Why don't Atlanta Drivers Yield for Pedestrians? (school, college)

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Although I'm not sure Atlanta deserves to be singled out for this honor (Washington DC was much worse IMO), it is an issue. Pedestrians that have every right to cross feel compelled to run if a car is waiting to turn. A young girl crossing the Lenox Rd entrance to the mall was hopelessly trapped on the median as one driver after another turned in front of her. The crossing light clearly showed these drivers that she had the right of way.
Children seem to be exempt from this rudeness. I notice in the morning when mothers are crossing Cheshire Bridge Rd to bring their kids to daycare drivers will refrain from turning into them.
My personal theory is that many suburbanites have such limited experience with pedestrian activity that they don't know what to do when they encounter them.

Women crossing the street with their children get hit and killed here too. A woman's toddler was run over in aparkling lot a couple of years back while in her stroller.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

Women crossing the street with their children get hit and killed here too. A woman's toddler was run over in aparkling lot a couple of years back while in her stroller.

Inexcusable. Anyone with half a brain knows to exert caution in a parking lot. People dart out from between parked cars all the time. A tragic situation like that could be easily avoided.

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Inexcusable. Anyone with half a brain knows to exert caution in a parking lot. People dart out from between parked cars all the time. A tragic situation like that could be easily avoided.

Statements like this are exactly the problem. You hear that a child in a stroller got run over in the parking lot, and you immediately blame the child and assume they were darting out from behind parked cars.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by shivtim

Statements like this are exactly the problem. You hear that a child in a stroller got run over in the parking lot, and you immediately blame the child and assume they were darting out from behind parked cars.

I think the child was barely two. I also notice that drivers don't like to stop for school buses with extended stop signs either. I do wonder if a lack of driver education is part of the problem. You can't graduate high school in Illinois without it.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

I think the child was barely two. I also notice that drivers don't like to stop for school buses with extended stop signs either. I do wonder if a lack of driver education is part of the problem. You can't graduate high school in Illinois without it.

Are they truly running the stop signs, or are they just on the other side of a median on a divided highway?

[cqholt]

Its simple: the drivers don't care! They don't care about peds, cyclist, or other drivers.

[CAWjr]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Are they truly running the stop signs, or are they just on the other side of a median on a divided highway?

I see drivers on any road wider than 2 lanes blow past school busses with extended signs all the time. The laws do vary from state to state & my guess is that is where the confusion comes from. In GA, if a road is divided by a median, only drivers behind the bus must stop, but on a 4 lane road with a center turning lane, everyone must stop. Many drivers either do not realize that, or choose to ignore that.

http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice...ionStopArm.pdf

[CAWjr]

I will admit that I was one of those a-hole drivers who was annoyed by pedestrians, bikers, etc. Then in January I took up running. A couple months ago I took up biking as well. Now I am much more aware of what pedestrians, runners, walkers, and cyclists have to deal with. As a result, I have become much more aware of my surroundings when driving in areas where I know there is a lot of foot traffic. I also have invested in a running wardrobe made up of the brightest neon & fluorescent colors I could find to make myself as highly visible as possible.

But it is also a two way street (no pun intended). Pedestrians and cyclists need to abide by the same set or rules. They cannot expect to be treated with respect when they disregard common rules of the road themselves. Riding your bike through a stop light or walking through a crosswalk when you have a do not walk signal give them just as bad a rep as those in cars who disregard the laws.

[samiwas1]

The same reason they turn right from the left lane. The same reason they swoop across six lanes of busy interstate traffic to take their exit they forgot about. The same reason they will pull forward in stopped traffic blocking the guy trying to turn into a shopping center. The same reason they will speed up when you put on your blinker to change lanes. The same reason they will spend ten minutes trying to back their car into a parking spot.

Stupid, inconsiderate, self-centered people.

Oh, and all the stuff that Born 2 Roll said above.

But, I have to put about 10% of the blame on pedestrians sometimes. I always give them the right-of-way, but I prefer to at least have an acknowledgment that they are crossing the path of vehicles. The ones who don't even look before stepping into a roadway or driveway really bug me. If I'm walking down a sidewalk and coming up on an entrance to a building, I will always glance over my shoulder to make sure I'm in the clear before stepping into the driveway. Too frequently, I see people not doing that or just stepping right out into the road without even glancing to either side. Not good practice.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

I also notice that drivers don't like to stop for school buses with extended stop signs either. I do wonder if a lack of driver education is part of the problem. You can't graduate high school in Illinois without it.

Originally Posted by MattCW

Are they truly running the stop signs, or are they just on the other side of a median on a divided highway?

Originally Posted by CAWjr

I see drivers on any road wider than 2 lanes blow past school busses with extended signs all the time. The laws do vary from state to state & my guess is that is where the confusion comes from. In GA, if a road is divided by a median, only drivers behind the bus must stop, but on a 4 lane road with a center turning lane, everyone must stop. Many drivers either do not realize that, or choose to ignore that.

http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice...ionStopArm.pdf

Confusion about stop-arm laws on stopped school buses doesn't seem to be apart of the equation as Atlanta drivers frequently pass from behind stopped school buses with stop arms fully extended and red lights flashing.

In many municipalities in the Atlanta area is not unusual for cops to trail school buses by 500 yards or more to catch drivers who blatantly pass stopped school buses both from the opposite direction on an undivided highway and particularly from behind on the same side of a highway or road.

I had a driving job for many years and saw dozens of incidents first-hand where Metro Atlanta motorists blatantly passed stopped school buses on undivided highways and from behind on the same side of the road.

On multiple occasions I also witnessed where Metro Atlanta motorists often refused to pull over and/or stop for approaching emergency vehicles with their lights and sirens on.