# Pedestrian Etiquette **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 24, 2013, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074 "2013-12-24T10:39:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/21 "2013-12-24T18:44:13Z")
Sometimes a man will wait for women to board an elevator first before boarding himself. Maybe you think that’s unnecessary or weird. No problem. Nevertheless, if you’re a woman and you’re standing in front of a pair of open elevator doors and a man seems to be waiting for you, don’t just stand there like a poleaxed steer until the doors close, thereby denying everyone the chance to board the elevator. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/22 "2013-12-24T19:29:53Z")
“Ladies first” is noble, but when you’re dealing with doors that will be closing on their own schedule, such as an elevator or subway, whoever’s closest to the door needs to go through. The elevator doors at my office will stay open for about two seconds unless someone’s entering or leaving the elevator, and at least once a week, I see people taken by surprise when the elevator takes off without them. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/23 "2013-12-24T21:43:14Z")
Crosswalks are good things, and in California most drivers respect the rules, which are to not enter the intersection if someone is in the crosswalk. This does not mean that it is okay to stroll into a crosswalk when a car is already in the intersection. I don’t mind two people blocking the sidewalk not noticing when I come up from behind. I do mind them ignoring me and my dog when we approach from the front. I’m from New York, and I’m happy for my dog to walk on the grass to avoid, but I’m not doing it. Got a bunch of the hordes blocking the entire sidewalk last night on Powell street in San Francisco. The tourists were swarming. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/24 "2013-12-24T22:41:56Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > If I am standing on the sidewalk waiting to cross the street DO NOT stop your car and wave me across. I purposely act like I’m not paying attention to drivers that do this. I can’t count how many times I’ve had people do this not realizing that there’s still traffic coming from the other direction. I would be killed if I stepped off the curb when you told me to. If you are the pedestrian who was waved across by a driver, then move your ass crossing! ( I find myself getting slightly pissed just reading /writing this). Sometimes drivers forget that their windows are tinted–most car windows seem to be tinted around here-- so you can’t see them anyway. Or a bright reflection on their window makes them invisible. Or the walker (me) hasn’t had cataract surgery yet and doesn’t have a clue they’re waving at me. I agree that drivers should just drive normally and let us walk normally and with any luck, we’ll all get home alive. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/25 "2013-12-25T00:00:03Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > “Ladies first” is noble, but when you’re dealing with doors that will be closing on their own schedule, such as an elevator or subway, whoever’s closest to the door needs to go through… At any rate, I think we can all agree that “do nothing while standing in front of the elevator” is a losing strategy for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/26 "2013-12-25T00:44:07Z")
If you are a schoolgirl and you are among a group of your fellow schoolgirls and you are riding down an escalator, don’t friggin’ stop at the base of the escalator and stare around and giggle while trying to decide where to go while people behind you start plowing into you! This is a bad problem in Thailand Really. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/27 "2013-12-25T01:19:09Z")
Please don’t hold the door for me unless I am really right behind you or I clearly have both arms full of stuff and might really need the help. Otherwise, it’s just awkward and makes me feel either guilty about not walking faster, or like an idiot when I break into my middle-age-lady-wearing-girl-shoes-trot, which is still slow as hell but at least shows I respect your sacrifice. And this isn’t quite a pedestrian issue, but it’s close: when you are circling for a parking space, and you see me approaching my car with a cart full of groceries and a toddler in the front, just keep going. It takes a long fucking time to unload groceries, take the cart back, carry the toddler back, and then get him into the car seat. Like, crazy time. It’s not going to go faster with you hovering. I can’t hurry it. So accept that you’re not going to get this spot. Really. You might could park, walk in, be done shopping and come back out before I am done. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/28 "2013-12-25T01:28:14Z")
I’m agreeing with almost all of these. My walking rules that people seriously need to learn: - If you want to talk/text/etc., take it off to the side. Don’t just stop dead in the middle of the sidewalk/mall walkway. - Walk on the right, pass on the left. If you’re coming towards me and I’m the one on the right side of the sidewalk (also the correct side of the sidewalk), I’m not moving aside for you because YOU are the one on the wrong side. - When crossing a street or otherwise inconveniencing drivers, move your ass. It makes you a dick if you go slowly just because you can. (Anyone with mobility problems is excused from this.) - **PAY ATTENTION WHEN CROSSING A ROAD!** You know how you like to look at your phone all the time, every waking second? Well, drivers are doing that too. You have to be responsible for your own safety as a pedestrian. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/29 "2013-12-25T01:40:27Z")
If you are opening a swinging door to go through, take a small fraction of a second to look around and see if someone is coming through behind you. If that persons hands/arms are full of stuff, you are obliged to hold the door so it doesn’t swing shut into their face. The elevator is not the right place to fart. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/30 "2013-12-25T04:55:22Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > For the love of god: if you’re walking with a friend, go single-file when people approach you, so they can get by without having to step off the sidewalk or bump into your stupid ass. Sometimes, when I see people approaching me like that, I just stop where I’m at and stand fast until they pass. That way, it puts the onus on _them_ to find a way around _me._ ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/31 "2013-12-25T06:30:08Z")
People who don’t stand on the left of escalators drive me crazy, especially in the DC Metro. Also, if you are going to stand on the moving walkway in an airport, do it on the right; you are in a building filled with people trying to meet inflexible schedules. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/32 "2013-12-25T06:34:43Z")
Not something that occurs often on a public sidewalk but, if you’re carrying something long enough (lumber, pipe, electrical conduit, etc.) to get to a corner _ **before you do** _, (if possible) carry the object(s) on your shoulder with the forward end _ **high enough to clear a tall persons head** _, as you approach the corner. :smack:😉 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/33 "2013-12-25T13:30:55Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > - **PAY ATTENTION WHEN CROSSING A ROAD!** You know how you like to look at your phone all the time, every waking second? Well, drivers are doing that too. You have to be responsible for your own safety as a pedestrian. The underlined part made me laugh. So true. :rolleyes: Cat Whisperer, you and I must be [del]psycho[/del] psychic twins. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/34 "2013-12-25T14:15:44Z")
Walkers, if you come to a car that is waiting to turn out of a driveway, walk behind them. Oftentimes they are too busy watching the street traffic to see you. You will also not block their one chance to turn before all the cars come. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/35 "2013-12-25T14:56:26Z")
Two items that irk me when I commute by bicycle: - If you are walking and a cyclist drives straight at you, at speed, from your left or right, they obviously mean to pass behind you. You are the stand-on vessel; maintain course and speed. - If a cyclist rings their bell, locate them then react appropriately - do neither remain oblivious nor blindly jump into their path. Regarding elevators, I have never been at a place where the ‘women first’ rule mentioned above was in effect (Is it really that chivalrous to have the women cooped up in the elevator longer than the men?) One rule that I practice: On entering push for the rear of the elevator if you are going a long way; hold back to stay nearer the door if your floor is likely to be the next stop. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/36 "2013-12-25T16:46:34Z")
A propos the OP, let me mention that escalators (and move sidewalks) in Germany generally have a sign that says: “rechts stehen, links gehen” (right stand, left walk). We should adopt such signs. Here is what I would add: When getting on a crowded bus or subway, take off your backpack and hang it down your side. And let the passengers get off before crowding on. Don’t stand in the middle of a sidewalk yakking while others are trying to walk past. This means on your phone or with a group of friends/neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/37 "2013-12-25T18:34:34Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > “Ladies first” is noble, but when you’re dealing with doors that will be closing on their own schedule, such as an elevator or subway, whoever’s closest to the door needs to go through. > The elevator doors at my office will stay open for about two seconds unless someone’s entering or leaving the elevator, and at least once a week, I see people taken by surprise when the elevator takes off without them. Why should ladies be treated differently than men? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/38 "2013-12-25T19:35:08Z")
On a trail, if someone says, “On your left” or just “Left” it’s short for, “I’m passing your on your left”, which means that **you move to the right** , or at very least, maintain your line; do not you move to the left. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The elevator is not the right place to fart. No, no, no - SBD right before exiting. :eek: 😃 :o ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/39 "2013-12-25T20:06:13Z")
In an LRT/subway, don’t crowd the exit if you aren’t getting off!! Move down the aisle a bit so there is space for people that really want to get off. I find it particularly aggravating since I am in a wheelchair or electric scooter (I use one or the other depending on what I am doing) and need the maneuvering room, but even for ambulatory people leaving them some space to get on/off makes life easier. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074/40 "2013-12-25T20:40:19Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > In an LRT/subway, **don’t crowd the exit** if you aren’t getting off!! Move down the aisle a bit so there is space for people that really want to get off. I find it particularly aggravating since I am in a wheelchair or electric scooter (I use one or the other depending on what I am doing) and need the maneuvering room, but even for ambulatory people leaving them some space to get on/off makes life easier. My bold. This applies to doorways in general, entrances as well as exits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedestrian-etiquette/677074.md?page=3)