# Use cell crossing the street? You should die! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678 "2019-06-18T14:05:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/21 "2019-06-18T22:24:32Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Well, not really, of course. But I just can’t imagine how some cellphone users act as though the believe cars are fluffy clouds that won’t cause them any harm. > > I know I post often about my inability to understand much modern tech and its users. There aren’t many life lessons more basic than "look before crossing the street. Help me get into the mindset of someone who apparently thinks pedestrian crosswalks are an appropriate place to have their eyes glued to their phones? > > This a.m. I was stopped at a red light on a busy suburban street (22d and York in Oak Brook for those around Chicago.) 3 lanes of traffic in each direction, and 2 left turn lanes. The lights were well into their cycle when a pedestrian approached the curb. As he stepped into the intersection, he pulled out his phone and began looking at it. He lost his signal right when he was about halfway across - just about to step in front to the cars waiting to turn left. He proceeded on his way, without looking up or increasing his pace until he was past the left turn lanes. > > Last Sat, I was at a light with no turn on red, waiting to turn right immediately onto an expressway on ramp (Harlem and the Ike.) A pedestrian was standing right next to me, headed in the same direction, standing right at the curb looking intently at his phone. The light changed to green, and the pedestrian neither moved nor looked up. I didn’t know whether to go, wait, or honk. Eventually (really only a few seconds), he stepped off the curb with no indication of checking for traffic. > > I’m just wondering if such people are clueless? Self absorbed? So secure/confident in their safety that they assume all drivers are competent and aware and will stop? Something else? I realize that many folk think it appropriate to use their phones in any number of places/situations I personally would disfavor, but the idea of doing so when your life is potentially in peril really is foreign to me. > > On edit - not sure how I screwed up the title. Should read “Use cell…” Certainly clueless and self absorbed could be the issue, or, you know, he could be looking at Google maps to make sure he was going the right way. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/22 "2019-06-19T00:09:33Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Pedestrian might get a jaywalking citation. :rolleyes: But in most instances, green NEVER means GO (without checking to ensure way is clear). In Illinois, I’m not aware of any instances where the law says certain drivers have the unqualified right-of-way. Instead, the general practice is to specify instances in which the driver must yield. In California right turn on red is the dangerous situation, since drivers are looking to see when they can turn, and may not look to see if a pedestrian appears. The pedestrian in this case has the right of way, but would be just as dead. I believe someone is trying to push through a law making it illegal to cross a street while distracted by a phone. That news got cheers from the meeting I was in. And there are laws about when a pedestrian is allowed to enter an intersection, mostly saying that they need to finish before the light changes. Some walk lights have count down timers all the time, some have it for the last 20 seconds. There was a rule about not crossing when the countdown timer was on in this situation, but I think they got rid of it since lots of people (like me) can make it across in plenty of time. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/23 "2019-06-19T12:54:05Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Certainly clueless and self absorbed could be the issue, or, you know, he could be looking at Google maps to make sure he was going the right way. In the middle of the fucking street - rather than before stepping in front of cars, or after he had safely attained the opposite curb? :rolleyes: Not sure that is significantly different from clueless and self absorbed. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/24 "2019-06-19T13:01:25Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > In California right turn on red is the dangerous situation, since drivers are looking to see when they can turn, and may not look to see if a pedestrian appears. The pedestrian in this case has the right of way, but would be just as dead. Not just in California but anywhere it’s legal (is there anywhere in the US it’s not legal?). I have been struck (as a bicyclist) in this exact scenario. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/25 "2019-06-19T13:49:37Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > In the middle of the fucking street - rather than before stepping in front of cars, or after he had safely attained the opposite curb? :rolleyes: > > Not sure that is significantly different from clueless and self absorbed. Have you ever used Google maps on your phone? Sometimes it wigs out and spins around when GPS is lost and regained which can be confusing, especially in a city you aren’t familiar with. But of course, I have no idea what that guy was doing anymore than you do. But I certainly seem to care a lot less. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/26 "2019-06-19T14:03:18Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Have you ever used Google maps on your phone? Not in the middle of the street. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/27 "2019-06-19T17:58:59Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Not in the middle of the street. But that’s where the line is on the map! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/28 "2019-06-19T19:50:02Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > One of my favorites was a young person texting while riding a bike no hands, down the centerline of a 4-lane suburban through street! Felt some driver should have been awarded for taking those genes outta the pool! A street (Westmore, just North of Madison, in **Dinsdale** terms 😉 ) was widened 35 years ago and the sidewalks needed to be moved inland. There was a tree that for whatever reason could not be cut down though it would block the sidewalk. No problem; a short jog in the sidewalk solved the problem until a girl on a bike, texting while riding in the sidewalk no-handed, missed the jog and rode straight into the tree. Funny! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/29 "2019-06-20T05:05:07Z")
2016: [https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/26/germany-installs-ground-level-traffic-lights-for-distracted-cellphone-users.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/26/germany-installs-ground-level-traffic-lights-for-distracted-cellphone-users.html) > [@](#): > > Two tram stops in Augsburg have been outfitted with special lights built right into the pavement. The flashing red bulbs signal when a tram is approaching and are meant to get the attention of cellphone users who aren’t always looking up. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/30 "2019-06-20T05:29:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I was ran into, full force, by a kid walking down an aisle in Wal-Mart, looking at her phone. She barely looked up and said, ‘oh, sorry’ Huh. I was run over by a kid on Flamingo Blvd in her Honda Accord while she was talking on her cell phone. I didn’t even get that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/31 "2019-06-20T07:08:26Z")
Just last night I was driving and saw a kid at an intersection with his face frozen to a screen. I had the light but still watched him, just in case. I actually changed lanes in the intersection to get to the inside lane. Sure enough, he absentmindedly stepped off the curb and right in the path of where my 2000-lb car had been headed before the evasive move. I blew the horn and he looked up with a dazed expression as of why were their vehicles in his way. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/32 "2019-06-20T11:03:14Z")
When I was in high school, I saw an acquaintance nearly get hit by a car pulling into school. He hadn’t heard the car because he had inserted earpieces and was playing music really loudly. I mentioned that, he said noone would hit him and that he was already suffering from hearing loss. So… this doesn’t surprise me. I also regularly see people blatantly jaywalk in the middle of the road, far from any intersection, sometimes while walking dogs. In my city, intersections without lights aren’t that uncommon, so I guess people are just used to it. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/33 "2019-06-20T16:05:45Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I hope you pounded on the hood of his car and yelled “I’m walking here!” > (My favorite line from Midnight Cowboy. So New York.) Even better, it was an ad lib by Hoffman. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/34 "2019-06-20T16:12:18Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > This is not just true for people crossing the street but doing virtually everything, including driving. I use a smart phone and I think it’s a wonderful tool but I really don’t understand why it seems the majority of the population has to have their face down in their phone every waking minute. I do not look at my phone when I am crossing the street. Too much shit to go wrong there. > > Psychologists have demonstrated attention blindness–despite optimism to the contrary the human mind cannot truly multi-task. If your attention is on your phone, you are simply not registering the car with a green light bearing down on you, the cashier waiting for you to pay, the friend sitting at the same restaurant table, or the pedestrian crossing against the light whom you are about to hit. This. I was riding my bike on a trail (paved path, intended for bikes/pedestrians) and almost got wiped out by this ~10 year old brat who was staring at his phone while riding and weaving side-to-side across the entire width of the trail. I don’t usually use bad language in front of kids, but he got an earful from me. probably had no idea what my problem was. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/35 "2019-06-20T16:18:52Z")
I have a small dent on my hood from someone who literally ran into my fender and smacked the hood with his head; he was texting at the time. I was stopped dead for a light. Luckily for me the cop stopped behind me could verify it all since the moron in question came off my car all pissed how it was my fault. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/36 "2019-06-20T17:40:19Z")
I’m a daily walker in my city, and a regular driver, so I see this from both sides. From the pedestrian side, I hate other pedestrians who are being foolishly irresponsible by not watching traffic when they are crossing streets. The drivers in this city are TERRIBLE around pedes - I’m not exaggerating when I say they actually try to hit me. I watch them like a hawk, and I have to jump out of their way or bang the hood of their car to get them to notice me or something similar regularly. There are a lot of old drivers here, and they very much have the attitude of, “How dare you get in my way when I’m trying to drive!!,” as well as simply not looking for pedestrians, or understanding that pedestrians have right-of-way in some situations. From the driver side, I see pedestrians doing really stupid stuff that makes it worse for all pedestrians, and I see the other drivers being very incompetent and unskilled, which informs my walking as well. I suspect what might be going on with a lot of the younger pedestrians is that they don’t drive, and they don’t understand how things are from the driver side. On the other side of that, if the Lethbridge drivers got out of their pickup trucks and walked regularly, I think they’d be a lot more respectful of pedestrians. They would realize that a one ton vehicle whizzing by and missing you by a few feet is a truly scary thing. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/37 "2019-06-20T17:46:18Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Even better, it was an ad lib by Hoffman. My understanding is that it was an ad lib by the car too. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/38 "2019-06-20T18:37:08Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m a daily walker in my city, and a regular driver, so I see this from both sides. From the pedestrian side, I hate other pedestrians who are being foolishly irresponsible by not watching traffic when they are crossing streets. The drivers in this city are TERRIBLE around pedes - I’m not exaggerating when I say they actually try to hit me. I watch them like a hawk, and I have to jump out of their way or bang the hood of their car to get them to notice me or something similar regularly. There are a lot of old drivers here, and they very much have the attitude of, “How dare you get in my way when I’m trying to drive!!,” as well as simply not looking for pedestrians, or understanding that pedestrians have right-of-way in some situations. Alberta: Canada’s Florida ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678/39 "2019-06-20T19:32:30Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Alberta: Canada’s Florida OMG, it is so accurate. Well, Lethbridge is. I don’t think the rest of Alberta skews as old as Lethbridge does. And all those oldsters are former farmers who never actually learned to drive properly in the first place. :eek: ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-cell-crossing-the-street-you-should-die/835678.md?page=1)