To illustrate one example that has prompted my comments.
Several months ago while afoot downtown, I was waiting at a crosswalk for a break in traffic to cross the street. This particular street is a four lane, two way in the busiest part of town. The crosswalk is in the middle of the block, not at an intersection (go figure) with a button station that when pressed initiates a flashing “pedestrian crossing” light that is visible to motorists. For added excitement, the crosswalk is flanked on each side with parked vehicles on either end! As AHunter3 and LSLGuy prefer to be invisible under such conditions, so do I… So I never actuated the signal. Along comes a Mother with a Son about 5 or 6 years old. She slaps the crosswalk button and drags the kid in front of me. This was really too close to traffic for anyone, let alone a Mom and small child, and the kid was understandably hesitant. She jerks the child by the elbow while proclaiming loudly to him, "C’mon, we’ve got the right of way!’ and steps directly into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. The driver locks brakes, is rear-ended while the other three lanes of traffic come to a sudden stop. While visibly surprised, she forges on through the crosswalk, dragging the now screaming child alongside, and disappears.
I stuck around after the fact. The Officer that did the investigation told me this was a fairly common incident.
I tell this story to make a point, and hope it is not necessary to dissect it word for word in follow-ups to get to the meaning. Yes, the Mother and kid had the right of way. Yes, the vehicle(s) were legally at fault. And yes, the crosswalk is poorly designed… But none of this is the point. While I’ve seen and occasionally been involved in many other (less dramatic) pedestrian encounters, it appears that they are happening on a more frequent basis as time goes by. This is what concerns me and what prompts my observations/questions.
I merely question the (primarily historical background) and logic behind (the general concept) of right of way. Irrespective of State by State differences in legal minutiae, no one, including me, ever advocated striking a pedestrian under any circumstance… However my experience is some pedestrians act in a rash manner, as if entitled, apparently because they feel the law empowers them. Although entitled by law, pedestrians are not protected by law (from the bumper of an F-250) when they force the issue. This is what astounds me.
There are no perfect solutions under law. A lot of us are of the opinion that the situation, without right of way laws protecting pedestrians, would be worse. People would be much more afraid to cross the street, and so foot traffic – and commerce – would be affected.
The moral principle of “protecting the weak” has a great deal of appeal to the chivalry in our nature.
If people begin to abuse the privilege in large numbers, there is a remedy: alter the law (slightly; don’t just repeal it) and have officers enforce it. After a few people have gotten ticketed for improperly crossing an intersection, the word will get out and people will wise up.
(In California, the legal trend is just the opposite: Sacramento is thinking of altering the law to allow pedestrians to enter a crosswalk while the “Wait” or “Count Down” signs are on, so long as the pedestrian has a reasonable expectation of having finished crossing before the “Don’t Walk” light goes on. So we’re thinking of extending pedestrians’ rights, not limiting them.)
First, most states do not give any party the right of way but rather define who must *yield *right of way. There is a subtle distinction–sometimes the person who was supposed to be yielded to can be found to be at fault.
Second, I agree with the OP’s observations of pedestrian attitude. I drive in D.C. and frequently see pedestrians step off a curb into traffic as if they are protected by an invisible force shield. For example, I stop at a 4-way Stop sign. I come to a full stop and yield to traffic as per the rules. Then I start through the intersection, and on the far side of the intersection a pedestrian steps out right in front of me. Pedestrians often feel that just because there is a crosswalk they do not have to wait for cars that got there first. I believe that some pedestrians are led to believe that all cars must always yield to all pedestrians in all crosswalks regardless of any other circumstances, such as the car is doing 25 MPH and got there first and can’t stop in 18 inches.
Personally I never step into a crosswalk until either traffic clears or any oncoming traffic has a large margin of safety to be able to stop for me.