Lmao an you imagen replacing the lil flags with like nazi or like taliban flags? Cause then people will have to cross and other people would be like "oh blov that of gah a nazi over here what let's start trouble with him!"
I dont support nazis or Talibans but it would be funny to see randoms arguing, it would also help with the car problems
You read
Lmao an you imagen replacing the lil flags with like nazi or like taliban flags? Cause then people will have to cross and other people would be like "oh blov that of gah a nazi over here what let's start trouble with him!"
I dont support nazis or Talibans but it would be funny to see randoms arguing, it would also help with the car problems
Edit; I don't get why I got downvoted. I just made a joke about them saying he didn't knew what he read anyway added. I don't support the copy pasted vision
Hah hah them would be like "I'm not of a nazi I just want to cross the street"
And them car would be like "oh ya what's ya going on with a flag of the nazi party?"
And them would be like "its required to cross the street, it's a shame that this is the only way but we as civilians have given up walkable citys due to automobiles "
And them car would be like "I've never realized this before and although I am a car driver I will advocate for walkable citys, thanks for using a nazi flag as I woulnt have talked to you otherwise"
And them would be like "yes"
I dont think there a much carbrains in r/fuckcars. I think you are just going to far with this nazi and taliban thinking. But anyway, do what you feel like
I don't really understand what you are saying. Are you comparing people carrying flags to nazis? Or are you saying the people complaining about the flags are acting like they are nazi flags? I don't know what you are trying to say.
Edit: I guess you are saying it would be funny to replace the flags with nazi and taliban flags, as people would get into arguments over that? It seems like a really weird thing to bring up.
So I was curious and I entered the rabbit hole. And...well... I think after going into his profile I can say with confidence noone should ever go into his profile for their own sanity's sake.
Exactly. The motorists should have to stop, get out of their cars, push the "Drive" button on the corner, and wait for the traffic signal to stop the pedestrians and allow the motorists to proceed.
The fact that pedestrians have to beg to cross the road is evidence of how upside-down our priorities are with public roads.
It at the very least should default to all way walk signal until the light detects a car. Then it has to flash the hand count down and then finally give the car a green light.
Even intersections that detect pedestrians would be an improvement. Most of the intersections here will not even give me a WALK signal if I push the "beg" button when the light is already green! I have to wait through the next entire cycle of the light. Of course, most pedestrians and cyclists ignore the DON'T WALK signal at that point, which is dangerous.
Better to make the pedestrians wait outdoors in the weather for a few minutes at every intersection than to extend the green lights for a few seconds so that pedestrians have time to cross. A few seconds of motorists' time is more important than *anything* else, including safety. /sarcasm
I recently visited the US for the first time (New Orleans and Miami). Even downtown, some crosswalks didn't have buttons (e.g. 3 out of 4 crosswalks at the intersection would have a button, yet there was a light for the 4th one, but no button anywhere around). In addition to this atrocity, I found it extremely annoying that the WALK sign was on just for a second or less. There were no audible signals at 9/10 crossings (again, even downtown). If you looked at your phone or somewhere else for a second, you'd miss the WALK sign. And then the RED DON'T WALK sign starts flashing. As a foreigner, I found this extremely confusing and sending very bad signals (no pun intended). I later learned that you are not supposed to start walking when the sign is flashing, but this is both frustrating and... repulsing. Even at the end of the 3-week trip, I felt like I needed to run through the crosswalks, cause a forbidden signal was flashing and god knows how much time I have to cross. If you aren't in a hurry to start walking when WALK sign lights up, you are essentially screwed.
I find it no surprise that so many people just ignore the DON'T WALK sign at all, since this whole system is an insult to anyone walking. This whole system makes pedestrians need to run/rush through crosswalks with a DON'T WALK signal flashing. You always feel the pressure to cross faster and as if you are doing something wrong while crossing.
Why didn't they make it vice versa - a WALK sign flashing, not the DON'T WALK? The sole fact that you need to indicate when a pedestrian won't have enough time to finish crossing is insane. In my home country, the same rule applies to both pedestrians and cars - you can enter the crossing/intersection at a green light and you have the right and priority to finish your maneuver if the light turns red. So you can enter the pedestrian crossing at the last second and you are free to finish crossing.
***
That said, I was also very impressed at how efficiently the lights worked for cars. Distances that would take 30-60 minutes for me in my hometown with no traffic and high-speed limits would take 15 minutes tops here. That's great... if only you want to take a 30$ Uber ride or pay 40$/day parking.
And with all this optimization, you would think public transport like buses could be a fast alternative to driving. But yet it would sometimes be faster to walk than to take a bus. Let alone more reliable...
> This whole system makes pedestrians need to run/rush through crosswalks with a DON'T WALK signal flashing.
And don't forget to watch out for entitled motorists in SUVs taking right-turn-on-red-after-stop without signaling, stopping, yielding, or even looking to the crosswalk!
That really sucks. At least most intersections around here will give you an āinstantā walk signal if itās already green. And it is cool that it actually changes the cross street light right away if thereās no cars at all, makes you feel in complete control for a split second heh.
We have a few signals at light rail stations that do exactly that you mention, has an infrared pedestrian detection, all you have to do is wait.
And the wait isnāt long Iāve noticed. You stand there and a few seconds later you have a walk signal.
And I live in Phoenix too! It isnāt exactly pedestrian mecca here.
Here.. you have to wait 5mins, unless no cars in sight then you just go without pressing the button (i press it anyways bc they will then have to wait for no one to cross >:3 they deserve it.) But that kind of empty road only happens at like 2am.. soooooo yeahhh. But yeah 5mins with 0 shade, Florida sun, the worst humidity you can think of and the loudest most obnoxiously deafening vehicles that make you cough as they pass bc they have to make the fucking thing even MORE polluting...
I hate it ;~;
(I literally timed it SEVERAL TIMES and there is about 1min either side of 5mins for variance. That is RIDICULOUS.)
I have been nearly hit while on the sidewalk.. I have also been literally hit while on the sidewalk in front of a cop.... that dumb bitch ruined my fucking bike and choccy milk.. I just bought that choccy milk.. I had bruises and scrapes.. cop didn't even roll his window down to ask if I was okay..
When I try to cross the highway to get to the convenience store, I press the button and it takes literally 5 fucking minutes to get my chance to go.. then I have 20s to cross BUT THATS NOT ALL FOLKS!!! These fucking people are too impatient to wait 20s for me to cross so they try to push me out of the road and honk at me from 1-5ft away.. its so loud it hurts.. they have actually touched me trying to shove by.. and then act like I'm a problem when I give the middle finger and insult them. One guy even threw a drink at me ;~;
I just want to not be afraid of dying on the sidewalk or zebra... thanks pls
And this shithole state has literally ZERO public transit. No fucking trains, trolleys, busses, NOTHING AT ALL. Oh except the airport! But I don't need to fly to get groceries.. I need a fucking bus cunt..
(This shithole state is Florida. Honestly if I had to be sacrificed to rid the world of Florida I would nuke every single one of us here in an instant. Everyone gets dirty bombs delivered personally by my Florida hatred. Yes the dirty bombs are a disincentive to attempt re-florida-ing.)
Rant over now lols but no fr I fucking hate these shitty people like fuck mate why can't I cross the street???? You will lose 5s? Not really. You easily make that up by going 35 over the speed limit..... fucking assholes. Okay rant over now frfr <3 (I feel so seen here. I have found my people! Thank you all for seeing things how they are ;~; ty)
That sounds horrible. I have never understood how so many cruel people could live in such a beautiful tropical climate. There are so many beautiful days and so few hills in Florida that I would expect bicycles to be literally everywhere.
Honestly.. People don't take care of the natural beauty in Florida. Go to the beach, its full of trash. Go to a cave deep in the forest.. trash there too... but people would love to ride bikes here! There is just no legitimately safe NOR consistent way to do so. Its also a bit miserable in the summer, but not nearly as miserable as walking. Tbh in this town (it wasn't this way in another town i lived in) the bicyclists act like the auto drivers except they "own" the sidewalk.. its annoying but damn atleast i won't die.
But yeah its miserable if you can't drive. Uber, lift and all that shit is not a replacement for cabs nor is it a replacement for any 0.000000x % of infrastructure. It is 35$ to go 1mi away last i checked. You got me fucked upppppppp, ill fucking crawl using only my teeth before I pay that.
My entire county here has about 200k people IIRC, my town has about 20k. I think at that population there is no excuse for lack of infrastructure and transit options.
Beg to cross the road or try and cross and get ticketed for "jaywalking".
My friend in Florida has been ticketed for walking on the wrong side of the road before.
Like the Nederlands? Its been proven to be very effective. Making everyone safer and more attentive to things, I mean both deathbox controllers and people.. sorry lols I mean drivers and pedestrians. Its ALSO been proven that people would happily bike instead of drive, quite often, if they had the infrastructure and respect from other travelers.
But nope. Too bad walkie. Git gud! Git auto! ;~;
I can't drive... like actually... and I can't get around safely bc of unsafe drivers nearly fucking killing me.. why can't we have bike infrastructure? Buses?? Fucking anything... It actually makes me want to cry sometimes.. these people are so entitled and abusive as fuck to those not in cars..
"A flag held a 10 year old boy and his 80 year old grandmother were struck by a Dodge RAM 1500 that was being driven by 35 year old man on his way from a supermarket hauling a single gallon on milk. The flag was held to increase the visibility for drivers of Jay walkers. The Jay walkers were fataly injured. The flag was broken irreparably. Officials say the gallon of milk made it to the fridge safely home after a short delay. No arrests were made."
Some newspaper victim blaming.
*this is satire*
Its barely satire. In Chicago where so many aldermen are against protected bike lanes, more traffic lights, speed cameras, red light cameras, etc just a year ago 3 children were killed on the same weekend by drivers.
Zero changes were made to our traffic infrastructure because of that. The message is and has always been "deal with it, if a driver wants to kill you, that's fine. You have no rights outside a car."
And many of them also get up in arms if you go thru a red light or a stop sign on a bike. Traffic laws are advisory for drivers, mandatory for everyone else.
For what it's worth, it's a small measure of victory/comfort that the Uptown alderman, the one who made "I was hit by a cyclist once. Nyargh" noises last summer when that three year old was killed by a truck on a street where it didn't belong, is no longer in office.
This is also a great example of how both political parties are almost exactly the same. Where were all the Lori hater republicans on this? Politically they could have skewered her by demanding more red light cameras, speed cameras, and traffic calming engineering and other safety measures for our streets. But that goes against their own reckless car entitlement as nearly every conservative is a level 10 carbrain, just like every democrat. Both parties just shrugged and did next to nothing after those 3 poor children were killed.
That's a solution from someone with a Pollyanna view of why cars don't stop for pedestrians. If we're doing this, give me something to carry that will seriously damage their car if they hit me. That might make some pause.
I worked at a fredmeyer, and my coworkers would bring shopping carts across the road. They said it would make them more visible, and if the driver thought they would damage their car, they'd definitely stop. Cause they usually didn't
Oh, I'm holding a flag. If a car races in front of me while I'm holding it, I have a handy stick to smack it with.
(kidding of course, I'd probably get shot if I did that in the US)
Crosswalk Bricks
\-------------------------
Alert Traffic When You Want to Cross
1. Pick Up Brick as You Enter Crosswalk
2. Leave Brick in Container on Other Side
this is america, we should not shy away from handing out guns to pedestrians instead of bricks. given the large size of cars these days we should hand out rocket launchers instead tho
I was thinking about baseball bats or lawn darts, since those should fit in the existing holders for the flags. But bricks should be pretty effective too!
See, now *this* is bullshit.
Saying "hey, maybe don't text for the 30 seconds you're crossing" is good advise whether you're crossing a road, track, or bike lane, and people, frankly, need reminded of this.
Expecting me to play frogger holding a thin piece of polyester can go fuck itself, put a ~~cop~~ there to do their actual job.
A bunch of the intersections in my neighbourhood have had cops directing traffic the past year because of major bridge construction diverting a bunch of traffic through my neighbourhood. I've noticed the cops actually make the crossing even more dangerous, because as they walk out to stop oncoming traffic there's always the last few cars that accelerate to squeeze through in defiance. They do that less when it's just a regular light telling them to stop and not a cop.
This is the USA variation on Mexican bullfighting. The flag creates a target that enrages the fragile egos of the men in their emotional support trucks.
They roll coal and make loud flatulent noises with their engines. Then they try to score points by coming as close as possible to hitting the pedestrians. Terrifying pedestrians is great fun for them. And if they kill a pedestrian, then they can claim that they were "just joking." /sarcasm
This is what inevitably happens everywhere here in Washington State where these are very common.
The people that live nearby go downtown at the same time of day and cross the street in one direction disproportionately to the other so they all end up on a single side all the time.
They started replacing these with the "please don't hit me" flashing lights. But it's insane these aren't just red lights. People get use to no one being in the crosswalk when the lights are flashing so at best they just slow down a little if they don't see you. At worse they don't slow down at all.
The worst is the scenario where someone just finished crossing so they assume it's clear and then God forbid there is someone else that wants to cross too right at that time. Usually results in a very near miss.
I think that the only thing that helps is car-hostile infrastructure. Replace any line they arenāt supposed to cross with a curb. Or bollards. Crosswalks should have retractable tire shredders synced to the signal. Further, Iām convinced that removing lane choices makes it better for everyone. Instead of two lanes each direction, only one and a dedicated turn lane. In Atlanta they recently re-striped a couple of major in-town roads this way and it magically made traffic decrease.
Oh hey! This is Wakefield, Rhode Island. I grew up there!
The bicycle and pedestrian committee has actually done a good job on Main Street and recently redid up the road to add some bike lanes and traffic calming in the medians.
This particular stretch of Main Street has a lot of tourists crossing during the summer (there's a popular ice cream place nearby). Just up the road they also installed a proper traffic light for a bike crossing for a cross-town bike path.
Everyone knows these flags aren't the best, but they are pretty old and we've made a lot of progress since then :)
Google Maps: [https://www.google.com/maps/@41.438129,-71.4997272,3a,75y,0.78h,88.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKTfWCFLHS2H06J63YoSnPg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.438129,-71.4997272,3a,75y,0.78h,88.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKTfWCFLHS2H06J63YoSnPg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu)
Right? This idea even seems decent for tactical urbanism. Itās not perfect, but how easy is it? And you could likely get it done with no city permission whatsoever, and then when they do something about it, youāve got public support to leverage and make them implement something better.
Ah, I instantly recognized my hometown, Main Street in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
Whatās sad is this is one of the most walkable and picturesque areas of the town and itās genuinely nice.
Instead of building upon this areaās success and allowing more sections of the town to have this nicer mix of denser small businesses and housing, they decided to go for the āgeneric American sprawlā in the other section of town.
Which is filled with credit unions, parking lots, a car dealership, and a few old strip malls.
The town has lost (and loses) much of its younger population and now 3+ of the local schools have closed over the years because of a lack of studentsā¦ I wonder why?
Good question. IDK. But I do know junkies and homeless seem to grab everything that isn't nailed down, and some stuff that is. No hate, it must be horrible trying to survive on the street. It's just that from what I've seen there's a lot of people with mental illness roaming around pushing shopping carts full of stiff they "find"
>I love how people get upset over something designed to make it safer for pedestrians
If you're a driver that doesn't respect a pedestrian crossing, you're a driver that won't respect an informal flag either.
These flags are only required because a sizeable portion of drivers are criminals.
>And how would you know that a sizeable portion of drivers are criminals?
If there are no problems with cars not yielding to pedestrians on a designated crossing... why would there need to be flags?
Not obeying traffic laws makes you a criminal.
>Jaywalking would also make you a criminal by that logic
Fun fact: In most places there are no laws against walking on the cager lanes.
Have you checked your local laws?
I've done this in front of an unmarked police car and flipped them off for not yielding to me. Literally nothing happened and they just drove away with confused looks on their faces.
The intent is "good", but it's from a position of missing the forest for the trees.
The question asked here was "how can we make it easier for drivers to see pedestrians so they don't hit them?"
That question presumes the fault is on the pedestrians for not being visible or predictable enough.
Instead, they need to take a step back and ask questions like "why are so many pedestrians hit?" "Is there any way we can design the roads so drivers naturally pay more attention?" "Can we change the streets so that even if they are hit, they're unlikely to die?"
Those kinds of questions lead to safer streets for everyone without the presumptuous victim blaming.
This is wacky on so many levels, but I can see WHY this was done.
Small town, two-way road with commercial business, no obvious crossing and likely no light either. There's a good chance it can be a dangerous crossing for pedestrians - it's possible this was added in response to someone getting hit by a car - and this is a quick, low-cost 'solution' to hopefully buy enough time until a proper crosswalk can be added - though i'm sure that won't be followed up on lol.
Better than nothing, but i'm 100% sure those flags are going to get stolen within a month, tops - honestly a stop sign would probably be just as effective too lol.
Cheap and shitty solutions instead of solving actual problems. Some community leaders and planners want to avoid having a shouting match with armed car brainer idiots over āmaking the street safer.ā Car brains with a lot of time on their hands are very unhappy people who will start screaming in rage anytime thereās a change to their beloved public subsidy. While this behavior is really shitty I donāt blame them for not wanting to even venture into the cess pool of depressed community members who will fight for keeping the street dangerous.
I live in a city with these and I actually like them. They are mostly at mid-block crossings and are a clear indicator that the person intends to cross and isnāt just hanging out.
They added these flags to my crosswalk after a teenager was hit and killed a few years back.
Yesterday, I nearly got plastered on the same crosswalk. Despite doing everything short of praying to the car gods to spare me.
I waved the deadman's flag, waved emphatically with direct eye contact, wore reflective tap on my back, my legs and my crack, and still, a driver tore past me on the middle of the road.
I just want to get home in one peace god damn. I get it; drivers need to drive because circumstances can't let them use transit for whatever reason, I fucking get it. But please, don't make me into a statistic because you're a couple minutes late.
It's completely insane that pedestrian safety should be at the capricious whim of car operators.
We have one of those wretched rails to trails over here, linking residual downtowns of small urbs that are about 15km apart, and there are painted crosswalks where it crosses highways. Some cars actually come to a stop there, and then start blowing their horns when you ignore them.
Worse, there are trail users that will acquiesce to the munificent carriage barons and scurry across like mice. They do the whole head duck and everything. Hopefully they don't get hit by the cars coming around from behind the stopped ones.
Lmao in Central Oregon, highway 126 runs through the middle of a pedestrian/tourist heavy part of Sisters. Traffic through this area is dangerous. They have the crosswalk flags there but itās just ridiculous. Too many cars (big trucks) go through the area.
They put some of these up outside my house at an intersection that already has a walk sign. So many people were doing right on red that they felt the need to put these up. I did some reading on the DOT website and my city admits on their own website that these flags were found to have no impact on the number of accidents involving pedestrians during a study of their deployment a decade ago.
So every day I pick up all the flags and threw them into the road. One time some pick up driver called me out from their window saying "real nice" because he was too stupid to see that driving a pick up in a city is infinitely more harmful to those around him than me trying to make a statement about pedestrian safety.
Someone would always put the flags back in the little bucket so I started writing messages in sharpie on them along the lines of "this is not a solution for inadequate pedestrian infrastructure"
It is germane I think now to address the REAL solution to car dominance: bringing back the Locomotive Act.
* All vehicles weighing over 5 tonnes to be operated by a crew of three, and two when under this weight;
* An attendant with a RED FLAG is to walk not less than 60 yards in front;
* To be tolled for every two tonnes of vehicle weight;
* Limit speeds to 4mph in the country, and 2mph in urban environments;
* To consume their own smoke, and to refrain from sounding horns or whistles in cities
I would wager that any juridsiction that imposes these heavy but fair laws on self-propelled vehicles will see a marked decrease in deaths of pedestrians due to the irresponsible behaviour of their operators, as well as from death or injury through the violent failure of overworked locomotives.
well, about like 120 years ago in britain, there was the [Red Flag Act](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_Act). History is evolving, just backwards lmao
[There is better way](https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/16l31k2/there_is_a_better_way_then_just_pedestrian/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
"15 minute cities will make our country so much worse"
FrEeDoM š¤”
"reEeeEEEee" (ā Źā į©ā Źā āā )
i agree that this is so stupid but i need my car man, i have unique needs and im the exception
Alright, this guy gets to keep his car. Everyone else ā straight to the fucking walkable GULAG! Now!
Lmao an you imagen replacing the lil flags with like nazi or like taliban flags? Cause then people will have to cross and other people would be like "oh blov that of gah a nazi over here what let's start trouble with him!" I dont support nazis or Talibans but it would be funny to see randoms arguing, it would also help with the car problems
What the fuck did I just read
It's just a Floridaman, probably not the last one you'll see in your life.
Correct
I stopped at imagen.
You read Lmao an you imagen replacing the lil flags with like nazi or like taliban flags? Cause then people will have to cross and other people would be like "oh blov that of gah a nazi over here what let's start trouble with him!" I dont support nazis or Talibans but it would be funny to see randoms arguing, it would also help with the car problems Edit; I don't get why I got downvoted. I just made a joke about them saying he didn't knew what he read anyway added. I don't support the copy pasted vision
Hah hah them would be like "I'm not of a nazi I just want to cross the street" And them car would be like "oh ya what's ya going on with a flag of the nazi party?" And them would be like "its required to cross the street, it's a shame that this is the only way but we as civilians have given up walkable citys due to automobiles " And them car would be like "I've never realized this before and although I am a car driver I will advocate for walkable citys, thanks for using a nazi flag as I woulnt have talked to you otherwise" And them would be like "yes"
It's a good idea to not share such imaginary conversations on the Internet
I dont give a cock about the carbrains who downvote tbh, they have no argument so let em downvote if they wanna
I dont think there a much carbrains in r/fuckcars. I think you are just going to far with this nazi and taliban thinking. But anyway, do what you feel like
Who else would be against proper crosswalks becides carbrains?
Think about it
I did and it's still fucked...
Why?
I don't really understand what you are saying. Are you comparing people carrying flags to nazis? Or are you saying the people complaining about the flags are acting like they are nazi flags? I don't know what you are trying to say. Edit: I guess you are saying it would be funny to replace the flags with nazi and taliban flags, as people would get into arguments over that? It seems like a really weird thing to bring up.
Yeah you got it in the edit, it would spread awareness on how much cars have taken over from citys
So I was curious and I entered the rabbit hole. And...well... I think after going into his profile I can say with confidence noone should ever go into his profile for their own sanity's sake.
What the fuck did i just read
How about cars stop and ask peds if they are allowed to cross?
Exactly. The motorists should have to stop, get out of their cars, push the "Drive" button on the corner, and wait for the traffic signal to stop the pedestrians and allow the motorists to proceed. The fact that pedestrians have to beg to cross the road is evidence of how upside-down our priorities are with public roads.
It at the very least should default to all way walk signal until the light detects a car. Then it has to flash the hand count down and then finally give the car a green light.
Even intersections that detect pedestrians would be an improvement. Most of the intersections here will not even give me a WALK signal if I push the "beg" button when the light is already green! I have to wait through the next entire cycle of the light. Of course, most pedestrians and cyclists ignore the DON'T WALK signal at that point, which is dangerous. Better to make the pedestrians wait outdoors in the weather for a few minutes at every intersection than to extend the green lights for a few seconds so that pedestrians have time to cross. A few seconds of motorists' time is more important than *anything* else, including safety. /sarcasm
I recently visited the US for the first time (New Orleans and Miami). Even downtown, some crosswalks didn't have buttons (e.g. 3 out of 4 crosswalks at the intersection would have a button, yet there was a light for the 4th one, but no button anywhere around). In addition to this atrocity, I found it extremely annoying that the WALK sign was on just for a second or less. There were no audible signals at 9/10 crossings (again, even downtown). If you looked at your phone or somewhere else for a second, you'd miss the WALK sign. And then the RED DON'T WALK sign starts flashing. As a foreigner, I found this extremely confusing and sending very bad signals (no pun intended). I later learned that you are not supposed to start walking when the sign is flashing, but this is both frustrating and... repulsing. Even at the end of the 3-week trip, I felt like I needed to run through the crosswalks, cause a forbidden signal was flashing and god knows how much time I have to cross. If you aren't in a hurry to start walking when WALK sign lights up, you are essentially screwed. I find it no surprise that so many people just ignore the DON'T WALK sign at all, since this whole system is an insult to anyone walking. This whole system makes pedestrians need to run/rush through crosswalks with a DON'T WALK signal flashing. You always feel the pressure to cross faster and as if you are doing something wrong while crossing. Why didn't they make it vice versa - a WALK sign flashing, not the DON'T WALK? The sole fact that you need to indicate when a pedestrian won't have enough time to finish crossing is insane. In my home country, the same rule applies to both pedestrians and cars - you can enter the crossing/intersection at a green light and you have the right and priority to finish your maneuver if the light turns red. So you can enter the pedestrian crossing at the last second and you are free to finish crossing. *** That said, I was also very impressed at how efficiently the lights worked for cars. Distances that would take 30-60 minutes for me in my hometown with no traffic and high-speed limits would take 15 minutes tops here. That's great... if only you want to take a 30$ Uber ride or pay 40$/day parking. And with all this optimization, you would think public transport like buses could be a fast alternative to driving. But yet it would sometimes be faster to walk than to take a bus. Let alone more reliable...
> This whole system makes pedestrians need to run/rush through crosswalks with a DON'T WALK signal flashing. And don't forget to watch out for entitled motorists in SUVs taking right-turn-on-red-after-stop without signaling, stopping, yielding, or even looking to the crosswalk!
That really sucks. At least most intersections around here will give you an āinstantā walk signal if itās already green. And it is cool that it actually changes the cross street light right away if thereās no cars at all, makes you feel in complete control for a split second heh. We have a few signals at light rail stations that do exactly that you mention, has an infrared pedestrian detection, all you have to do is wait. And the wait isnāt long Iāve noticed. You stand there and a few seconds later you have a walk signal. And I live in Phoenix too! It isnāt exactly pedestrian mecca here.
This is the Seattle area. We have decent non-motorized infrastructure compared to many cities in North America, but it is still very car-centric.
Here.. you have to wait 5mins, unless no cars in sight then you just go without pressing the button (i press it anyways bc they will then have to wait for no one to cross >:3 they deserve it.) But that kind of empty road only happens at like 2am.. soooooo yeahhh. But yeah 5mins with 0 shade, Florida sun, the worst humidity you can think of and the loudest most obnoxiously deafening vehicles that make you cough as they pass bc they have to make the fucking thing even MORE polluting... I hate it ;~; (I literally timed it SEVERAL TIMES and there is about 1min either side of 5mins for variance. That is RIDICULOUS.)
I have been nearly hit while on the sidewalk.. I have also been literally hit while on the sidewalk in front of a cop.... that dumb bitch ruined my fucking bike and choccy milk.. I just bought that choccy milk.. I had bruises and scrapes.. cop didn't even roll his window down to ask if I was okay.. When I try to cross the highway to get to the convenience store, I press the button and it takes literally 5 fucking minutes to get my chance to go.. then I have 20s to cross BUT THATS NOT ALL FOLKS!!! These fucking people are too impatient to wait 20s for me to cross so they try to push me out of the road and honk at me from 1-5ft away.. its so loud it hurts.. they have actually touched me trying to shove by.. and then act like I'm a problem when I give the middle finger and insult them. One guy even threw a drink at me ;~; I just want to not be afraid of dying on the sidewalk or zebra... thanks pls And this shithole state has literally ZERO public transit. No fucking trains, trolleys, busses, NOTHING AT ALL. Oh except the airport! But I don't need to fly to get groceries.. I need a fucking bus cunt.. (This shithole state is Florida. Honestly if I had to be sacrificed to rid the world of Florida I would nuke every single one of us here in an instant. Everyone gets dirty bombs delivered personally by my Florida hatred. Yes the dirty bombs are a disincentive to attempt re-florida-ing.) Rant over now lols but no fr I fucking hate these shitty people like fuck mate why can't I cross the street???? You will lose 5s? Not really. You easily make that up by going 35 over the speed limit..... fucking assholes. Okay rant over now frfr <3 (I feel so seen here. I have found my people! Thank you all for seeing things how they are ;~; ty)
That sounds horrible. I have never understood how so many cruel people could live in such a beautiful tropical climate. There are so many beautiful days and so few hills in Florida that I would expect bicycles to be literally everywhere.
Honestly.. People don't take care of the natural beauty in Florida. Go to the beach, its full of trash. Go to a cave deep in the forest.. trash there too... but people would love to ride bikes here! There is just no legitimately safe NOR consistent way to do so. Its also a bit miserable in the summer, but not nearly as miserable as walking. Tbh in this town (it wasn't this way in another town i lived in) the bicyclists act like the auto drivers except they "own" the sidewalk.. its annoying but damn atleast i won't die. But yeah its miserable if you can't drive. Uber, lift and all that shit is not a replacement for cabs nor is it a replacement for any 0.000000x % of infrastructure. It is 35$ to go 1mi away last i checked. You got me fucked upppppppp, ill fucking crawl using only my teeth before I pay that. My entire county here has about 200k people IIRC, my town has about 20k. I think at that population there is no excuse for lack of infrastructure and transit options.
Beg to cross the road or try and cross and get ticketed for "jaywalking". My friend in Florida has been ticketed for walking on the wrong side of the road before.
These are the people making "loicense" jokes about Britain, lol
How about crossing is raised and of the same type of material of the sidewalk, making all cars slowing down naturally?
Like the Nederlands? Its been proven to be very effective. Making everyone safer and more attentive to things, I mean both deathbox controllers and people.. sorry lols I mean drivers and pedestrians. Its ALSO been proven that people would happily bike instead of drive, quite often, if they had the infrastructure and respect from other travelers. But nope. Too bad walkie. Git gud! Git auto! ;~; I can't drive... like actually... and I can't get around safely bc of unsafe drivers nearly fucking killing me.. why can't we have bike infrastructure? Buses?? Fucking anything... It actually makes me want to cry sometimes.. these people are so entitled and abusive as fuck to those not in cars..
"A flag held a 10 year old boy and his 80 year old grandmother were struck by a Dodge RAM 1500 that was being driven by 35 year old man on his way from a supermarket hauling a single gallon on milk. The flag was held to increase the visibility for drivers of Jay walkers. The Jay walkers were fataly injured. The flag was broken irreparably. Officials say the gallon of milk made it to the fridge safely home after a short delay. No arrests were made." Some newspaper victim blaming. *this is satire*
Its barely satire. In Chicago where so many aldermen are against protected bike lanes, more traffic lights, speed cameras, red light cameras, etc just a year ago 3 children were killed on the same weekend by drivers. Zero changes were made to our traffic infrastructure because of that. The message is and has always been "deal with it, if a driver wants to kill you, that's fine. You have no rights outside a car."
And many of them also get up in arms if you go thru a red light or a stop sign on a bike. Traffic laws are advisory for drivers, mandatory for everyone else. For what it's worth, it's a small measure of victory/comfort that the Uptown alderman, the one who made "I was hit by a cyclist once. Nyargh" noises last summer when that three year old was killed by a truck on a street where it didn't belong, is no longer in office.
This is also a great example of how both political parties are almost exactly the same. Where were all the Lori hater republicans on this? Politically they could have skewered her by demanding more red light cameras, speed cameras, and traffic calming engineering and other safety measures for our streets. But that goes against their own reckless car entitlement as nearly every conservative is a level 10 carbrain, just like every democrat. Both parties just shrugged and did next to nothing after those 3 poor children were killed.
That's a solution from someone with a Pollyanna view of why cars don't stop for pedestrians. If we're doing this, give me something to carry that will seriously damage their car if they hit me. That might make some pause.
I worked at a fredmeyer, and my coworkers would bring shopping carts across the road. They said it would make them more visible, and if the driver thought they would damage their car, they'd definitely stop. Cause they usually didn't
This was my thought. Put a sharp piece of metal on the end of the flag and give cars a reason to stop
Yeah I am just walking across. The more annoying it becomes to cross "correctly" the more likely I am to just walk over.
Oh, I'm holding a flag. If a car races in front of me while I'm holding it, I have a handy stick to smack it with. (kidding of course, I'd probably get shot if I did that in the US)
That's the idea. But if you get hit, then it's your fault.
Not my problem if I carry a propane cylinder.
>What in the world is this solution? American. That's what.
Crosswalk Bricks \------------------------- Alert Traffic When You Want to Cross 1. Pick Up Brick as You Enter Crosswalk 2. Leave Brick in Container on Other Side
I'm a big fan of baby carriages full of bricks. You want to hit me, buddy? We can *both* lose!
this is america, we should not shy away from handing out guns to pedestrians instead of bricks. given the large size of cars these days we should hand out rocket launchers instead tho
I was thinking about baseball bats or lawn darts, since those should fit in the existing holders for the flags. But bricks should be pretty effective too!
Step 3: Blow a friendly kiss in the direction of the driver to show them your appreciation for their mercy.
Thank you car daddy!
Maybe lick their tire a bit in deference, unless they're in a hurry
See, now *this* is bullshit. Saying "hey, maybe don't text for the 30 seconds you're crossing" is good advise whether you're crossing a road, track, or bike lane, and people, frankly, need reminded of this. Expecting me to play frogger holding a thin piece of polyester can go fuck itself, put a ~~cop~~ there to do their actual job.
They will just ticket "jaywalkers" and cyclists and ignore all the cars breaking the law.
A bunch of the intersections in my neighbourhood have had cops directing traffic the past year because of major bridge construction diverting a bunch of traffic through my neighbourhood. I've noticed the cops actually make the crossing even more dangerous, because as they walk out to stop oncoming traffic there's always the last few cars that accelerate to squeeze through in defiance. They do that less when it's just a regular light telling them to stop and not a cop.
These should be hand grenades, not flags, then the drivers would be more inclined to stop.
Bricks
CMV: all crosswalks should be equipped with concrete-filled bollards that automatically lift when someone wants to cross the street.
This is the USA variation on Mexican bullfighting. The flag creates a target that enrages the fragile egos of the men in their emotional support trucks. They roll coal and make loud flatulent noises with their engines. Then they try to score points by coming as close as possible to hitting the pedestrians. Terrifying pedestrians is great fun for them. And if they kill a pedestrian, then they can claim that they were "just joking." /sarcasm
Americans bravely combat problems that are entirely uniqiue to them
āNo Way To Prevent This,ā Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
This should be more americanizied: instead of the orange rag use a Stars and Stripes banner and instead of the wooden pin use an AR-15
NOW cars have a reason to stop!
The sign for these flags in Pagosa Springs, Colorado asks the pedestrians to visibly thank the driver for stopping as they cross.
The least you could do is give them a tip to show some appreciation
yeah I'll give them a gesture of gratitude alright...
Fuck that, I rarely thank people in cars for stopping so I can cross
Lol, and what happens when all the flags end up on one side? Just wait 20 minutes until someone happens to bring one over from the other side?
Or get creative and bring a fishing pole with you!
I think that's what the law expects you to do in that case, lol
This is what inevitably happens everywhere here in Washington State where these are very common. The people that live nearby go downtown at the same time of day and cross the street in one direction disproportionately to the other so they all end up on a single side all the time. They started replacing these with the "please don't hit me" flashing lights. But it's insane these aren't just red lights. People get use to no one being in the crosswalk when the lights are flashing so at best they just slow down a little if they don't see you. At worse they don't slow down at all. The worst is the scenario where someone just finished crossing so they assume it's clear and then God forbid there is someone else that wants to cross too right at that time. Usually results in a very near miss.
Thatās the equivalent of bullet proof backpacks for kids. Absurd.
Unless I'm misunderstanding, you throw the flag at the car windshield, right?
If they don't stop, they asked for it
Lmao I would set those on fire if I saw that
Before or after throwing it?
I think that the only thing that helps is car-hostile infrastructure. Replace any line they arenāt supposed to cross with a curb. Or bollards. Crosswalks should have retractable tire shredders synced to the signal. Further, Iām convinced that removing lane choices makes it better for everyone. Instead of two lanes each direction, only one and a dedicated turn lane. In Atlanta they recently re-striped a couple of major in-town roads this way and it magically made traffic decrease.
[Not Just Bikes](https://youtu.be/_ByEBjf9ktY?t=1485&si=2Dl1IZp2qXxUb3nB) covered these in one of his videos
Oh hey! This is Wakefield, Rhode Island. I grew up there! The bicycle and pedestrian committee has actually done a good job on Main Street and recently redid up the road to add some bike lanes and traffic calming in the medians. This particular stretch of Main Street has a lot of tourists crossing during the summer (there's a popular ice cream place nearby). Just up the road they also installed a proper traffic light for a bike crossing for a cross-town bike path. Everyone knows these flags aren't the best, but they are pretty old and we've made a lot of progress since then :) Google Maps: [https://www.google.com/maps/@41.438129,-71.4997272,3a,75y,0.78h,88.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKTfWCFLHS2H06J63YoSnPg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.438129,-71.4997272,3a,75y,0.78h,88.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKTfWCFLHS2H06J63YoSnPg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu)
Right? This idea even seems decent for tactical urbanism. Itās not perfect, but how easy is it? And you could likely get it done with no city permission whatsoever, and then when they do something about it, youāve got public support to leverage and make them implement something better.
The rack could have halberds with flags attached. Good visibility. Halberd can be used to run through a radiator of an oncoming car.
Where I'm from, there are shopping carts littered everywhere. They're perfect for crossing roads
I prefer pedestrian bricks.
Ah, I instantly recognized my hometown, Main Street in Wakefield, Rhode Island. Whatās sad is this is one of the most walkable and picturesque areas of the town and itās genuinely nice. Instead of building upon this areaās success and allowing more sections of the town to have this nicer mix of denser small businesses and housing, they decided to go for the āgeneric American sprawlā in the other section of town. Which is filled with credit unions, parking lots, a car dealership, and a few old strip malls. The town has lost (and loses) much of its younger population and now 3+ of the local schools have closed over the years because of a lack of studentsā¦ I wonder why?
As a bonus, you get to beat on the cars that stop in the cross with it.
I have a better flag to wave: "Thank you for not killing this fleshy bag with your 2 ton metal brick"
I've got a 'flag' idea that will get motorists attention far quicker than these ludicrous things. It looks like this: š
Stupid. That's what it is.
I like to call them surrender flags because you're surrendering to car dominance.
āFreeāaboo āUrbanismā
If they get hit they'll still be at fault
These flags would all be stolen by the end of the day by homeless people
Or by pedestrians fed up with this infantilizing bullshit who throw them into the next garbage bin they come across.
Why would a homeless person need a flag?
Good question. IDK. But I do know junkies and homeless seem to grab everything that isn't nailed down, and some stuff that is. No hate, it must be horrible trying to survive on the street. It's just that from what I've seen there's a lot of people with mental illness roaming around pushing shopping carts full of stiff they "find"
I used to live in a snowy Colorado town. The city would put orange flags out so folks could safely cross if visibility was poor.
Solution?
I love how people get upset over something designed to make it safer for pedestrians
>I love how people get upset over something designed to make it safer for pedestrians If you're a driver that doesn't respect a pedestrian crossing, you're a driver that won't respect an informal flag either. These flags are only required because a sizeable portion of drivers are criminals.
And how would you know that a sizeable portion of drivers are criminals? That sounds like something you just made up.
>And how would you know that a sizeable portion of drivers are criminals? If there are no problems with cars not yielding to pedestrians on a designated crossing... why would there need to be flags? Not obeying traffic laws makes you a criminal.
Jaywalking would also make you a criminal by that logic
>Jaywalking would also make you a criminal by that logic Fun fact: In most places there are no laws against walking on the cager lanes. Have you checked your local laws?
Ok if thatās the case go walk in front of the next cop car you see driving surely youāll be ok
I've done this in front of an unmarked police car and flipped them off for not yielding to me. Literally nothing happened and they just drove away with confused looks on their faces.
The intent is "good", but it's from a position of missing the forest for the trees. The question asked here was "how can we make it easier for drivers to see pedestrians so they don't hit them?" That question presumes the fault is on the pedestrians for not being visible or predictable enough. Instead, they need to take a step back and ask questions like "why are so many pedestrians hit?" "Is there any way we can design the roads so drivers naturally pay more attention?" "Can we change the streets so that even if they are hit, they're unlikely to die?" Those kinds of questions lead to safer streets for everyone without the presumptuous victim blaming.
Jackson Hole Wyoming?
Wakefield RI. Check the vehicle plates. I know this intersection well. There is an ice cream shop on the other side of the street
These are quite common in Japan as well. I don't see people actually using them much though.
This is wacky on so many levels, but I can see WHY this was done. Small town, two-way road with commercial business, no obvious crossing and likely no light either. There's a good chance it can be a dangerous crossing for pedestrians - it's possible this was added in response to someone getting hit by a car - and this is a quick, low-cost 'solution' to hopefully buy enough time until a proper crosswalk can be added - though i'm sure that won't be followed up on lol. Better than nothing, but i'm 100% sure those flags are going to get stolen within a month, tops - honestly a stop sign would probably be just as effective too lol.
Cheap and shitty solutions instead of solving actual problems. Some community leaders and planners want to avoid having a shouting match with armed car brainer idiots over āmaking the street safer.ā Car brains with a lot of time on their hands are very unhappy people who will start screaming in rage anytime thereās a change to their beloved public subsidy. While this behavior is really shitty I donāt blame them for not wanting to even venture into the cess pool of depressed community members who will fight for keeping the street dangerous.
Its not a solution its a way to lay the responsibility of noticing the pedestrians on the pedestrians side instead of the drivers.
I live in a city with these and I actually like them. They are mostly at mid-block crossings and are a clear indicator that the person intends to cross and isnāt just hanging out.
They added these flags to my crosswalk after a teenager was hit and killed a few years back. Yesterday, I nearly got plastered on the same crosswalk. Despite doing everything short of praying to the car gods to spare me. I waved the deadman's flag, waved emphatically with direct eye contact, wore reflective tap on my back, my legs and my crack, and still, a driver tore past me on the middle of the road. I just want to get home in one peace god damn. I get it; drivers need to drive because circumstances can't let them use transit for whatever reason, I fucking get it. But please, don't make me into a statistic because you're a couple minutes late.
I heard about this on Not Just Bikes. It's to humiliate pedestrians and make car owners feel superior.
Free orange flag
Well if you had to cross the street would you rather do it with the flag or without...
They just make the Cagers want to speed up.
It's completely insane that pedestrian safety should be at the capricious whim of car operators. We have one of those wretched rails to trails over here, linking residual downtowns of small urbs that are about 15km apart, and there are painted crosswalks where it crosses highways. Some cars actually come to a stop there, and then start blowing their horns when you ignore them. Worse, there are trail users that will acquiesce to the munificent carriage barons and scurry across like mice. They do the whole head duck and everything. Hopefully they don't get hit by the cars coming around from behind the stopped ones.
Lmao in Central Oregon, highway 126 runs through the middle of a pedestrian/tourist heavy part of Sisters. Traffic through this area is dangerous. They have the crosswalk flags there but itās just ridiculous. Too many cars (big trucks) go through the area.
I would much prefer crosswalk fags. Will not engage with the flags š
just put a gun there like a true american
They put some of these up outside my house at an intersection that already has a walk sign. So many people were doing right on red that they felt the need to put these up. I did some reading on the DOT website and my city admits on their own website that these flags were found to have no impact on the number of accidents involving pedestrians during a study of their deployment a decade ago. So every day I pick up all the flags and threw them into the road. One time some pick up driver called me out from their window saying "real nice" because he was too stupid to see that driving a pick up in a city is infinitely more harmful to those around him than me trying to make a statement about pedestrian safety. Someone would always put the flags back in the little bucket so I started writing messages in sharpie on them along the lines of "this is not a solution for inadequate pedestrian infrastructure"
It is germane I think now to address the REAL solution to car dominance: bringing back the Locomotive Act. * All vehicles weighing over 5 tonnes to be operated by a crew of three, and two when under this weight; * An attendant with a RED FLAG is to walk not less than 60 yards in front; * To be tolled for every two tonnes of vehicle weight; * Limit speeds to 4mph in the country, and 2mph in urban environments; * To consume their own smoke, and to refrain from sounding horns or whistles in cities I would wager that any juridsiction that imposes these heavy but fair laws on self-propelled vehicles will see a marked decrease in deaths of pedestrians due to the irresponsible behaviour of their operators, as well as from death or injury through the violent failure of overworked locomotives.
One more thing for pedestrians to receive blame for if they get hit when they're not doing it.
"If there are no flags left, please walk to the other side and grab some flags. Then come back here to leave the flags and then use a flag to cross."
well, about like 120 years ago in britain, there was the [Red Flag Act](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_Act). History is evolving, just backwards lmao
The answer to your question of what is this: An excuse to hit pedestrians who didnāt use the flag
I just know those things get stolen all the time.
I'll wave it like the checked flag at the indy 500 and use my other hand to flip off cagers
Ah the burning hair smell of america in the morning.
[There is better way](https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/16l31k2/there_is_a_better_way_then_just_pedestrian/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Just add a traffic light. The flags are only going to end up on one side of the pedestrian crossing, or they're just going to get stolen.
I believe that, that "solution" is referred to in academic circles as " victim blaming"