Places where the drivers don't know what pedestrians are

[index]

I was walking across a rather long crosswalk to get picked up from school today, and when i was about halfway to 3/4 through, the ped signal started to blink. Multiple drivers were blowing by a few feet in front of me with seemingly zero regard to the fact that there were people crossing, despite there being a turning traffic yield to pedestrians sign.

I've had this happen before. I was walking through a HAWK signal in this area, and despite the ped signal being white and the HAWK signals being in their red phase, (the road was fairly empty and was clear when I began to cross) when a driver came through, he yelled at me, honked at me, and blew through the red signal, maybe about three feet in front of me? You're supposed to stop at a red signal, idiot.

With this, I can conclude that drivers here have no idea of the alien concept of pedestrians. (This is hyperbole, I have in fact encountered people yielding to pedestrians here often, and I have encountered people failing to yield a lot too.)

[jeffandnicole]

The worst conclusion one can come up with is by basing their conclusion on the actions of a few.

Have you never encountered people stopping at the signal?

[AlexandriaVA]

I was walking across a rather long crosswalk to get picked up from school today, and when i was about halfway to 3/4 through, the ped signal started to blink. Multiple drivers were blowing by a few feet in front of me with seemingly zero regard to the fact that there were people crossing, despite there being a turning traffic yield to pedestrians sign.

I've had this happen before. I was walking through a HAWK signal in this area, and despite the ped signal being white and the HAWK signals being in their red phase, (the road was fairly empty and was clear when I began to cross) when a driver came through, he yelled at me, honked at me, and blew through the red signal, maybe about three feet in front of me? You're supposed to stop at a red signal, idiot.

With this, I can conclude that drivers here have no idea of the alien concept of pedestrians.

I never realized how many parts of the US basically don't comprehend pedestrians. This includes the fact that, I guess, walking is a suspicious act in 'real America'...I was once questioned by a policeman in Idaho while walking from my hotel to a nearby mall because there was a fight at a nearby bar. Needless to say this doesn't happen in DC or on the East Coast...

[roadman]

In the Boston area, it seems that for every driver that appears to be clueless as to what a pedestrian is, there are at least four or five pedestrians who appear to be equally clueless as to what a driver is.

[index]

The worst conclusion one can come up with is by basing their conclusion on the actions of a few.

Have you never encountered people stopping at the signal?

Of course I have, I was just using hyperbole (nobody knows what a pedestrian is) to intensify what I was saying here.

[RobbieL2415]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

[Roadgeekteen]

Walnut street in Newton MA at night: Sometimes 3, 4, 5, cars just don't want to stop .

[Roadgeek2500]

Roosevelt Blvd. in Philadelphia. It's a bad scene.

[Otto Yamamoto]

In NYC the problem is cyclists, who disregard everything.

P00I

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

I was walking across a rather long crosswalk to get picked up from school today, and when i was about halfway to 3/4 through, the ped signal started to blink. Multiple drivers were blowing by a few feet in front of me with seemingly zero regard to the fact that there were people crossing, despite there being a turning traffic yield to pedestrians sign.

This happens often on Garrison Avenue while crossing -- Probably the most ignored sign on the Avenue is this one.

[sparker]

Here in San Jose, most of the ped signals now have a countdown until either (a) the yellow traffic light is on, or (b) see (a), but with about a 4-5 second delay.  However, more than a few pedestrians don't realize that it's an orange aspect (following a white "walk" symbol), which means they are not to step into the street -- I'm guessing that some think that's the amount of time they have to start crossing the street.  Wreaks havoc on traffic trying to make turns.  There needs to be some sort of educational effort regarding this (from experience it seems H.S. students walking to and from school are among the most common "offenders"; this should be relayed to those kids). 

[US71]

Walmart

[mrcmc888]

Gay Street in Knoxville, Tennessee.

It's a college town and there are usually loads of pedestrians out on any given afternoon/evening, but you'd be amazed at how many commuters from Farragut/Powell/Maryville are utterly bewildered that you actually have to stop BEFORE the crosswalk to let the people walk to the other side of the street.

[roadman]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

Many states don't acknowledge an unmarked crosswalk as a legal crossing place for pedestrians.  And IMO ALL crosswalks should be marked.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

Many states don't acknowledge an unmarked crosswalk as a legal crossing place for pedestrians.  And IMO ALL crosswalks should be marked.

I would agree!

[jeffandnicole]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

Many states don't acknowledge an unmarked crosswalk as a legal crossing place for pedestrians.  And IMO ALL crosswalks should be marked.

That's just too obnoxious.  Should this intersection be marked for a crosswalk? https://goo.gl/maps/ST6H6TFtvAz

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

Many states don't acknowledge an unmarked crosswalk as a legal crossing place for pedestrians.  And IMO ALL crosswalks should be marked.

That's just too obnoxious.  Should this intersection be marked for a crosswalk? https://goo.gl/maps/ST6H6TFtvAz

There are exceptions to everything, and in this case, there is just that - an exception. Plus, there is no ped facilities incorporated within that intersection. So, in my opinion, no crosswalk is needed in that instance.

[RobbieL2415]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

Many states don't acknowledge an unmarked crosswalk as a legal crossing place for pedestrians.  And IMO ALL crosswalks should be marked.

What I meant is that drivers don't know what an unmarked crosswalk is.  That being, in most states, the area at an intersection between two sidewalks where the lateral lines of said sidewalks would continue across the road.  Some states you need one sidewalk on each end for it to count, some states just one.  And then there's Georgia, where you merely need a dirt path on one side of the road.

[1995hoo]

Last night when I was walking to the subway, the traffic control officers at 17th & I NW were enforcing the pedestrian signals as part of keeping the traffic moving around the corners. That's usually a hard place to turn because so many people refuse to obey the "Don't Walk"  (a real problem when there's also no turn on red). People got downright belligerent with the traffic control guys when they told them not to walk, almost like "how dare you."  Of course, a cop's directions trump the traffic lights if you're driving, too!

Basically I think it's every man for himself out there and I think everyone tries to disregard everyone using any other mode of transportation–the "MFFY"  phenomenon often noted on this forum. The same pedestrians so eager to make the drivers wait would be forcing their way through if they were driving.



Regarding unmarked crosswalks, I mentioned that law on a neighborhood listserv earlier this winter. People were astounded–nobody knew anything about it. I'd kind of like to see a cop try to ticket me for crossing via an unmarked crosswalk, except that it would result in so much wasted time having to go to court to fight it.

[jeffandnicole]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

Many states don't acknowledge an unmarked crosswalk as a legal crossing place for pedestrians.  And IMO ALL crosswalks should be marked.

What I meant is that drivers don't know what an unmarked crosswalk is...

While there are pedestrians that aren't drivers, it's nearly impossible for a driver to never be a pedestrian. So it's not like a pedestrian knows what an unmarked crosswalk is, but upon sitting in the driver's seat they take on a different personality and suddenly has no clue. It's more like what 1995hoo just said: The person simply doesn't know what an unmarked crosswalk is regardless, and/or the Me First syndrome.

[SectorZ]

My favorite is when people ignore unmarked crosswalks

My favorite are states assuming that drivers can make a snap judgment at what is a pretend crosswalk and what isn't. Painting a crosswalk is kindergarten-level road management.

[kalvado]

That's just too obnoxious.  Should this intersection be marked for a crosswalk? https://goo.gl/maps/ST6H6TFtvAz

There are exceptions to everything, and in this case, there is just that - an exception. Plus, there is no ped facilities incorporated within that intersection. So, in my opinion, no crosswalk is needed in that instance.

I bet there are too many of such  intersections to consider them exceptions. Marking anything that has more than 50-500 pedestrians annually is a better target.

[1995hoo]

I just walked about a mile across town to my wife's office and one thing that struck me is how many drivers here will crowd the crosswalk even when going straight. That is, people around here routinely ignore the line I've variously heard called the "limit line"  or the "stop bar" –leaving my neighborhood, for example, people routinely pull completely past the limit line when stopping at the left-turn light. (I understand doing this if you're going to make a right on red, obviously, but not in the other lanes.) So walking across the District this afternoon I couldn't help but note how many people will pull past the limit line and then stop so as to block the crosswalk, while others will pull out into the intersection and then block the crosswalk on the far side (I guess that's better than blocking the box, but not by much since it forces pedestrians to go around, potentially into moving traffic). Today's a light traffic afternoon, too, since it's a long weekend due to Washington's Birthday and a lot of people took today off or left early.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

I just walked about a mile across town to my wife's office and one thing that struck me is how many drivers here will crowd the crosswalk even when going straight. That is, people around here routinely ignore the line I've variously heard called the "limit line"  or the "stop bar" –leaving my neighborhood, for example, people routinely pull completely past the limit line when stopping at the left-turn light. (I understand doing this if you're going to make a right on red, obviously, but not in the other lanes.) So walking across the District this afternoon I couldn't help but note how many people will pull past the limit line and then stop so as to block the crosswalk, while others will pull out into the intersection and then block the crosswalk on the far side (I guess that's better than blocking the box, but not by much since it forces pedestrians to go around, potentially into moving traffic). Today's a light traffic afternoon, too, since it's a long weekend due to Washington's Birthday and a lot of people took today off or left early.

I think drivers feel that the limit line is placed too far back. So, they feel the need to pull forward. You'll see this on Garrison Av all the time on it feeder streets.


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