. As @MikeInNH said, pedestrians have to be more aware than ever because of uncaring drivers. SUVS would tend to knock people under them, while most cars would more often knock them onto the hood. Broken bones for sure, but at least they arenât run over. I see people going well over the speed limit on roads with traffic lights. People may make mistakes and jaywalk where traffic speed is way too high, but if any of us hit someone doing that, would it reduce the bad feelings?
I am surprised there arenât more pedestrian deaths on college and university campuses. The students are so busy staring at the screens on their smartphones and texting that they are oblivious to their surroundings. They walk right across the street without ever looking up. They are even dangerous on the sidewalk. Iâve had them run into me as I was walking down the sidewalk as these students walk along with their eyes glued to the screen on their smartphones or texting on the smart phones.
I am not surprised as smart phones seem to make for dumb drivers. I see people nearly get hit at least once per week. Then you have half brain dead drivers just driving however they want. They are not paying attention to anything. Phones may play a role in this as well.
Driving in Boston is definitely different. I have been there once and it was a neat city but I wouldnât want to drive there! Yes, people blow through lights right in front of the police and they didnât do anything. I guess this is just how it is done there and you either learn that or die!
I got a taxi at the airport. He pulled out of the airport like a dragster and then just blasted out into traffic. He was screaming in some foreign language and driving like mad. I thought it was just him at first but it was everyone. Driving there is like being in a war!
I watch people walk off curbs and into moving traffic all whilst staring into their Isolationist, Personal Entertainment, Internet Ready, 4G, Intergalactic Space Communicator and Geo Locating device almost daily. They have no idea that the traffic exists, nor do they seem to care one way or the other.
While this is bad enoughâŠthe people of the City of Brotherly Love have an entirely unique method of the same type of madness⊠They intentionally thrust themselves in front of your vehicle, as suddenly as they are able all the while looking directly at you in a personal affront. This seems to be a new career opportunity that has recently come about in that city. Its truly disgusting and I avoid the area like the plague.
Pedestrians focused on their âdevicesâ with absolutely no situational awareness and drivers doing the same x2 is the cause⊠unfortunately this is todayâs realityâŠ
I walk all the time. At intersections with crosswalks, I have to yield to right turn cars even thought I have a walk sign. They just will not yield to a pedestrian when they are turning right. I have had the same happen at stop signs where I am in a crosswalk. I have to stop and yield until some one decides to stop for me. I am always involved; look five ways; and yield to cars already in the intersection even if I entered the intersection first. The worst case is the car turning left while I am in the crosswalk. It is difficult to determine if they see me or if they are just in a hurry and want to get as close to me as possible to save time.
A couple of years ago I was almost run over twice. Same crosswalk both times. I was crossing with the light. This wasnât an intersection, this was a traffic light solely for a crosswalk. Around 6am both times, dark. In both cases the cars in other lanes were stopped but the offending drivers just felt that they didnât have to stop at the light since it was so early and they didnât see any pedestrians. In the second case I had to run since I saw this car wasnât slowing down, I fell in my rush. If I wasnât stunned I would have run after that car, which had stopped at the next traffic light and asked them to pull over because I was calling the police. In my opinion the drivers in my area are getting worse. I see left-turn-on-red too often, the most recent one was with heavy cross traffic.
Here is a look at the numbers related to pedestrian deaths. We observe what we think is the behavior that causes this, but it is it? More pedestrian deaths occur on roads with a 55 MPH or higher speed limit than in places you would expect a pedestrian to be crossing. It is easy to argue that alcohol is the single largest cause of pedestrian deaths. And not the alcohol consumed by the person driving the car. The fact that 70% of all pedestrian fatalities occur at night also means that drivers are not seeing the pedestrians.
When my kids were younger and into soccerâŠevery sunday we had soccer games at the highschool. We had to park across the street from high-school. Thereâs signs everywhereâŠspeed limit is 30âŠand in NH drivers have to yield to people in crosswalks. Over the years weâve had multiple accidents because drivers werenât paying attention and either hit someone or skidded and then the car behind them hit themâŠor they lost control and hit a street sign. Luckily no one over the years we seriously injured. And almost every one of those cases the driver was traveling above 50.
Every time I drive my car I observe the driver/pedestrian interactions described above, all of it every time I travel.
I see a goodly percentage of drivers distracted by cell phones and also pedestrians staring into them too.
I ride my bicycle 15 to 30 miles every day and at the slower speeds and taking the role of pedestrian I get a chance to make more observations in greater detail. Yesterday I encountered 2 different bicyclists holding their cell phones in one hand and staring into them while riding.
I have a cell phone, but put it away when I walk, ride or drive. I often leave it home and sometimes misplace it for hours or days.
Some people canât leave their cell phones home or even put them away for a while. I see them drive with them, ride with them, walk with them, shop with them ⊠Itâs nuts! I call these people Cell-Zombies or Cell-Droids.
They speak loudly and I often have to listen to conversations I donât care to hear. They try and park their cars while holding a phone, get out with it, shop with it, drive away with it, while talking all the time⊠sick.
Too many drivers are hurrying and too many people are not taking driving seriously and too many people are being injured and being killed.
Looong before cell phones I grew up in a house that one corded phone on the kitchen wall, used occasionally. When my older sister became a teen-ager my parents installed a Princess phone in her bedroom. We all made plans for days, weeks, whatever, and werenât addicted to phones.
Today, kids are growing up with cell phones and are becoming addicted to them for everything. Most planning is a thing of the past. Instant connectivity and instant gratification has replaced it. Some parents are even sending elementary age kids to school with phones.
I am thankful I grew up without a portable phone.
I am thankful I can leave my phone at home or put it down and walk, ride, and drive without killing somebody or being killed.
CSA
