Around here is a multi-use path that is frequently used by both pedestrians and cyclists. In a couple of places there are intersections where the path crosses cross roads. Most of the time there are no signs. At two of the intersections there is a sign with a pictures of a bicycle on top and a “stop” sign underneath. The sign clearly is facing the users of the path. For the cross street, there is a stop sign for cars/cyclists. In another section of this same path in a much more residential area the sign is of a bicycle with a “yield” underneath.
I take these signs to be for cyclists and means they should either stop or yield, depending on the sign. Pedestrians are free to cross without having to stop.
The other day I was jogging along the path and came to one of these intersections. A car was turning right onto the cross street just as I entered the intersection, cutting me off. I smacked the tail of his car to let him know I wasn’t pleased. He stopped, turned around, then pulled back onto the main road and drove next to me, yelling at me that the sign indicates cars have the right of way and pedestrians need to stop. I said nothing and just kept jogging. He turned around and presumably went on his way.
I don’t know where you live, but in California stop signs do not apply to pedestrians. You would have the right of way in the situation you described as long as you exercised reasonable caution in entering the roadway (e.g. did not step into the street with an oncoming car so close that the driver didn’t have time to react).
As for the meaning of the sign, it’s clear to me that it’s intended to apply to bicyclists only.
Smacking his car constitutes a direct challenge to fisticuffs; either the driver was a coward or a pacifist or couldn’t find a parking spot. Once the smack was delivered, issues of right of way no longer apply.
IMO, the sign applies equally to pedestrians and cyclists, as you are doing the same thing (traveling in a noncar), and should conduct yourselves the same.
The sign linked clearly says the bicyclists on the path should stop. But that’s not the relevant sign to the OP’s encounter, as I understand it: that would be the sign facing the cross street, the one the driver would have seen.
So the driver ran that stop sign and was in the wrong.
I was under the impression that the driver stopped, then started again, at this point the OP entered the intersection assuming the driver would see him and stop again. The driver OTOH felt differently. Since he had already stopped at the sign, it’s now the runners turn to stop, just like if he was a bike (or motor vehicle at a regular 4 way stop).
There’s no mention of him stopping at all until after cmosdes smacked the back of the car–after he had already driven across the rectangle shared by road and path, which cmosdes had entered ahead of him.
But the driver also has a license plate with a number identifying him, which the jogger does not. So the jogger should have written down that plate number, and reported him to the police.
The full stop sign on the cross street is a regular stop sign. It applied to neither me nor the driver in this case as neither of us were headed in that direction. Both driver and I were headed south. The cross street comes in from the west. I mentioned the full stop sign only to point out that the south-going road doesn’t have one while the cross street does. As I said, the driver and I were both headed south. I was continuing south but the driver was turning right (to head west) onto the cross street. The only sign facing the driver and I was the sign I linked to, and it is off to the side of the multi-use path. It is clearly not a sign for cars. I’m wondering if other feel it is sign for pedestrians.
The driver did not stop twice. He and I were entering the intersection at almost the same time, but I was probably a half-second ahead of him.
I have no desire to die while claiming, “but I was right!”. I knew he was behind me and knew he was turning. I checked to see if he was going to stop for me, and when it became apparent he wasn’t going to, I let him have the right of way. I’m not that dumb. As an avid cyclist and runner I’m fully aware of many of these situations and the dangers they entail. I will give up my right of way without hesitation if necessary. I don’t want to die and I certainly don’t want to kill anyone. That doesn’t mean I can’t let them know they are being an asshole.
In California, at least, the opposite is true. Bicyclists are expected to follow the same rules as vehicles, while pedestrians conduct themselves differently. I have one friend who received a ticket on a bike for not stopping at a (normal) stop sign. I also have a coworker who lost her drivers license when she got a DUI while riding her bike. Interestingly, she now has to use her bike as her primary transportation since she isn’t allowed to drive.
The stop sign is of no importance. As long as you are IN the crosswalk, you have right of way – complete, unequivocal right of way. If you weren’t in the road yet, you have nothing to complain about. You don’t mention a little pedestrian on the stop sign, so, yeah, the driver was delusional.