# Please may I walk to the store without it becoming an extinction level event? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 12, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189 "2002-12-12T03:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/21 "2002-12-13T01:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \* > \*\*Most drivers are pretty good about right of way (as in, the pedestrians always have) here. For those that aren’t though I’ve always wanted to carry around a battle axe to smash into their hoods. \*\* People are so good about it here that they even yield to a few rows of _bricks_ in the bitumen as an “unofficial” crosswalk. Drives me nutty. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/22 "2002-12-13T03:15:10Z")
Mmm…college students. On campus, as a pack, We can cross streets quite well, thank you. Because we do not care. If we get hit we get a paid vacation from class and good drugs, which generally sounds like a decent lottery. I recall a particular crossing during finals and rush hour where a bus thought it could shoulder through traffic of all kinds. Forty college students spent a cycle of the light beating on it and screaming. A couple people had started to rock it before the traffic cleared enough the bus could escape without hitting anyone/thing. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/23 "2002-12-13T03:35:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Medea’s Child \* > \*\*I recall a particular crossing during finals and rush hour where a bus thought it could shoulder through traffic of all kinds. Forty college students spent a cycle of the light beating on it and screaming. A couple people had started to rock it before the traffic cleared enough the bus could escape without hitting anyone/thing. \*\* These would be Ohio State students, yes? By the way, what those students did was asshat behavior of the highest caliber, and that isn’t something to be proud of or to brag about. Grow up. Life is cruel and harsh, get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/24 "2002-12-13T06:13:23Z")
Sure, life is cruel. But speaking as someone whose friend was [run over by a bus](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=121053), I’d say that some drivers need to be reminded that they must follow the rules of the road too, especially as concerns pedestrians. Rocking the bus was a bit extreme, but the driver was also being an asshat. I feel for the poor bus passengers, who had nothing to do with the scare they were getting. (on the other side of the coin, [asshattery comes on two legs too](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=125488).) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/25 "2002-12-13T16:17:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daniel \* > \*\*Move to Boston. Here it seems like motorists are second-rate citizens. I’ve actually been standing on a curb nowhere near a crosswalk, not seriously expecting to be able to cross, when suddenly a car stops suddenly and _honks_ at me to cross! I didn’t think I had the right of way when I wasn’t anywhere near a crosswalk. This happens repeatedly. \*\* Where is this Boston you speak of? In which state? 'Cause it sure as shit isn’t in MA. I’ve nearly been killed twice in the past few months by drivers that couldn’t be bothered to look where they were going. And both times, these squicknugget drivers blamed me. Gotta love the lady who pulled out so fast her tires squealed. And was looking behind her. And was on a cell phone. She came within about a foot of me before she stopped with a screech. Then she proceeded to accuse me of not looking where I was going. Projection at its finest. And Daniel, you realize that of the 4 worst intersections in Boston, 3 are in Brookline? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/26 "2002-12-13T16:31:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \* > \*\*Most drivers are pretty good about right of way (as in, the pedestrians always have) here. For those that aren’t though I’ve always wanted to carry around a battle axe to smash into their hoods. \*\* I remember a story from a local newspaper many moons ago; there was a school crossing patrolled by a ‘lolipop lady’ - she was standing in the road, stopping the traffic and the kids were crossing when a motorist tried to drive through (not at speed, he just figured that if he kept going, people would move aside to let him through) - the quick-thinking crossing attendant used the pole of her lolipop sign (the poles were made of metal back then) to scrape a nice strip of paint off the entire length of his car. The story only came to light because the motorist tried to pursue legal action against the crossing attendant(the case was thrown out); the police thanked him for coming forward and pressed dangerous driving charges. Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/27 "2002-12-13T16:34:47Z")
Heh. I was walking back to my car from a restaurant after lunch one day, and as I start to cross at an intersection, a woman in a gold Nissan pulls right into the crosswalk, nearly running over my toes (literally), to turn right. I was so shocked that all I could do was reach out (wasn’t even much of a reach, she was so close) and knock on the rear passenger side window, to make known my displeasure. I was rewarded with the finger. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189/28 "2002-12-13T17:57:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carrot \* > \*\*Heh. I was walking back to my car from a restaurant after lunch one day, and as I start to cross at an intersection, a woman in a gold Nissan pulls right into the crosswalk, nearly running over my toes (literally), to turn right. I was so shocked that all I could do was reach out (wasn’t even much of a reach, she was so close) and knock on the rear passenger side window, to make known my displeasure. > > I was rewarded with the finger. \*\* This happens quite a lot, and i’ve often contemplated carrying a 6-inch piece of thin metal with me, so that when the car passes right in front of me and almost runs me over, i can just stick out my hand and run that piece of metal right down the side of the car as it goes past. A six-foot long gouge in the bodywork would probably make the fucker think twice before doing it again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-may-i-walk-to-the-store-without-it-becoming-an-extinction-level-event/142189.md?page=1)