SOME PEDESTRIANS ARE
JUST PLAIN STUPID
The other
day I read about a pedestrian being run over and killed when crossing the
street with the light, a mind numbed driver on a cell phone ran him over. This was a tragedy for the young man and also
for the driver. Cell phone ignoramus or
not, I feel sorry for this driver almost as much as for the street crosser, in
addition to manslaughter charges she will spend the rest of her life with this
on her conscience.
Was this
accident her fault? Yes, but on the
other hand, how friggin hard is it to cross the street? You wait for the light, you look both ways
and you move as quickly as possible across the street looking for traffic as
you cross. I have stopped crossing a
street on several occasions because there was an idiot barreling through the
light oblivious to pedestrian traffic.
It pisses me
off, I flip the driver the bird, but I survive!
The other
day, Mrs. C. and I were driving through our town house complex and there were
six kids on their bikes in the middle of the road just talking. Mrs. C. rolled down the window and called out
to these teens.
“Hey guys,
you know if I had been on the phone, or messing with the radio or if I was
driving drunk I might have just plowed into you cause you’re in the middle of
the road and not even looking.”
“Yeah, well
you’d be going to jail, and we’d sue your ass!”
O…K…
Back in the
day, when traffic was not so busy as today, we used to play in the streets all
the time. We played on our bikes, we
played stickball and we played street football.
We also were always on the lookout for traffic. If we saw a car on the street someone would
always yell, “CAR.” Everyone immediately
moved off the street and waved friendly like at the car as it drove past, and
then we went back to playing.
We never had
an attitude towards the drivers. We
never thought about law suits. We knew
the streets were for cars. We respected
3000 pounds of moving steel, and no one ever got hurt playing in the street.
Come on
pedestrians, it isn’t rocket science; it should not be that hard to safely
cross a street.
Well, Joe, you done hit one o' my hot buttons here. . .
ReplyDeleteThere's a junior high a few blocks away from our house, and the kids seem to take a particular delight in walking down the middle of our street, which is already too narrow for two cars to pass comfortably.
On my crankier days (and c'mon, I'm really a pretty mellow guy; there aren't that many of 'em), I will sometimes test their commitment, and just barrel ahead at a speed at which I know I can stop if I have to, but they might have some doubts. Like a flock of quail, I tell ya. . .
I also live a few miles from a major university campus, and the college kids are notorious for sauntering across the busy boulevard, with calibrated insouciance, knowing that the cars will miss 'em by at least an inch, so what's the big deal? If they miss their estimate, and I have to tap my brakes, or worse yet, come to a stop to let 'em pass, I'll wait, then lean on the horn. Wakes 'em right up. . .
Then I tell 'em to stay off my lawn. . .
AMEN Cranky. Trying living in a big urban ass city and you would not believe some of the shit you see on a daily basis. Pedestrians not even looking they are so attached to their dang smart phones they have no clue what is up. Add in the mix some of the disresptful lycra short wearing MoFo's we have in our area and it makes for a traffic mangeled cluster F8ck
ReplyDeleteAMEN (& I would use larger print if I could)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI tell myself they're what we're leaving the world to so why are we so concerned about the state of the world.
ReplyDeleteMy boys still play on the street. We live in a cul-de-sac and the only people who come down our street are our neighbours. They are very aware of the cars and the visibility is good. I'm thankful this is still possible.
ReplyDeleteI think pedestrians forget that although they have right of way, there is always the possibility for human error.
I get frustrated however, by the fact that drivers in our city centre DON'T give pedestrians the right of way. There have been many a time when I've almost been mowed down by a car turning left (we drive on the other side of the road here) as I was crossing via the pedestrian crossing, or I've been caught standing on the curb for two lights because the cars didn't stop to let me pass when the pedestrian crossing light was in my favour.
I've witnessed this type of erratic and crazy behavior. I totally agree with you!
ReplyDeleteHear hear !!!! I totally agree with you on this. I know pedestrians have right of way but honestly sometimes they do abuse it. We lived in a cul-de-sac and used to play in the street every afternoon. We live in a cul-de-sac now as well and when I go home of an afternoon, I just see the kids scatter to the pavements when they see the car - it's great. I love getting home and seeing all the kids playing in the street because I know it means they aren't sitting inside on a computer !!!!
ReplyDeleteHave the best day !
Me
There can be many beneficial reasons to occassionally cleanse the gene pool. I think you just found one of them.
ReplyDeleteS
Here in Portland people are infrequently struck and killed by the light rail. I mean how difficult is it to avoid a train on a track. There are signs and loud signals, and sometimes I think this is a good way to thin the herd.
ReplyDeleteaaahhh, and remember when if you were riding your bike, the car was the king of the road. I mean, I'm all for being healthy, but when they think and bike like they are the owners of all things pavement, I just want to run them over.
ReplyDeleteWell said Joe - having a healthy respect for a huge hunk of metal might just keep you ... ummm, healthy?
ReplyDeletePersonally I prefer to take responsibility for myself rather than rely on someone else to avoid me and Id like to think that the people I care about would rather have me around than a large compensation cheque!
...and cops used to have time to enforce traffic laws.
ReplyDelete