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Try living in a college town where lots of people do lots of walking. Same with bicyclists in my town. They blow through stop signs although law requires they stop. Cheered to myself one night when I saw the police had pulled over a bicyclist near the same stop I know they typically blow right through.
I thought it was just the cerebrally challenged pedestrians in Chicago that did this. They just walk right out into the street regardless of traffic and dare you to hit them.
No, it is everywhere and has become vastly worse since cell/smart phones and other devices have become the norm. People are tethered to the things to the point of not even looking up as they walk anymore.
Used to think that gag about persons looking down/not paying attention and walking into traffic, onto train tracks or whatever only happened in Bugs Bunny cartoons, but sadly it has become reality.
Cannot tell you how many times have come *this* close to taking out someone who just saunters out into the middle of the street as if they owned the world.
The ones who get me are those who get startled back into reality at the sound of a horn blast, then proceed to flip driver the bird or some other rude gesture. I mean *they* are the ones in the wrong, but that doesn't seem to register.
Have also seen more than a few nasty verbal and or physical incidents where the pedestrian took offence at the honked horn and whacked the offending vehicle (usually on the bonnet) with a hard object. You just don't do that in NYC! *LOL*
I've nailed maybe half a dozen pedestrians over the years when I was riding more regularly. They jump out from between cars to jaywalk and you slam into them. Happened once or twice a year in college/shortly after. I've come CLOSE in a car. Slammed on the brakes and stopped about five feet short of creaming some idiot who for some inexplicable reason decided to just take off running across a major street red light. Broad daylight and the car I was driving at the time was obnoxiously loud (3" turbo back).
People who step in front of cars in South Florida without looking die. The drivers either cannot stop or will not stop and some times will not stop after running you over.
Have also seen more than a few nasty verbal and or physical incidents where the pedestrian took offence at the honked horn and whacked the offending vehicle (usually on the bonnet) with a hard object. You just don't do that in NYC! *LOL*
Lol, they better be careful they never do it to the wrong driver. I live close to NYC and drive in Manhattan often, and if someone did that to my car, I'd be getting out and confronting them.
It's not blinders on; it's intentional. Was walking with a friend one day who did this. He explained that you never look at the cars because if the driver sees you look at them, then the driver knows you've seen him and won't stop. But if the driver thinks you haven't seen the car, then the driver will be the one to stop.
Seemed pretty dumb to me to gamble that the driver will stop, but he was adamant in his belief. Yes, this was in San Francisco.
The Chinese do the same thing on the sidewalk. I think it is cultural. I am so glad we left SF, the pedestrians are so dangerous, walking into the street without looking is crazy, but the norm (there)
There are a lot of good and interesting points in this thread.
Let's be honest no one nowadays seems to take responsibility for their actions (or very few, own up if you make a mistake). I have seen quite a number of bikers and jaywalkers doing things they shouldn't and close calls. Maybe this time everyone got away unscathed but that may not be the case next time. I do think dashcams are a good idea especially with scammers and people that almost jump out in front of you at the last moment (either cause they don't care or are thinking they will get an insurance payday, or just being an arrogant jerk).
On the other side of the coin I have witnessed some bad drivers too!
Last edited by trckn4life; 01-28-2017 at 06:27 AM..
Guess we are all going to install the old railroad implement, a cowcatcher, on the front of our vehicles.
*[i]I see people under a certain age googling cowcatcher now![/]*
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