Pedestrians and Crossing the Street

originally posted by: theMediator


The idea isn't that bad, some really need assistance to safely cross the street but I see normal, healthy and young people use this button when I believe they don't need it at all. After a press of the button, all 4 ways on the street come to a complete stop thus putting life on hold for douzens of drivers because ONE person wanted to cross the street.

A bit curious about where you live. That does seem frustrating. Some lights around here are like that but most are not. We have some streets with only on side cross walks and other streets that only have 1 cross walk even though both sides have paths. A lot of the "Walk" signs around here will light up for you to walk and still leave traffic in the direction you are going with a green light. Which is cool until people don't pay attention to cross walks, see a green light and almost run a person over.

Messed up an edit on the post above. Please delete.

a reply to: opethPA

I especially enjoy watching Darwin Award nominees, with headphones cranked to 11 oblivious to their surroundings thumb f@#%&*! their phones while crossing the street, in hopes they get a wake up call from an equally distracted motorist.

No sense in yelling out to warn 'em.

Ok, I can live with them being oblivious if they're in the crosswalk where they're supposed to be.

But the place that frustrates me is the college town. That's where anyone walks out in traffic anywhere, and then ... then ... they act like oblivious idiots. THAT's when it gets to a PITA.

originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: opethPA

Pompous entitlement.

The worst are these women who push their baby carriages into traffic, atrocious.

I thought that was a UK problem, drives me mad, like they test the traffic out with their kiddies pram

Not exactly walking, but for those that bike as well

a reply to: opethPA

I think they are supposed to use the crosswalks! Funny thing my husband just went off on a rant about this yesterday. They built a new light and crosswalk at the end of town because everyone was jaywalking across 4 lanes and people were getting hit...so now we have a light and crosswalk for them and guess what...they are walking out in front of us and we had to screech on the brakes because they won't walk a few yards to the crosswalk!

originally posted by: dukeofjive696969
People in cars feel so important, i wont walk any faster if i have the right of way.

I think the real issue here is just that we educate every pedestrian to know conclusively that the white lines on the pavement are not representative of a concealed force field under the pavement, they are merely guidelines. As such, looking both ways instead of directly down is the recommended street crossing ritual.

[drops mic]

a reply to: greencmp

Your a funny man, did that make you feel special, i walk bike and drive, drivers are
The most annoying kind.

One day I was driving down a 4 lane road with 2 lanes for each direction and an Island divider in the middle. I had a bad day I will admit, two tweens start jaywalking across the road about 70 feet in front of me and I am going 30 mph or 50kph and I just snapped. They were both yacking on phones and tossing their hair around like mad and I know they looked right at me before stepping off of the curb.
Little did the wannabe movie stars know that I was packing a very high horsepower truck:-) Corvette engine with headers and a huge carburetor.....3 inch true duel exhaust and very very loud! LOL
I slapped down the gas for just enough time to wake up the neighbourhood and you should have seen them run back to the curb and screw the phones and tossing the hair.

LOL by time I got home I was having a good day:-)
Regards, Iwinder

originally posted by: theMediator
Are people really that stupid that they can't cross the street without resorting to stop everyone at the same time?

The answer is yes, People are that stupid, and a hundred times more stupid than that in many cases. You have the stupid, and then you have the intentionally stupid. ~$heopleNation

Oh you're a funny, funny man, OP. Bitching about someone's right of way, classic. Can I bitch when you're turning at a corner, during YOUR right of way while blocking my path? No? Yeah, no, I can't because I don't have the right of way until that walk signal says I do. Until it's counted down to zero for you, you don't have the right of way when I'm crossing either. However long it takes during that countdown is however long it takes, you only get to complain when the "don't walk" indicator is lit & someone is still in the crosswalk. 20 seconds of waiting is NOT going to be the detriment of your day, and if it is a detriment to your daily schedule, the problem is the driver for not planning enough wiggle room for transit time, not the ped crossing the street.

What is it with the ridiculous driver entitlement complex exploding the last few years? Hostile attitudes is a huge understatement, I've noticed even motorcyclists are starting to get some flack here & there. What's the deal? Any less than 4 wheels means what, second class citizen traversing an area? Florida was HORRIBLE for this nasty attitude crap, thankfully where we are in MI, pedestrians & cyclists are shown some semblance of respect & patience.

At what point did I rant about walkers not having the right away ? I'm ranting about the selfish folks out there that decide middle of the intersection is a good place to txt or stare at their phone.

I'm a firm believer in not being selfish and doing everything I can to not impact other people. I have no issue letting a walker cross in front of me and more often than not will stop when I see a walker waiting to cross.

So really all the pedestrians can stop crying or not. Either way I could care less. This is a rant in the rant forum and just like you can choose to walk as slow as you can on purpose I can choose to rant about it.

a reply to: opethPA

You made a good point, I see them every day with their stupid faces stuck in their phones. These people are clueless, and are not aware of their surroundings, which sometimes can lead to very bad things happening to them. It's no different than walking around with their heads stuck up their rear ends, and I have to agree that it is very annoying. ~$heopleNation

a reply to: opethPA

I don't mind the people walking across the street as much as those that refuse to use the sidewalk and walk or stand in the middle of the street. I find that to be most annoying.

Here we have the Blacks who seem to think nothing of walking down the middle of the street. I mean, three or four at a time, and were talking four lane highways. I don't get it? But then perhaps they don't get it either. But hay what do I care, I won the lottery and ride in the back of a new Bentley with the driver smartly dressed.

a reply to: opethPA

If I realize that my crossing the street is making you mad and anxious, I'll slow down even further. Get a grip. You don't own the road. If you are in a hurry, then you should have planned better and left earlier.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: opethPA

If I realize that my crossing the street is making you mad and anxious, I'll slow down even further. Get a grip. You don't own the road. If you are in a hurry, then you should have planned better and left earlier.

Get your face out of your phone while you're crossing the street, and maybe then you won't end up splattered all over the asphalt. ~$heopleNation

a reply to: opethPA

And what of the moron drivers glued to their phones? I can't tell you how many times someone's not paid attention while I had the right of way because their face was buried in their device & nearly hit me. This is a two-way ranting street, Opeth, drivers are not anywhere near as road rules perfect as you're trying to make them out to be. The hazards to a pedestrian by way of a distracted DRIVER are far more than the slowpoke texter in the crosswalk is to the impatient driver.