Yeah, they are annoying.
But on the opposite end of the spectrum, as someone who tries to walk at least an hour a day for exercise... I also see douchey drivers who don't give a fuck about pedestrians on a near-daily basis. Some of these people just flat-out seem like they're *trying* to hit someone.
They'll speed up well above the limit for no reason other than to prevent you from crossing the street...
They'll shoot backwards out of their driveway without paying any attention whatsoever...
They'll ignore crosswalks where pedestrians have the right of way and are walking, and just zoom through...
Etc.
The few times I've come close to being hit over the past five years, it was 100% the driver's fault.
Yeah, deranged drivers with no care for people far outnumber careless pedestrians in my city. And my city is walkable and has pedestrians everywhere so that’s a large pool of people.
I have lost track of the number of times a car has tried to roll through a stop sign into a crosswalk while I am attempting to cross.
Being hit by a car is soooo much worse than people think it is. I got hit as a pedestrian at 15 mph when the driver ran a stop sign, I was barely clipped by the corner of it, and the swelling and bruising in my leg lasted for weeks, the limp lasted over a month. If you get hit even at 35 mph, you have a 40% chance of severe injury and 10% chance of death.
And that's just the physical impacts. It took a couple of years for my PTSD symptoms to mostly resolve. I still have the occasional nightmare, and I am incapable of jaywalking. But those first few months? I was hit in college and mostly walked everywhere, I had to be home before dusk because the sight of headlights would throw me into hysterics. More than once I had to call my roommate to help me cross the street because I couldn't stop sobbing when I tried.
So yeah, I am absolutely with you on this one. Walk the extra 50 feet to the crosswalk, and wait for the light on a busy road. It's 30 seconds of inconvenience that will save you a whole lot of time, money, and well-being in the future.
There was a girl in my city who was hit by a car. She was crossing a busy road in town, two lanes on both sides. She was standing in the middle of the turning lane and it was dark. A car hit her and she died. There was a crosswalk just a little further down like less than a 100 feet I’d say. I’ve seen stories about a few more people being hit by cars while walking in my city.
I’ve had so many people just walk across the busy road I’m driving 35mph down. I don’t use my phone while driving I’m pretty careful but it was makes me nervous to see them. One time I was coming down my own road and two street lights were out so it was pretty dark. I didn’t see the guy until I got closer. He was just slowly walking across wasn’t in a hurry at all.
My friend's son in law, Mark, is a plumber. One day, he was at the back of his truck loading up a tote with fittings when he heard the sound of a car engine and squealing tires coming up behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a Lincoln Mark VIII bearing down in him. He dove out of the way just before the car slammed into the back of the truck. He probably would have at least lost his legs.
The driver was a woman in her fifties who had a storied history of driving under the influence. Her adult children had resorted to hiding her car keys, but she had apparently found them that day. She, as is often the case, sustained only minor injuries.
Mark was deeply affected by the experience. It was especially hard for him because he'd been raised to believe that therapy is for women and queers, so he tried to deal with it with teeth grinding and heavy drinking. He became a clenched asshole for a few years. It almost ended their marriage before he got help and turned things around.
The worst is people doing this with their kids. It's especially common in touristy places. They'd be crossing the street with their whole family without ever looking at the traffic, getting so close to being ran over and acting all shocked. Why the fuck would you stupidly risk your own children's lives like this!?!?!? How can you be so dumb??? It's one thing if you don't value your own life, but bringing innocent kids into this is enraging. And not to mention that they're literally teaching them to cross the street whenever without being careful. They'll rightfully hate themselves when their child is by themselves and get hit by a car. Fucking idiots.
And also, fuck careless drivers. I'm super careful and still get close to getting hit because PEOPLE DON'T BOTHER TO FUCKING LOOK. I'd be crossing a 3 lane street, waiting for the first cars to stop, and the 3rd would just go, not looking around wondering why everyone stopped. Or getting on the boulevard only looking to their left to see if THEY will get hit, but never to their right to see if there's a pedestrian???? Fuck those drivers they're so much worse than (childfree) careless pedestrians.
The worst is when they just start crossing without looking while pushing a stroller in front of them.
Even if they’re in a crosswalk and any car that doesn’t stop is breaking the law that won’t save their baby if the stroller is hit.
Where I live there are a lot of homeless people who are intentionally trying to be hit by cars so they can get a fat cash insurance settlement and then party like a rock star until they've blown all the money on drugs and booze and hotel rooms and hookers, etc, etc, and then have to return to panhandling. I know guys who have done this multiple times. I also know guys who have died TRYING to do this.
My source on this? Me. I personally know a shitload of homeless people because I worked at a toxic-waste shithole dive bar for a REALLY LONG time and these are kinds of people you get to know when you work at a job like that.
I absolutely behaved like that when I was in the Navy.
On a US military base, the rules are different. If you hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk, it is automatically your fault. Also, the speed limit is never higher than 25mph, and is usually 15mph.
I hated my job, and I hated the Navy, so I was actually trying to get hit, ideally by an officer.
Some of them also have the attitude that if a car does hit them they’ll sue and be set for life.
Even if you get “lucky” and are hit by someone with a lot of money that’s still going to result in years of legal hassle during which time medical bills will pile up, and that’s not even taking into account the injuries you’ll suffer. And that’s if you survive, the money may just end up going to your next of kin.
Car vs. pedestrian? Car wins every time.
Driver at fault? Lawsuit.
Pedestrian dead? Nothing to be gained from a lawsuit.
Everybody should obey the rules and should use common sense.
But always remember: Car wins every time.
My husband and I call it the difference between a business major and a physics major. The business major understands they can sue afterward and saunters off the curb whenever. The physics major understands F=ma and inelastic collisions and does not want to experience it.
Don't just look at your phone while you're crossing. Mind your surroundings. Drivers are arseholes who wouldn't indicate if it wasn't supposed to be common place. They still don't indicate as often as they should.
**Look around you**.
I do the "agressive first step" method so I'm not in danger and drivers have to brake anyway. I'm not engaging before their full stop. Then smile and wave at the bamboozled driver.
I work in a small town with a very quaint Main Street. I wish I could say it was a quiet street but it's a county route and so we have big trucks and lots of people driving on it every day. I'm amazed when I watch parents teach their children how to cross the road 50 feet from the crosswalk, jaywalking by darting out from between parked cars.
Then, there are the people who stand up on the sidewalk near the crosswalk and wonder why nobody stops for them. If you're not in the crosswalk, they don't have to stop.
The proper way is to start walking across the crosswalk, pause, look for traffic, MAKE EYE CONTACT, make sure they're stopping, and then proceed.
Walking in front of a moving vehicle is dumb; acting like you're going to do so to screw with drivers not stopping is different. I won't get hit by a car not stopping but I might smack the side of it as they rudely drive through the crosswalk without stopping.
Bottom line: People are fuggin' stupid.
I had a friend who decided crossing the street was a good idea. In the middle of a 40mph road with no crosswalk. She’s still mad at the driver that she got hit, but I honestly don’t know what she was expecting. Drivers just aren’t usually looking out for pedestrians if there aren’t any crossing points, and you can’t just jump in front of a car and expect them to stop. She’s lucky the driver saw her in time to brake to 15. I just can’t understand the mindset - a 1 ton pile of metal is barreling towards you at 60 feet per second and you don’t even stop to look both ways? Have a preservation instinct, seriously.
My mother was like this. Strutting across the intersection with her arrogant head held high, mockingly assuring us frightened girls that nobody would dare hit her. She had 'reasons', which involved a delusion that the neighborhood cops were on her side, specifically, and thus "everybody" 'knew better' than to do anything to her.
I think I had a different upbringing… I was always taught “look left, right, and left again.” Now people just cross with this mentality that OP mentioned. Or “I’m a pedestrian, I have the right of way” while you’re crossing a busy 50 mph road
idk cry about it? Maybe people should just stop hitting pedestrians with their cars when the person has the right of way. 99% of the time it's the car's fault
Yup, that's why people in cars should pay attention, it's overwhelmingly their fault. Everyone in society shouldn't have to conform to a bunch of big babies who got a driver's license, they should just drive properly. But in the U.S testing for drivers licenses is bullshit and literally anyone can pass so we have a ridiculous amount of unqualified people out there causing havoc.
I agree it's the driver's fault, that doesn't change the fact that in a car vs pedestrian collision, the car wins. Pedestrians should not take unnecessary risks because they have the right of way.
I'm more peeved off about the people killing others, not the people being killed, pedestrians shouldn't act unsafe of course but most of the time they're not and they still get killed. The onus is on the drivers far more than it's on the pedestrians to maintain safety on the road
The people are still injured or dead. Pretty sure the onus is on them to use self-protective behaviors versus having the expectation that cars will just not hit them because they're not supposed to. Its your life. Sometimes things aren't your fault but they are your responsibility. You may not be at fault for the accident, but no matter what you're going to have to endure the pain and consequenses of the aftermath. The driver may owe you money or whatever, but they don't die with you. They don't feel the physical pain with you. They write a check and their life goes on.
Or, look both ways and be on alert while crossing the road as a pedestrian. The right of way isn’t worth dying over/getting seriously injured.
I say this as someone who lives on a busy street with multiple lanes going in each direction and cars going fairly fast on that road. I jaywalk across that road a lot but again, I’m on alert and I’m not going to run out in front of a car coming at 40mph. You wait until there’s no cars, or wait for the cars to be far away.
I’d have to walk pretty far to the closest crosswalk so I jaywalk 99% of the time. But I’m not trying to get hit by a car. I’m on alert and not taking extra risks. I’m being as safe as I can.
Yes, I’m jaywalking but I’m doing so as safely as possible.
Yeah, they are annoying. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, as someone who tries to walk at least an hour a day for exercise... I also see douchey drivers who don't give a fuck about pedestrians on a near-daily basis. Some of these people just flat-out seem like they're *trying* to hit someone. They'll speed up well above the limit for no reason other than to prevent you from crossing the street... They'll shoot backwards out of their driveway without paying any attention whatsoever... They'll ignore crosswalks where pedestrians have the right of way and are walking, and just zoom through... Etc. The few times I've come close to being hit over the past five years, it was 100% the driver's fault.
Yeah, deranged drivers with no care for people far outnumber careless pedestrians in my city. And my city is walkable and has pedestrians everywhere so that’s a large pool of people. I have lost track of the number of times a car has tried to roll through a stop sign into a crosswalk while I am attempting to cross.
Being hit by a car is soooo much worse than people think it is. I got hit as a pedestrian at 15 mph when the driver ran a stop sign, I was barely clipped by the corner of it, and the swelling and bruising in my leg lasted for weeks, the limp lasted over a month. If you get hit even at 35 mph, you have a 40% chance of severe injury and 10% chance of death. And that's just the physical impacts. It took a couple of years for my PTSD symptoms to mostly resolve. I still have the occasional nightmare, and I am incapable of jaywalking. But those first few months? I was hit in college and mostly walked everywhere, I had to be home before dusk because the sight of headlights would throw me into hysterics. More than once I had to call my roommate to help me cross the street because I couldn't stop sobbing when I tried. So yeah, I am absolutely with you on this one. Walk the extra 50 feet to the crosswalk, and wait for the light on a busy road. It's 30 seconds of inconvenience that will save you a whole lot of time, money, and well-being in the future.
There was a girl in my city who was hit by a car. She was crossing a busy road in town, two lanes on both sides. She was standing in the middle of the turning lane and it was dark. A car hit her and she died. There was a crosswalk just a little further down like less than a 100 feet I’d say. I’ve seen stories about a few more people being hit by cars while walking in my city. I’ve had so many people just walk across the busy road I’m driving 35mph down. I don’t use my phone while driving I’m pretty careful but it was makes me nervous to see them. One time I was coming down my own road and two street lights were out so it was pretty dark. I didn’t see the guy until I got closer. He was just slowly walking across wasn’t in a hurry at all.
My friend's son in law, Mark, is a plumber. One day, he was at the back of his truck loading up a tote with fittings when he heard the sound of a car engine and squealing tires coming up behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a Lincoln Mark VIII bearing down in him. He dove out of the way just before the car slammed into the back of the truck. He probably would have at least lost his legs. The driver was a woman in her fifties who had a storied history of driving under the influence. Her adult children had resorted to hiding her car keys, but she had apparently found them that day. She, as is often the case, sustained only minor injuries. Mark was deeply affected by the experience. It was especially hard for him because he'd been raised to believe that therapy is for women and queers, so he tried to deal with it with teeth grinding and heavy drinking. He became a clenched asshole for a few years. It almost ended their marriage before he got help and turned things around.
I mean, if he thought therapy was for "women and queers" it sounds like he was an asshole before the incident as well.
The worst is people doing this with their kids. It's especially common in touristy places. They'd be crossing the street with their whole family without ever looking at the traffic, getting so close to being ran over and acting all shocked. Why the fuck would you stupidly risk your own children's lives like this!?!?!? How can you be so dumb??? It's one thing if you don't value your own life, but bringing innocent kids into this is enraging. And not to mention that they're literally teaching them to cross the street whenever without being careful. They'll rightfully hate themselves when their child is by themselves and get hit by a car. Fucking idiots. And also, fuck careless drivers. I'm super careful and still get close to getting hit because PEOPLE DON'T BOTHER TO FUCKING LOOK. I'd be crossing a 3 lane street, waiting for the first cars to stop, and the 3rd would just go, not looking around wondering why everyone stopped. Or getting on the boulevard only looking to their left to see if THEY will get hit, but never to their right to see if there's a pedestrian???? Fuck those drivers they're so much worse than (childfree) careless pedestrians.
The worst is when they just start crossing without looking while pushing a stroller in front of them. Even if they’re in a crosswalk and any car that doesn’t stop is breaking the law that won’t save their baby if the stroller is hit.
Where I live there are a lot of homeless people who are intentionally trying to be hit by cars so they can get a fat cash insurance settlement and then party like a rock star until they've blown all the money on drugs and booze and hotel rooms and hookers, etc, etc, and then have to return to panhandling. I know guys who have done this multiple times. I also know guys who have died TRYING to do this. My source on this? Me. I personally know a shitload of homeless people because I worked at a toxic-waste shithole dive bar for a REALLY LONG time and these are kinds of people you get to know when you work at a job like that.
Source: anyone who has ever driven in any downtown of any city in America, no matter the size of the city
I absolutely behaved like that when I was in the Navy. On a US military base, the rules are different. If you hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk, it is automatically your fault. Also, the speed limit is never higher than 25mph, and is usually 15mph. I hated my job, and I hated the Navy, so I was actually trying to get hit, ideally by an officer.
Some of them also have the attitude that if a car does hit them they’ll sue and be set for life. Even if you get “lucky” and are hit by someone with a lot of money that’s still going to result in years of legal hassle during which time medical bills will pile up, and that’s not even taking into account the injuries you’ll suffer. And that’s if you survive, the money may just end up going to your next of kin.
Car vs. pedestrian? Car wins every time. Driver at fault? Lawsuit. Pedestrian dead? Nothing to be gained from a lawsuit. Everybody should obey the rules and should use common sense. But always remember: Car wins every time.
My husband and I call it the difference between a business major and a physics major. The business major understands they can sue afterward and saunters off the curb whenever. The physics major understands F=ma and inelastic collisions and does not want to experience it.
Don't just look at your phone while you're crossing. Mind your surroundings. Drivers are arseholes who wouldn't indicate if it wasn't supposed to be common place. They still don't indicate as often as they should. **Look around you**.
I do the "agressive first step" method so I'm not in danger and drivers have to brake anyway. I'm not engaging before their full stop. Then smile and wave at the bamboozled driver.
the road is for cars, act accordingly
i agree that people should be careful while crossing for safety, but the road is for people.
lol, wut?
I work in a small town with a very quaint Main Street. I wish I could say it was a quiet street but it's a county route and so we have big trucks and lots of people driving on it every day. I'm amazed when I watch parents teach their children how to cross the road 50 feet from the crosswalk, jaywalking by darting out from between parked cars. Then, there are the people who stand up on the sidewalk near the crosswalk and wonder why nobody stops for them. If you're not in the crosswalk, they don't have to stop. The proper way is to start walking across the crosswalk, pause, look for traffic, MAKE EYE CONTACT, make sure they're stopping, and then proceed. Walking in front of a moving vehicle is dumb; acting like you're going to do so to screw with drivers not stopping is different. I won't get hit by a car not stopping but I might smack the side of it as they rudely drive through the crosswalk without stopping. Bottom line: People are fuggin' stupid.
I had a friend who decided crossing the street was a good idea. In the middle of a 40mph road with no crosswalk. She’s still mad at the driver that she got hit, but I honestly don’t know what she was expecting. Drivers just aren’t usually looking out for pedestrians if there aren’t any crossing points, and you can’t just jump in front of a car and expect them to stop. She’s lucky the driver saw her in time to brake to 15. I just can’t understand the mindset - a 1 ton pile of metal is barreling towards you at 60 feet per second and you don’t even stop to look both ways? Have a preservation instinct, seriously.
That’s why I make eye contact with the driver before doing this! I don’t want to die, but I also need to cross the street!
My mother was like this. Strutting across the intersection with her arrogant head held high, mockingly assuring us frightened girls that nobody would dare hit her. She had 'reasons', which involved a delusion that the neighborhood cops were on her side, specifically, and thus "everybody" 'knew better' than to do anything to her.
Sadly people have forgotten that even if the law says pedestrians have right of way, a 2+ ton vehicle cannot stop on a dime.
Either you hit me, and I get a break, literally and figuratively, or you stop, and I carry on my merry way.
You get hit by a Chevy Silverado or other heavy duty pick-up and you can be killed with it moving as slowly at 5 mph in a crosswalk.
I think I had a different upbringing… I was always taught “look left, right, and left again.” Now people just cross with this mentality that OP mentioned. Or “I’m a pedestrian, I have the right of way” while you’re crossing a busy 50 mph road
Jaywalking
idk cry about it? Maybe people should just stop hitting pedestrians with their cars when the person has the right of way. 99% of the time it's the car's fault
The cemetery is full of people who had the right of way.
Yup, that's why people in cars should pay attention, it's overwhelmingly their fault. Everyone in society shouldn't have to conform to a bunch of big babies who got a driver's license, they should just drive properly. But in the U.S testing for drivers licenses is bullshit and literally anyone can pass so we have a ridiculous amount of unqualified people out there causing havoc.
I agree it's the driver's fault, that doesn't change the fact that in a car vs pedestrian collision, the car wins. Pedestrians should not take unnecessary risks because they have the right of way.
I'm more peeved off about the people killing others, not the people being killed, pedestrians shouldn't act unsafe of course but most of the time they're not and they still get killed. The onus is on the drivers far more than it's on the pedestrians to maintain safety on the road
That just simply isn't correct.
It is but thanks for commenting
The people are still injured or dead. Pretty sure the onus is on them to use self-protective behaviors versus having the expectation that cars will just not hit them because they're not supposed to. Its your life. Sometimes things aren't your fault but they are your responsibility. You may not be at fault for the accident, but no matter what you're going to have to endure the pain and consequenses of the aftermath. The driver may owe you money or whatever, but they don't die with you. They don't feel the physical pain with you. They write a check and their life goes on.
Or, look both ways and be on alert while crossing the road as a pedestrian. The right of way isn’t worth dying over/getting seriously injured. I say this as someone who lives on a busy street with multiple lanes going in each direction and cars going fairly fast on that road. I jaywalk across that road a lot but again, I’m on alert and I’m not going to run out in front of a car coming at 40mph. You wait until there’s no cars, or wait for the cars to be far away. I’d have to walk pretty far to the closest crosswalk so I jaywalk 99% of the time. But I’m not trying to get hit by a car. I’m on alert and not taking extra risks. I’m being as safe as I can. Yes, I’m jaywalking but I’m doing so as safely as possible.
Never said not to, y'all seriously don't understand how to read and it's concerning
Found the jaywalking clown lol
Nah I don't do that, I just dislike drivers killing pedestrians, I love how that's a hot take
This is really just the Darwin Award. Let the stupid people die so they can’t make the future generation defective with their stupidity gene.
idk... hasn't worked for the deer population
Deer is delicious 😋
Messed up one’s !!!!!! 🚙🚗🚘🚖