posted
I've recently noticed a phenomenon, has anyone else had this experience?
In the past week, the number of people running out in front of me across six lanes of traffic has inflated to the extreme. Any trip to and from a place has us slamming on the brakes at least twice to avoid hitting these people. What makes this so bad?
They're leading children.
Not carrying , mind you, but leading them, pushing them forward. Children as young as three and four years old. (Most of the children younger than this were carried.) People with no apparent physical defects, with no other burdens, who won't stop to scoop up the children and thus make it across faster and more safely. One man was leading (not touching) his four-year-old boy, jogging more slowly to keep up with the boy who was tripping over his own feet. We had to stop abruptly to keep from hitting this pair, and the man never picked him up. Just let the kid finish crossing in front of three lanes of 40 mile-per-hour oncoming traffic, as people slammed and weaved around into each other's lanes.
This would be bad enough if it was the only time it happened. But scarily similar incedences happen to us EVERY DAY while we run errends.
The thing that really bugs me and makes this SO annoying is the fact that Tucson Metro's roadways (at least the major ones) cater to pedestrians. Most have sidewalks and between every intersection is a pedestrain crossing with a light. At least every quarter mile, and in many places less than this, will have a place for pedestrians to cross safely.
Most of these jaywalkers crossed less than 50 yards from a lighted crosswalk.
I wouldn't consider all jaywalking to be a danger to the pedestrians or drivers. Sometimes it's tons easier to cross where you are, especially if there's a large gap or a safe place to cross. But it seems like more and more people are more concerned about expending a little extra effort than they are about keeping safe their children and the drivers around them.
Why is this ballooning out of control now? It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to get in the car anymore, because I may hit an apparently suicidal person. It's not the occasional dangerous moment that occurs in all driving, nor even the fact that I have to be constantly aware what is going on around me (that should happen during driving anyway.) It's more like these people are just testing me, to see if I can stop fast enough. One day I may not be able to.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Apparently they've been collaborating with the little old ladies that like to try to make me run them over.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Yeah, but they DON'T. They just step out in front of your car without even making eye contact, and then they proceed to amble across the street as if they own it.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Yeah, I don't mind hitting these people as much as the innocent little kids.
The most annoying thing about it is, no matter how much it wasn't your fault, you may still suffer for it the rest of your life. I can't even imagine going through life knowing I had caused the death of a little child, or even a stupid grown-up. (Unless I was being attacked...I think I could deal with that quite well.)
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
You always have to be insanely careful around the Wesleyan campus, because the stupid Wesleyan pedestrians wait until there's a car coming before deciding to cross. Most of the do use the crosswalks, but don't bother waiting until the little light tells them the way is clear. It's horrible.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
ahem, being one of those college students, my thoughts always have been that if I have the green, or just the right of way at the stop sign and you hit me, when I learn to walk again you'll reget it.
However I'm not the worst. Last fall, i'm waiting to cross the street and my fellow classmates continue to stream across the street forcing an ambulance to stop and wait for them (sirens, lights, speeding etc).
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Three people decided to run out into the street every other block. It was all I could do not to hit them.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I'm with Jon Boy. My fellow college students just walk right out in front of you on a 45 mph street as if they own it. Pretty soon they only thing they're going to own is a extremely injured body, sadly. Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
I can't say I've seen this kind of behavior, but then I live in a small town, where traffic is limited and pedestrians usually don't have to worry about it.
I remember one interesting scenario from when I was at Harding University. A huge number of students attended the College Church of Christ, only a couple of blocks away, so every Sunday dozens of us would troop across the main drag to reach the building. Because the numbers were so large, and the locals expected us, accidents were unheard of, but no one paid the least attention to lights or crosswalks.
Hmmm...perhaps college students are becoming acclimated to this sort of situation and continuing this behavior when they leave the safe environment.
Posts: 1041 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
last night a man in sacramento got hit by a car and shot up 25 feet into the air and out of his clothing.
Posts: 3936 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
Students at GW have to fight with traffic in order to cross. At stop signs, cars are always supposed to yield to pedestrians -- but they don't unless you walk out in front of them. It's *so* obnoxious.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Driving on the IU campus has always been a nightmare. Not only did whoever built the roads decide that it really wasn't important to inform drivers about little things like one way streets; they also decided that, in what I can only assume was some kind of plan to save space, there would never be two cars passing each other on most of the 2 way streets, so it really wasn't nessecary for there to be more than one lane. This is on a campus with 30,000 students!!
And the students themselves are like locusts you can't crush, they don't walk, they swarm. Even when they're on the sidewalks you still drive in fear that one of them will be pushed off into the road by all the others. And naturally the library is on the street where this is the biggest problem. *sighs*
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
I'll stop for people who are using the randomly placed crosswalks around campus, but if they're even ten feet away from the crosswalk, I keep going. Do any of these people at least look both ways before walking out in front of you guys or do they just disregard that they're about to step onto motorized vehicle territory like they do here?
And have I ever mentioned my pet peeve about having to fight my way off of elevators because the people waiting can't grasp the idea that there might be someone inside trying to get off? (Btw, the elevator I frequent only goes between two floors, so it's not like there are multiple stops.)
Posts: 1090 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote: last night a man in sacramento got hit by a car and shot up 25 feet into the air and out of his clothing.
Care to provide a link? I'm only a few miles south of the city limits of Sacramento... That's kind of freaky! Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
One of my pet peeves is people using the crosswalk when there's a green left turn arrow. Peds do NOT have the right-of-way until the green arrow is gone.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
I agree with that. It's very hard for you to SEE them when you're turning on a left turn arrow. AND you aren't expecting them at all.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote: And have I ever mentioned my pet peeve about having to fight my way off of elevators because the people waiting can't grasp the idea that there might be someone inside trying to get off?
The funny thing about this is they STILL don't get it...you and three people can be trying to get off, and they'll still be trying to get on, like they don't even see you. *laughs* At the mall, anytime you get off the elevator you have to expect to be mobbed by at least four dumb teenage girls.
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Ooh, found it! I wasn't at Hatrack at the time so I don't know if you guys already hashed this.
quote: One of my pet peeves is people using the crosswalk when there's a green left turn arrow. Peds do NOT have the right-of-way until the green arrow is gone.
Not in California... Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Are you sure Nick? That's a pretty bad idea to let peds cross the street when cars are making left turns.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Pretty soon they only thing they're going to own is a extremely injured body, sadly. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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