That certainly is the law in DC and I assume almost everywhere else in the US
If they’re already in the crosswalk—yeah, that I know. I thought we were talking about people who were still standing on the sidewalk.
Apparently, these are likely to be “placebo buttons” now.
Drivers stopping to let you cross at a light is kind of rare in these parts; but it happens all the time at stop signs. There, it makes sense; car has to stop anyway, might as well be nice and let the pedestrian cross, especially since they’re at a crosswalk and not charging out in the middle of the block like the jaywalkers who infest this town.
What doesn’t make sense:
–Driver rolls out into intersection, THEN notices the pedestrian, grinds to a halt and starts waving (blocking all other traffic). You’ve already been an asshole; own it and keep going. If you regret being an asshole, then be nice at the next intersection.
–Driver stops on the far side of the intersection, waves me across, then starts riding the brake across the street towards me, or better yet, waits till I’m between their headlights and then hits the gas. Seriously, WTF? If you can’t spare me the few seconds to get to the curb, skip the wave and keep going; I’ll wait.
Then there’s the situation when the driver does the right thing–stops, waves me across, sits and waits as I cross–and the bike rider beside the driver takes no notice of my existence whatsoever and pedals across my path as though I’m invisible. Usually wearing headphones, too, so there’s no point in yelling.
Pedestrians always have the right of way in Texas at crosswalks without control signals.
I was also confused by this pitting. It sounded a lot like complaining about drivers doing the right thing. A lot of Texas drivers ignore this rule anyway, but drivers suck everywhere.
Again, that applies to a pedestrian who’s already in the crosswalk, not to one who’s waiting to cross.
Yes, every stupid jackass who stops for people on the sidewalk is wrong – WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! There may be a jurisdiction or two where there really is a statute requiring that, but it’s generally the case that a pedestrian must claim right of way by leaving the sidewalk.
Stopping is only a nice thing to do when the pedestrian is not getting a safe opportunity to begin crossing, and the driver is capable of giving him one.
My gripe has always been the other way: a pedestrian who has taken one or two steps into the crosswalk, but who then stops and tries to be polite and wave traffic through. But he’s in the crosswalk. If I go through, I’m committing an offense! I’d get a ticket if a policeman saw me do it!
Meanwhile, when I’m a pedestrian, I’ve learned the habit of turning to one side, so I do not appear to be intending to cross the street. I look like I’m window-shopping or something. Only when the light actually changes do I turn about and face the intersection. This isn’t so much to “fake out” traffic, but to avoid the kind of miscommunication described in the OP.
This reminds me of another thing that I hate: when you are intentionally trying to not appear to be crossing the street, but still want to cross the street after the current pack of cars passes you, and then you look back anyway because you don’t know where the cars are, which of course causes the cars to slow down, which makes the pack of cars behind them catch up with them, which means you don’t get to cross, after all.
But I don’t think there can be anything done about it because occasionally a pedestrian will actually stupidly cross right in front of a car, so it’s prudent from the driver’s perspective to be ready to apply the brakes.
Instead of replying with a friendly wave of your own, just expedite the process and give the finger. Then, the driver may not feel so gracious.
I once saw someone get waved out into traffic by a stopped car, and then get hit by the car in the next lane who swerved out to not hit the idiot who had suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.
Me, I try my best to always be predictable when I’m using the roads. Polite was nice back when I was driving on roads that had 5 cars an hour using them. Now that I’m in the land of “HOLY FLIPPING GAWD, there are 100,000 people trying to get to work at the same time” I want everyone around me to know what I’m going to do next.
At the Meijer by my house, the entranceway has a cross-street within the main parking lot leading to the gas station, with only the main entranceway having stop signs. So the traffic on the cross street doesn’t need to stop and has the right of way, every time. What drives me nuts-and it happens fucking repeatedly-is drivers on the cross street coming to a stop when I stop at my stop sign, despite the fact that they don’t have a freakin’ stop sign, and then being nice enough to wave me on. :smack:
The one that gets me is turning left (in the car) out of the gas station parking lot near where I live and onto the side street. The station is on a corner of one of the main drags and a side street with a light. There are three lanes of traffic on the side street and five on the main one. I have to turn left either way.
Some dipstick to the left of the drive will always try to wave me through, but 1) there are 2-4 other lanes of traffic who are doing what they are supposed to be doing and 2) sometimes, even if one of the other lanes stops, I don’t know that because I live in the land of huge macho trucks that I can’t see around.
I’m fifty. Fractures don’t heal like they once did, therefore, I’ll stay right here in the parking lot until the traffic has gone through the light, thank you. 
I posted about this the day it happened, but the car in front of me stopped for a family including a baby stoller that were in the cross walk. The guy behind us apparently thought we were stopping for no reason and swerved into the lane for parked cars to zip around us and came within a hair of slaughtering the entire family in the crosswalk.
Yep. If I’m planning on waiting and I’m worried about someone waving me through, whether I’m driving or walking, I don’t make eye contact. I stay stopped and I look the other way. Drivers may think, “Space cadet!” but since I’m not looking at them and I’m stopped they have no opportunity to wave me through. Once I started doing that, this problem disappeared for me.
This same type of situation applies to more than just pedestrians. Often times when I’m on my bike and I come to a 4-way stop, I’ll stop and allow the driver with right-of-way to proceed. They are trying to be nice so they waive me through. It is annoying. If I have right-of-way, I’ll take it when safe to do so. I appreciate them being nice, but there are other factors they aren’t considering. First, I don’t really want to go in front of a car that has right of way. Sine I usually hesitate and try to waive them through, I’m not sure if they are going to go or not. Second, often times I’m coasting up to the stop sign so I don’t have to completely stop and start again. But they’ll start waiving before I even reach the sign. If they would just go I’d go behind them and we’d both be on our way quicker. Also, they don’t always realize there are other cars waiting for them. I REALLY don’t intend to enter an intersection unless I’m pretty damn sure I know what all the traffic is going to do. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever read about driving/road usage came from this very board:
“When it comes to driving, it is much better to be predictable than nice.” My kid is about to start driving. I’ve shared the tidbit with him several times.
Exactly what I was talking about in post #15. If I’m walking and more than one car is in line I won’t cross if it stops for me, and if I’m driving I won’t stop for a pedestrian if someone is behind me.
I actually get annoyed if I’m trying to cross the street and a car stops for me. I mean, I appreciate the thought, but frankly it’s a waste of both our time. It will take you half a second to just go by, so just go. I’ll be fine.
I’ve posted that often. 
I stole it from someone else, originally. It is the best piece of advice I have ever heard for driving.
Had this happen just yesterday. I’ve been riding the local bike path for exercise. It’s a good path, about 10 miles. There are some street crossings that are marked with a crosswalk, and the drivers are generally great about it. There’s one crossing that has a genuine, dedicated traffic light. Even if you just miss it, it’s not a long wait; and sometimes I like that break to drink some water or catch my breath. Yesterday, I get to this crossing, and there’s one guy waiting. The light is green for cars, red for us, but there’s one car stopped. I’m sure he thought he was being nice, but we weren’t going anywhere, and the three cars behind him were honking, so just. fucking. drive.