"I didn't run you over, so you need to calm down!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DP. I agree with the second poster that it was "nice" or good that you were in the crosswalk but that crosswalk isn't a magic barrier. You can't depend on all drivers seeing you and pedestrians MUST take responsibility for themselves. Certainly if you were hit and killed the driver would probably be cited...but you would still be dead. So you can be right or you can be dead right. It is a choice. I'm not excusing the driver but I am saying that when I am a pedestrian, I am looking both ways and I am looking all ways. It is something to think about.

Pedestrian safety advice before someone gets hit: Always use the crosswalk!

Pedestrian safety advice after someone gets hit: The crosswalk isn't a magic barrier!

If crossing at the crosswalk doesn't actually keep us safe, what is the point of crossing at the crosswalk?

You’re missing the point. You’re going on the decision making of so many drivers. Just don’t look ahead, look at cars, make sure they are stopping

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was 9 month pregnant I was clipped by a car. I was in the crosswalk with a walk sign. The car ran a red light. I gave the police the make and model of the car and which parking garage it pulled into after hitting me. The cops didn't do anything because I was barely hurt and they didn't see it happen. After that I assume I am always on my own and that no car will ever stop. I will always pick being alive over being right.

Dp. So u never cross a street? Sounds like you are blaming op. Which I totally disagree.

Your trite saying does not apply here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drivers are terrible and can never just admit fault and say sorry.

I was running in the street against traffic (with the traffic coming towards me ) over the weekend. There are no sidewalks on this stretch. The road narrows at a spot due to cars being parked on both sides of the road and woman drove by going in the same direction as me, so she was on the opposite side of the road. I don't think she slowed down and came so close to me that I thought her mirror could have hit me. Totally freaked me out. She had to stop at the traffic light at the top of the street and I yelled at her when I went by, she just shrugged which pissed me off, then she swore at me. I think she had no idea she did anything wrong because she probably never even saw me and if she did she was incapable of just saying sorry.

Maybe the driver was an ass but you picked a poor place to run too. Roads were intended for cars unless otherwise noted.

Exactly

[Anonymous]

Pedestrian safety requires eye contact with the driver. Nobody in DC makes eye contact that is why pedestrians have so many problems.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/motr/safe-crossings-the-power-of-eye-contact.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-key-to-crossing-the-street-safely-eye-contact-1427734205

[Anonymous]

whole lotta a-hole drivers in this thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drivers are terrible and can never just admit fault and say sorry.

I was running in the street against traffic (with the traffic coming towards me ) over the weekend. There are no sidewalks on this stretch. The road narrows at a spot due to cars being parked on both sides of the road and woman drove by going in the same direction as me, so she was on the opposite side of the road. I don't think she slowed down and came so close to me that I thought her mirror could have hit me. Totally freaked me out. She had to stop at the traffic light at the top of the street and I yelled at her when I went by, she just shrugged which pissed me off, then she swore at me. I think she had no idea she did anything wrong because she probably never even saw me and if she did she was incapable of just saying sorry.

Maybe the driver was an ass but you picked a poor place to run too. Roads were intended for cars unless otherwise noted.

Exactly

When there is no sidewalk, in the street against traffic is where people on foot are SUPPOSED to be. That's what the law says. Did you know that?

If you don't want people walking/running on streets where there is no sidewalk, then lobby your local transportation agency for a sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drivers are terrible and can never just admit fault and say sorry.

I was running in the street against traffic (with the traffic coming towards me ) over the weekend. There are no sidewalks on this stretch. The road narrows at a spot due to cars being parked on both sides of the road and woman drove by going in the same direction as me, so she was on the opposite side of the road. I don't think she slowed down and came so close to me that I thought her mirror could have hit me. Totally freaked me out. She had to stop at the traffic light at the top of the street and I yelled at her when I went by, she just shrugged which pissed me off, then she swore at me. I think she had no idea she did anything wrong because she probably never even saw me and if she did she was incapable of just saying sorry.

Maybe the driver was an ass but you picked a poor place to run too. Roads were intended for cars unless otherwise noted.

The way that a community "notes" that a road is intended to be shared between cars and pedestrians is by not installing a sidewalk. The exception to that would be highways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian safety requires eye contact with the driver. Nobody in DC makes eye contact that is why pedestrians have so many problems.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/motr/safe-crossings-the-power-of-eye-contact.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-key-to-crossing-the-street-safely-eye-contact-1427734205

No, that's what they tell you, but the data show otherwise. There are tinted windows, sunglasses, glare - to say nothing of the impossibility of making eye contact with drivers who aren't looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian safety requires eye contact with the driver. Nobody in DC makes eye contact that is why pedestrians have so many problems.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/motr/safe-crossings-the-power-of-eye-contact.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-key-to-crossing-the-street-safely-eye-contact-1427734205

Do you try to do this on a daily basis. I do, and drivers will refuse to look/or be looking at their phones. About 30% of the time drivers will actually scan so I can get their attention. One day I was crossing the street walking home. I'd felt embarrassed that day because I was wearing a really bright coat and then realized I was carrying a really bright umbrella in a clashing color, so I looked like a clown. This woman scans and looks directly at me, stops at the light, I walk in front of her car in the crosswalk with the crossing light and she puts her foot on the gas and starts turning right on red. Even though she looked at me, and my actions were completely predictable, she just was in some other zone. It is really on the person driving the machine that can kill a careful pedestrian to be present and aware as they are driving. I cannot do any more than I already do as a pedestrian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian safety requires eye contact with the driver. Nobody in DC makes eye contact that is why pedestrians have so many problems.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/motr/safe-crossings-the-power-of-eye-contact.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-key-to-crossing-the-street-safely-eye-contact-1427734205

How am I supposed to make eye contact with drivers at night? How do I make eye contact with drivers who are speeding I to a train while I’m already crossing? Should my head be on a constant, neurotic swivel? How do I make eye contact with all drivers when using a cross walk to cross a four-lane road? How do I make eye contact with a distracted driver?

Have you seen the number of trees, guardrails, and signs flattened to the ground by drivers? Guess they should have been wearing bright clothing and making eye contact.

I have no sense of humor about this. Drivers in our region don’t have the patience to come to a complete stop at stop signs and crosswalks. People get angry and defensive about red light and stop sign cameras designed to improve safety. I rarely see a discussion that doesn’t devolve into some sort of pedestrian victim blaming. Drivers (and I am one) need to slow down and be willing to sacrifice 3-7 seconds for safety.

[Anonymous]

Op, she didn't run you over, so you probably need to calm down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian safety requires eye contact with the driver. Nobody in DC makes eye contact that is why pedestrians have so many problems.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/motr/safe-crossings-the-power-of-eye-contact.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-key-to-crossing-the-street-safely-eye-contact-1427734205

AGAIN...how would eye contact have helped the OP who was deep within the crosswalk when a speeding driver ran the stop sign?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian safety requires eye contact with the driver. Nobody in DC makes eye contact that is why pedestrians have so many problems.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/motr/safe-crossings-the-power-of-eye-contact.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-key-to-crossing-the-street-safely-eye-contact-1427734205

AGAIN...how would eye contact have helped the OP who was deep within the crosswalk when a speeding driver ran the stop sign?

To add--today a lady at a 4 way stop made a complete stop but was never actually looking up. She had her eyes on her phone the entire time. I saw her so chose not to cross my dogs and me even though it was our turn.

However--this is NOT the same situation that OP and others have detailed. SO maybe everybody should stop with the captain obvious "vigilant pedestrian" canard.

[Anonymous]

I don't care if it's the law for cars to yield to people in the crosswalk I always check before I step into a crosswalk, I don't trust people to stop. People don't pay attention

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't care if it's the law for cars to yield to people in the crosswalk I always check before I step into a crosswalk, I don't trust people to stop. People don't pay attention

Another "duh" comment that has nothing to do with Op's situation and other similar ones. And one that has been repeated approximately 8 million times on this thread.