When I was in Amsterdam I was shocked by the bicyclists who drove/rode like idiots on acid, and I realized the main problem was that most of them were ON THE PHONE!, AAAAAHHHHHH!.
And there are bike lanes everywhere, if you get hit walking across a bike lane it’s your fault! (stupid tourists!).
unclviny
Ooh, this is something that gets me worked up, too. I walk everywhere. Even when my kid was a baby in a stroller, and I had the right of way, an alarming number of drivers would completely disregard us–even if we were in the middle of crossing the road. I’ve had cars come within a few feet of the stroller. Some of them didn’t even look at us, but some registered surprise when they looked down at the stroller. That’s fucking scary. And I do walk “defensively”. There are places I refuse to cross at all anymore, and I look around like a paranoid freak to check for cars backing out of driveways, waiting to turn into driveways, etc.
While I was pregnant, I almost got run over by a very fast moving driver who didn’t realize the light was red. She had to slam on her brakes at the last moment, and I had to jump out of her way.
I also hate it when you’re crossing the street at a stop-sign and the driver will stop, then creep up beside you as you try to cross. I’ve taken to stopping entirely and waiting for them to stop the car before I continue. (Not when I have my kiddo with me, though. In that case, I hurry up and do my best to give the driver the evil eye.)
It never fails to amaze me. What if I slip and fall with you barreling past within a few feet of me? It’s not worth what could become a terrible tragedy.
When I’m driving, I give pedestrians a very wide berth. They are walking, they are vulnerable, they can slip and fall, or suddenly dart out into my path.
I have few rants from both sides of the steering wheel. The biggest one actually applies to both drivers and pedestrians:
That red light (either the red light or Don’t Walk light) means STOP, you ignorant FUCK!!! STOP! STOP! STOP! As in “Do not continue moving into the intersection / road”. All of these helpful lights are around to give everyone a chance to get where they’re going. If you would do as the light indicates, there would be fewer problems.
In closing I’d like to again say, for the record, red means stop. Thank you,