I am amazed that you continue to defend yourself.
It’s not a huge safety issue. It’s a tiny safety issue, repeated hundreds and hundreds of times. Hundreds and hundreds of times nothing bad will happen. Then, one time, something bad does happen, because someone just HAD to know what People magazine wrote about Brangelina, or what their stupid friend is eating for lunch.
Can anyone really look back after an accident and say “It was worth it, because I had 10 years worth of stop light magazine reading that I would have missed out on.”
Also, think of it from the pedestrian’s point of view. You have thoughtlessly stopped your car in the crosswalk and then began to read a magazine. He probably did try to give you the stink eye, but you were too oblivious. That rap on the hood was a sign for you to wake up, pay attention and get your shit together; there are other people on the planet and they are due some consideration.
That’s what I was trying to express in my post (53). But oblivious is oblivious.
Oh, and as to what I would have done? I would have been sheepish and embarrassed, and waved an apology. You are not King of the World, you know. Sometimes, you fuck up, and so you apologize.
I will now wander off grumbling about the state of the world these days, where people don’t even feel like they have to apologize when they’re clearly wrong (even if it was an accident). Damn kids these days, GET OFF MY LAWN!
I would have done my best to communicate an apology. Either with my hands and a contrite look or by saying ‘sorry’ if the window was down. I would do this because it is wrong for me to be stopped in the crosswalk, no matter how I wound up there. I’m not saying I’ve never stopped too far into a crosswalk, I have. If somebody had chosen to harmlessly reproach me for it I’d have recognized it as my fault and been appropriately contrite.
I remember blocking a crosswalk before (without a magazine, of course) and having a pedestrian give me the skunk-eye while exaggeratedly trying to edge around the front of my car. Backing up wasn’t an option because of the care behind me.
What did I do? I felt sheepish and tried to look apologetic. I have to admit, I didn’t find the exaggerated play-acting to be particularly endearing, though.
IMO a pedestrian has the right to be able to make eye contact before crossing in front of a driver who could potentially run him over.
In this situation, where the car is already blocking a good portion of the crosswalk, I’d be instructing my kids not to walk in front of it until they had made eye contact and ensured the driver knew they were there.
Reading a magazine in that situation is extremely irresponsible. Knocking on the hood is responsible.
You know why you don’t read at an intersection? For a few reasons:
- You watch the traffic behind you just in case someone is about to rear end you and you have to option to pull forward and get out of the way
- You keep your eyes open for emergency lights - you won’t hear them until they’re almost on you and you need to get the F out of the way NOW
- You make yourself aware of what pedestrians and traffic are doing around you so when the light does chage to green, you don’t suddenly jerk in to traffic while that idiot pedestrian is trying to run across the intersection, or that car runs the red.
This is stuff I learned when I was 16, and again earlier this year in my defensive driving course. It’s basic. I’m surprised you don’t know this.
Yeah, everything about being stopped in a crosswalk reading a magazine screams irresponsible and clueless driver who very well might run me over when I walk in front of his car. I wouldn’t want to have to walk in front of the OP without getting his attention either.
Defensive driving? My God, was Steve Jackson right? Has autoduelling taken over America?!
Another good point. Eye contact is more important in driving than is commonly realized. If a driver is already into the pedestrian’s space and not paying attention to the outside world (beyond an occasional glance at the light), walking in front of them becomes a dangerous activity.
- I’m in Canada.
- I have to take it every two years as a condition of my employement because I drive for company purposes.
There was a Canadian supplement for Car Wars: “Sasquatch Stampede”.
What I was wondering was what is defensive driving. I’m seeing a martial art based around a car. And it sounds quite cool.
Yup. I nearly had a car hit me because the driver didn’t even glance to the left. I was crossing at a 4-way stop, in the crosswalk. Ahead of me, a car pulled up to the stop sign, barely stopped, and proceeded forward, nearly brushing me or running over my toes. I would have been in front of the bumper if I hadn’t been looking for eye contact or some manner of looking in my direction; when I didn’t see it I slowed my pace a bit. This driver didn’t even have an obvious distraction; she was just staring straight ahead.
Defensive driving is the process of paying attention to road conditions, drivers and other external factors to anticipate problems before they become crises. It is underlying school of thought for driving education in North America. If you are from another region, you likely have a different term for it.
Haha, oh, I see.
It was two days. We do a half day on law, a rural and city commentary drive (where we describe what we see/do as we’re driving and get judged on what we’re noticing - it’s quite hard), and then a full day on the track. We do emergency hard braking and avoiding (in both ABS and regular brakes - man, ABS makes a huge difference!), backing up through obstacles, and parallel parking.
Then the fun part: they have these trucks where they can force controlled skids, so replicate hydroplaning and icy conditions and we practice in both rear and front wheel drive vehicle skids. We also do ditch entry and exit practice up to 80 km/hr, and dropping one side of the vehicle off the edge of the road and how NOT to get back on to the road (you need to slow right down before pulling back on - we do it without slowing and you skid right across in to oncoming traffic and it almost feels like you’re going to roll).
It’s actually really fun.
I’ve seen the exact thing happen in a similar situation, only the person banged on the hood of the car, then followed up by banging on the drivers window, after seeing the driver was visibly shocked/shaken.
In this situation, both of you were wrong, but he was ignorant in his response (you don’t get to do what you want to a persons vehicle, because they wronged you…I’m sure he wouldn’t bang on the hood of a police officers car, had he done the same thing). You responding at that point, would have either escalated the situation, or if you were just trying to apologize, then it would likely have defused it.
In the end, if no damage was done to the car, it’s probably just best to let it go and try not to do it again.
What magazine were you reading?
It’s that and it’s more. It’s the attitude that I’m 100% responsible for any accident that I’m in, therefore I will take full responsibility to prevent said accident.
I wouldn’t have hit the OP’s car, but I would have been very cautious about it. Someone who stops in a crosswalk is potentially not paying attention and is potentially a bad driver. And I see cars lurching forward at red lights all the time.