# It's not wise to walk in front of a turning car **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 2, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053 "2005-02-02T21:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/81 "2005-02-04T12:09:16Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Of course, if you’d read the OP you’d see this phrase too. > > [quoteIt’s never a good idea to step in front of me without looking, you nimrod![/quote] > > So he wasn’t looking either. People make mistakes, even pedestrians. Silly question here. how the fuck could she know that the nimrod in question (NIQ) did not look, when by her own admission > [@](#): > > And I’m studiously looking left, to see if the way has cleared, and I’m glancing right but predominantly I’m looking left? Eyes in the back of her head perhaps? Obviously she did not glance often enough. She never saw the guy, so how does she know that he did not look? ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/82 "2005-02-04T14:11:39Z")
Hey, this is fun. Half of what **Anaamika** says is entirely true, and half of what she says can’t be trusted. Must make life easier when you can just pick and choose what to believe on a sentence by sentence basis. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/83 "2005-02-04T14:14:51Z")
I’m jumping on the anti-dogpile, here. I don’t disagree that the pedestrian has the right of way. He or she does. **Anaamika** never said that she didn’t have the responsibility to avoid the accident. And from what I saw in the OP, she is well aware that she has the legal and moral responsibility to avoid pedestrian traffic. However, having the right of way doesn’t make an accident _feel_ any better. I have a friend in the NYC area who keeps giving me heart attacks because he walks out into the street without looking, because he has the right of way. I can’t understand that reasoning. Being a little paranoid about them big multi-ton death machines is smart. If I don’t have eye contact with a driver, I don’t walk in front of the car. It may take me a little longer to get where I’m going, but damn it’s better than being stuck like **Aesiron**. And, no, I’m not saying **Aesiron** did anything wrong, or could have avoided his accident - I’m just saying I’m paranoid, and using a pretty ugly example of a potential consequence of letting my paranoia slip. Comes of having grown up with Massachusetts drivers, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/84 "2005-02-04T16:56:21Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Would you argue it was OK for her to reverse while looking straight ahead? As long as it would be reasonable to expect there won’t be anything to hit. As has been said, pedestrians have no protection, ergo it would be reasonable to expect them to not put themselves at risk of being struck by fast moving traffic. If a car is astride a crosswalk while waiting for a gap in traffic in order to complete a turn, it would be reasonable to expect there won’t be any pedestrians putting themselves at risk by crossing in front. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/85 "2005-02-04T18:39:43Z")
Okay, here’s a scenerio for you: This morning I’m pulling out of my drive. Now, I live in one of these turn of the century houses that’s been chopped up into apartments; there’s no yard or empty space to speak of. My drive runs between the house and a the 10ft tall hedge next door that sits smack up against the bungalows that line the next lot. On the other side of the drive there’s a middling hedge that won’t conceal adults but could hide pets or children (not an academic point as there is a grade school directly across the street.) The drive itself is very narrow, with bare inches to spare on either side. The hedges run right out to the side walk. So, my usual procedure is to scream down the drive at maximum overdrive velocity (about 5 mph) and slow to a rolling stop at I approach the sidewalk crossing. I then roll out with almost imperceivable otiosity until I can see both ways down the sidewalk. I can’t do any better without using a periscope. So, this morning, and this is far from the first time this sort of thing has happened, I have some old fart walking his fricken’ Pomeranian walk _ **right in front** _ of my car as it is inching it’s way forward. By the time I see the actual guy I’ve practically got the heedless dog under my axle and the guy is yelling and giving me a gesture that I assumed wasn’t intended to indicate that I was #1 in his book. Now, gramps, you saw my g’d’m hood sticking way out there for at least several seconds. You know there’s a drive there. You let your little bitty dog way the hell in front of you with one of those Extend-A-Leash things, and you’re trying to tell me what anatomically impossible things I should do to myself? If I’d have run the dog down, not only would I be technically in the wrong, I’d also feel terrible, even if it was a Pomeranian, which, for the record, is the world’s most useless example of _Canis familiaris_. I suspect, or at least hope, that I’d probably get a pass, legally, based on the fact that this guy was an _absolute, consummate, balls-on-the-block, card carrying moron_, but there’s no guarantee of that. It’s a three-sigma example, to be sure, but it happens to me on a regular basis. (And no, the rental management company won’t install a mirror.) Peds need to show some common sense, just as drivers need to show a lot more restraint. Accidents are _not often_ the exclusive result of one person’s negligence. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/86 "2005-02-04T18:50:46Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > … this is far from the first time this sort of thing has happened … > … it happens to me on a regular basis. If it’s not an isolated incident, then you know you have to be more careful. It is not the pedestrian’s faiult (or the dog’s fault) if you drive onto a footpath without being able to see what is on it. If you really cannot see, then those repeated incidents should tell you that you cannot use that driveway with that car. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/87 "2005-02-04T19:05:13Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > If a car is astride a crosswalk while waiting for a gap in traffic in order to complete a turn, it would be reasonable to expect there won’t be any pedestrians putting themselves at risk by crossing in front. You know, Lute - every time I think you can’t possibly say anything more asinine, you always surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/88 "2005-02-04T19:11:47Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > It’s a three-sigma example, to be sure, but it happens to me on a regular basis. (And no, the rental management company won’t install a mirror.) Peds need to show some common sense, just as drivers need to show a lot more restraint. Accidents are _not often_ the exclusive result of one person’s negligence. > > Stranger But what does _your_ story have to do with the OP’s story? She _admitted_ that she was looking predominantly left and only glancing right. If _you_ admitted you weren’t looking in the direction you were driving, I’d fault you too. But that’s not what you said, so your story is irrelevant to the case at hand. Have you submitted your request for mirrors in writing? I bet if you made the management understand that it’s a potential liability issue for them, and had a written record that you had asked them for the mirrors, they’d change their tune, because they could get _creamed_ in court if someone got hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/89 "2005-02-04T19:23:59Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > If you really cannot see, then those repeated incidents should tell you that you cannot use that driveway with that car. No, it should tell the rental management company to either install a mirror or do something about the hedge. Not everyone has access to an [FC-150](http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/image/fc150.jpg). > [@blowero](#): > > You know, Lute - every time I think you can’t possibly say anything more asinine, you always surprise me. You’re misunderstanding me again. Pedestrians shouldn’t be crossing in front because of the greater danger posted by the fast moving traffic, not because of the lower danger presented by the turning driver. Of course, if the crosswalk is at a metered intersection and there are pedestrians nearby, the car has no business being astride it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/90 "2005-02-04T19:32:39Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > If it’s not an isolated incident, then you know you have to be more careful. It is not the pedestrian’s faiult (or the dog’s fault) if you drive onto a footpath without being able to see what is on it. If you really cannot see, then those repeated incidents should tell you that you cannot use that driveway with that car. There is _no way_ I can be more careful. I cannot see around corners. I cannot drive any slower. I can’t stop, get out of my car, and check around the corner (hedges on both sides block the doors.) The management company refuses to put up a mirror, citing city ordinances regarding the placement of posts or scaffolding on the road side of the sidewalk. I can’t park on the street on my block or the next, as there is almost never a space open in a parking zone. I make every reasonable precaution to prevent an accident, but if someone steps right out in front of me without looking or noticing that this _big, rumbling thing with lights on the front_ is inching it’s way forward, well, I don’t know how they’ve gotten this far in life without living in a bubble. I’ve seen people walk right in the path of a lorry as it was pulling into a drive as if it weren’t even there. Yes, the lorry has to stop, even if that means it gets t-boned or rear-ended 'cause it’s sticking out in the street. But it was the oblivious idiot who walked in front of the truck that is causing the hazard, not the driver. I don’t deny that the OP may well have been negligent or is unjustified in her fustruation, but I’m irked by the general consensus that a pedestrian has 0% responsibility for his or her own safety. If I’m in a marked school zone, I have a responsibility to slow down, but if a kid suddenly runs right out in front of me, he is at fault for creating a situation in which an accident can happen, even if the law says I’m to be penalized. I have a responsibility to drive slowly enough that I can reasonably expect to stop if this happens, but if the kid practically dives under the car (and I’ve seen this) there’s little a driver can do to prevent contact. That’s why we teach kids to look both ways, and again, before crossing the street. This idea that you don’t need to make eye contact or in any way be concerned that the driver be aware of your presence may be lung-inflatingly righteous but it isn’t “right”. In driving, I’ve had the occasion where someone has been standing just so, right in line with my A-pillar, or has blended in with the background, or is walking around a sharp corner. Occasional inattentiveness happens, even to those of us who don’t talk on the phone or fiddle with the CD changer while driving, and a single slip, a flash of sun in the eyes, a sudden movement on the other side of your vision can lead to a hazardous situation. Pedestrians shouldn’t have to worry about drivers driving on the sidewalk, and should have an expectation that they be able to cross at marked crosswalks and with the signals without overarching concern, but it is the wise grasshopper who assumes that drivers are unobservant and exercises due diligence when entering “car space”. And if someone wants to claim that they’ve never had an inattentive second behind the wheel, well, I’ll entertain the notion, but I’m going to have to be presented some extra-ordinary evidence for this superhuman feat of concentration and observation. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/91 "2005-02-04T19:34:04Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Of course, if the crosswalk is at a metered intersection and there are pedestrians nearby, the car has no business being astride it in the first place. Actually, if it’s a marked crosswalk (whether or not the intersection is metered) the car has no business being astride it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/92 "2005-02-04T19:35:48Z")
What I don’t get is why people are interpreting the looking left/glancing right thing as not watching where she’s going. She was driving a Toyota, not a tank; Toyotas are incapable of turning in place. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/93 "2005-02-04T19:40:28Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Actually, if it’s a marked crosswalk (whether or not the intersection is metered) the car has no business being astride it in the first place. Sorry, I was using “crosswalk” to mean any point where a sidewalk is interrupted by pavement. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/94 "2005-02-04T19:47:56Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > This is why it’s impossible to make anything idiot proof. Someone always makes a better idiot. “Any time someone develops an idiot-proof device, Nature evolves a new and improved idiot.” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/95 "2005-02-04T20:00:46Z")
BTW: I’ve been a pedestrian in a situation similar to the OP’s. The driver was coming off a side street onto the main road, sort of a “T” intersection where the side street is half the bar and the main road forms an “L”. The driver stopped at the sign and I figured it was safe to cross in front of him, then I catch movement in the corner of my eye and looked around to see the driver stopping again. Evidently, he was only looking for oncoming traffic before proceeding straight ahead onto the main road. He shrugged, I shrugged, and we both went on our merry way. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/96 "2005-02-04T20:24:00Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > As long as it would be reasonable to expect there won’t be anything to hit. But the whole point is that the real world doesn’t work like that! Pedestrians make mistakes, or do stupid things - and you seem to be assuming that it’s only adults we’re talking about, unless you think a two-year-old will know whether to walk in front of a particular stationary car. And when reversing, it’s _never_ reasonable to assume that there’s nothing there. Hell, plenty of people manage to reverse into _stationary_ objects because they weren’t fully observant. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/97 "2005-02-04T21:08:36Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Pedestrians make mistakes, or do stupid things Agreed. > [@](#): > > _and you seem to be assuming that it’s only adults we’re talking about,_ You’re assuming that **Ana** wasn’t looking where she was going. Where did she say she was still looking left when she pulled into the street? > [@](#): > > _unless you think a two-year-old will know whether to walk in front of a particular stationary car._ What two-year-olds go walking near a busy street by themselves? > [@](#): > > \*And when reversing, it’s never reasonable to assume that there’s nothing there. “Never” doesn’t always apply. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/98 "2005-02-04T21:17:49Z")
I can tell you why it’s _also_ the pedestrians fault in this. 1. If he looked, and saw Anaamika looking mostly left, then he took the chance that he could make it himself. Walking in front of a turning car when you see the driver hasn’t noticed you is a mistake. 2. He didn’t look and, not knowing that Anaamika hadn’t seen him, crossed anyways. Crossing in front of a car without looking to see if a driver hasn’t noticed you is a mistake. 3. He had just paid money to see _Racing Stripes_ and wanted to end it all. 😛 In any case, the pedestrian made a mistake too. Either he didn’t look to see if Anaamika noticed him and went anyway or he did notice and figured that he could chance it. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/99 "2005-02-04T21:32:26Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Around here, failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk when the little white man is all lit up can result in the driver being hit with a $500 fine. And hopefully, the same pedestrian will get a $500 fine if he jay walks through the little red man? ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053/100 "2005-02-04T21:40:07Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Crossing in front of a car without looking to see if a driver hasn’t noticed you is a mistake. Depends what you mean by “mistake”. In the sense that it’s wiser to make sure you catch _any_ driver’s eye before walking in front of his car, yes. In a legal, who has the right-of-way sense, it is not per se a mistake. This reminds me of a couple of recent threads about rape. A very clear distinction was made between _advising_ women that it’s prudent not to be alone in dangerous neighborhoods, etc., and implying that it is in any way a woman’s _fault_ if she is raped. The 2 concepts are wildly different. Having a thing be _prudent_, and having it be _your fault_ if you didn’t do it are not the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-wise-to-walk-in-front-of-a-turning-car/288053.md?page=6)