# When walking across a street...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-walking-across-a-street/820078>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 22, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-walking-across-a-street/820078 "2018-08-22T21:39:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-walking-across-a-street/820078/21 "2018-08-24T18:50:25Z")

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I wish we could hear from a few folks who don’t actually pay attention to oncoming traffic (assuming they are still alive), I’ve always wondered what is or isn’t going through their heads when they step off the curb.

In San Francisco, where there are pedestrian signals at crosswalks, they are routinely ignored, and there is a general air of hostility to anyone in a car who is, for example, trying to turn a corner when their direction is green. The pedestrian signal says “Don’t Walk” and there are 3 seconds on the timer, and folks step off and saunter across without a care in the world. Literally, they don’t seem to care about anything except their desire not to wait for the next light. If they were in a hurry it seems to me they would walk faster. If they aren’t in a hurry, why are they so dead set against waiting? I am also frequently a pedestrian and have no problem obeying the pedestrian signals, partly because I know I don’t walk very fast and I try not to be an inconsiderate pedestrian\*.

\*The difference between trying to be a considerate pedestrian, as expressed above, and trying not to be an inconsiderate pedestrian is that if I have obeyed the law and it is clear that drivers are stopping as they should, I don’t speed up my pace to accommodate cars, since I am already walking at my optimum speed. I also don’t trot or attempt to run.

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**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:** [August 24, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-walking-across-a-street/820078/22 "2018-08-24T22:27:20Z")

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> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#):
>
> I only have right of way if I’m actually IN the crosswalk. If I’m standing on the sidewalk next to the crosswalk, I don’t have right of way. But to many pedestrians (as well as drivers) are erratic. If I stay off the road, I’m not triggering my right of way. And to let the drivers know that I’m not planning on darting in front of their car, I wave them past. I’m not ceding my right of way, I’m acknowledging that I’m not triggering it.

I do the same thing. In San Francisco it seems to confuse the hell out of cars who are used to pedestrians just going, often with their noses stuck in their phones.  
When I do go I move it across the street, but I’m from New York and naturally move faster than most normal people.

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