I was driving home from picking up our dinner, at around 6pm yesterday.
Due to the Autumnal Equinox being only a few days away, the sun is almost perfectly aligned with the street I was driving on, and I had my sunshade pulled down to avoid being blinded.
A pedestrian stepped off the curb and I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting her.
There’s a button-activated crosswalk, and she must have pressed the button just as the crosswalk lights passed out of my field of view. She then stepped into the street without even looking.
Sure - it would have been my fault if I had hit her, but - really? Trusting the magic force-field of the crosswalk lights to protect you?
I didn’t want to raise my kids in a place where pedestrians have right of way. Hey, I’m from New York State and you take your life into your hands by entering the street, so you’re strongly trained to check for traffic. But now I’m in California and that’s where they were raised.
True, it’s a more polite society when cars yield to pedestrians. But then pedestrians can be lackadaisical.