Reply to Too crowded. DMV governors and mayors: please dedicate streets to walkers and bikers

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[quote=Anonymous]My family and I have been doing the daily COVID walk thing. And yes, for all of you anti walkers, we have picked up our pace. We used to walk in the neighborhood, four times a week or so and now we are daily at least. So yes, we are adding to the 'pedestrian traffic'

But a few observations that we have made on our walks We have 'ranked' the things that scare us the most on our walks:

1. LAX Dude: Teenage boy with LAX stick carrying his helmet on his shoulder with earpods in. Walks head down straight forward does not see anything or anybody. Just in his world and is genuinely surprised and apologetic when he runs you over. It is not that he does not care, it just does not occur to him to care. Scariest because you cannot make eye contact or wave at him despite the fact you have seen him approaching for two blocks.

2. Dog Walker: Adult, walking a dog, sometimes leashed, often times not. Again, they care, they just care about their dog so much more than they care about your perception of the impending encounter. They also take up at leas the entire sidewalk width, so there is really no passing them 'socially responsibly'. Scary because you can see them working on their excuse for defending their dog, rather than simply moving.

3. Cyclists: Adult still earning a living during COVID sponsoring 'Discovery Channel' or whatever other advertising they are wearing, oh and wearing earpods. (They are getting paid right?) Cyclist are so used to being on the defensive from cars that they simply cannot wrap their heads around the fact that now they pose a threat to somebody out there. They are scary because as they approach you, they are not looking for a way to drive into the street or ride on the grass, but are totally concentrating on coming up with a reason for why they are going to run you over. "a car got too close to me a mile ago, there is not enough bike infrastructure protecting me from cars, therefor I can run you over, because there is not enough infrastructure." If they took just ten percent of their mental energy they could see that they are best equipped to eliminate a scary 'passing' situation.

4. Joggers: Jogger with earpods in, head on a swivel looking out for 'cars'. Unfortunately joggers have been so conditioned to look out for cars that they simply don't recognize the fact that pedestrians are scared of them right now. Why should pedestrians be scared? "I am just staying in shape. Look at me." is what they are thinking. This should be an easy one. The Jogger still has the pedestrians mobility so they should be able to run to the side or jump into the street, but the earpods prevent thinking, so most of the time they simply barrel through, wet and sweaty with the slightest look of disdain that their iwatch time will be slower than yesterday because you they ran you over.

5. Amazon delivery drivers, Door Dash, Grub Hub, Post men/people/ladies (all with earpods in): They have a package under one arm, some sort of data entry device in the other hand and are deeply engrossed in some sort of phone call through their earpods. Scary, just because they are taking the shortest distance to the porch and will not see you until they look up from their device. When they do, they are typically polite and mean very well. They are just in a hurry.

6. Pedestrians: There is a group of clueless or maybe militant or maybe a combination of both pedestrians (predominately wearing earpods) who believe that because they are on the bottom of the F=ma pyramid they are completely absolved from paying attention. They resist any sort of rational organization to adopt such control measures as walking on a particular side of the street. (Pedestrians can walk anywhere they want at all times is their rallying cry!) Scary because as you approach them you can see them look at the street and realize that they are on the 'wrong' side, but then they dig their heels in. So you cross with your family now causing a 'wrong' side situation with the poor family approaching ahead.

7. People pushing strollers: I only add this in here to point out that these people are walking terrified. I just see them and try and give them a pass. I'll jump out into traffic, jump in front of a cyclist, or even tackle a LAX dude when I see the stroller people because they just seem to be walking in a nightmare. As soon as they see somebody else, they are covering the baby up with a blanket, pushing the stroller into the azaleas and then placing their bodies between the baby and your potential spittle. [/quote]

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