# self preservation (no sense of)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-preservation-no-sense-of/596417>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 15, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-preservation-no-sense-of/596417 "2011-09-15T18:10:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-preservation-no-sense-of/596417/1 "2011-09-15T18:10:11Z")

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> [@unknown](#):
>
> The problem is that there are so many stupid people and nothing that eats them.

I am often amazed at the lack of a sense of self-preservation exhibited by random people I see, particularly urban pedestrians.

Or maybe they just trust in the abilities and attentiveness of their fellow man more than I do?

In the worst case, it’s people walking or biking, in the same direction as traffic, at night, while wearing dark clothes and no lights. But that’s pretty rare. More often, it’s pedestrians who trust that drivers will yield right-of-way as they are supposed to. This afternoon I was driving back to work after lunch. From the main road I slowed to make a right turn into my workplace. A group of peds on the sidewalk were about to cross the driveway at the same time I was going to drive across their path. No drama, I saw them from 50 yards away, so I slowed to a stop and waited for them to cross the driveway before I turned in - but the amazing thing to me is that they never looked over their shoulder before they crossed the driveway; I’m pretty sure they never knew I was there. Either it never crossed their mind that they were entering a space frequented by cars, or they knew it and trusted that any car would yield as appropriate.

I see the same thing at intersections with pedestrians who will start crossing the street the instant the “WALK” light is lit, without ever looking to see if stopped traffic might be starting a right turn across their path.

When I’m walking, I always end up looking (both ways, and/or over my shoulder, as appropriate) anytime I’m about to step out into a place where cars often go - regardless of whether I have legal right-of-way or not. Am I paranoid? Do I have trust issues? Or are the people I see enjoying a kind of blissful ignorance?

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