Why do pedestrians always assume drivers are in a hurry?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

They always run across the crosswalk, or try getting across as quickly as possible…

If you happen to approach a crosswalk, and a pedestrian is waiting, and you signal them to walk, they seem to never want to walk, and return the signal back to you, then you have to send it back to them, and they send it back to you, and then you say, “fuck it” I’m going then…

What the hell is it with pedestrians… Just because we’re in a car, it doesn’t mean were in a hurry… just cross the damn road at your own pace, there is no need to rush.

In Hawaii we have to let them cross so it’s irritating having every one of them continue to wait… It’s almost as if they feel ashamed of walking in front of you or something. I don’t get it.

I feel the same way when I try handing someone a tip for a good effort and they refuse… I feel worse when you don’t take the money… so just take it and be happy, because you deserve it. If you prefer cookies over money, then say it, because sometimes you deserve to be rewarded. I just don’t understand turning down a reward. That’s almost like working hard all week at work and turning down your paycheck. It just doesn’t make sense to me… But that is another story.

So, please, pedestrians, take your sweet ass time when crossing the road. I’d hate to see you start running and have some sort of accident then feel guilty later on for it. We’re all human. Just because I am in a car it doesn’t mean I want to run you over or am any more important than you are.

G’day

2

When I cross I may not run, but I do that hurried skip thingy. I assume they’re in a hurry also and don’t want to be waiting for me to take my sweet ass time. I know when I’m driving I don’t want to be sitting there for no reason other than someone is walking slow.

3

Maybe because some of them don’t really come to a full stop for pedestrians and practically nudge them with the bumper.

4

It only takes one guy trying to nudge you/ almost hit you before yeah- you REALLY don’t want to take your time when you’re the guy walking across the path of the man in the giant armored Squishing Device.

5

I wish I lived where you live.

Around here, the pedestrians walk across crosswalks at a fucking snail’s pace…a snail that’s high on opium. They lope lackadaisically across the street, whether they have the walk signal or not - with their white earbuds stuffed deep into their oblivious heads - without a care in the world.

6

Having been a pedestrian in Hawaii, Seattle, and currently Los Angeles, it’s because I don’t trust drivers. When it’s my flesh and bones versus two to five tons of metal plus kinetic energy, I have to be quick and cautious.

You might be a perfectly competent and considerate driver, but the majority of drivers are not. I cannot afford to take any of the 30 seconds I’m allotted to cross the street to try to distinguish the nice drivers from the jerk ones. So I have to assume a lowest common denominator. I can’t ever assume you see me, that you’ll stop, that you’re interested in obeying traffic laws, or that you’re sober and attentive. All I need is to be wrong once and I’m dead.

I usually insist drivers go ahead of me because it’s safer for me and all-around faster for the both of us if they do so.

7

I usually let pedestrians cross, even if they don’t have the right of way.

If they dawdle, I gun my engine. They usually hurry up.

:smiley:

8

Because we don’t like being honked at, or having the bumper of a car come within millimeters of our knees, or being virtually ignored while the driver tries to go ahead real quick and race us to the crossing, or any other of the one thousand and one things that a pedestrian encounters on a near-daily basis. We have no idea if you’re driving vital organs to a children’s hospital or if you’re just going for a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive and all is well with the world. And frankly, I don’t really care. The chances are greater that you’re in a hurry than not, so it behooves me to get across the street as quickly as possible.

Occasionally, pedestrians are also in a hurry as well. We’re not the ones schlepping hearts and livers or whatever to the hospital across town (“listen, apollonia, can you take this kidney to a dying little child across town? No car? Just walk it, then–it’ll last for two days”), but we still might want to cross the street in an expedient fashion so we can catch our bus or just make it to our homes that much faster.

9

Because, if we don’t, there’s the chance you will kill us. Even driving and within the standards described in The Rules of the Road, I assume that you will try to kill me if I am not quick enough crossing an intersection.

10

Yup. I have a healthy level of not trusting drivers, either as a pedestrian or as one myself. The Chicago police are doing a sting operation of ticketing drivers not stopping for pedestrians who are trying to cross at marked crosswalks (either midblock or at corners); I saw footage of a previous, recent sting where the undercover cop-pedestrian would have to dodge out of the way of the car, and some pulled-over drivers insisted they either didn’t see a pedestrian or didn’t think they had to stop at a marked crosswalk if they didn’t have a stop sign.

11

You clearly are not posting from Washington, DC.

12

The pedestrian that doesn’t trust the driver is more likely to not get hit. Like I always say you may have the right of way but you will be the one screwed up for life or dead.

13

You’re just trying to trick me into stepping in front of you so you can run me down.

14

Exactly what everyone else said. I really do appreciate nice law-abiding drivers, honestly. BUT, there are some who don’t think rules apply to them and pedestrians are squishier than cars, so one gets very nervous around roads.

Nah, on reading properly, I see that EpicNonsense is not talking about the scary situation where I know the little green man is on my side but some drivers ignore it and drive on murderously on anyway, but a whole different situation where GOOD driver person signals the pedestrian to go ahead and cross.

Right, ok, then I think that, in the case you describe, EpicNonsense I’d probably return a cheery wave of “thank you” and would indeed cross the road as briskly as poss, arthritic limp permitting, the reason being, I suppose, that one means, “thank you for your politeness, I will return it by not delaying you longer than need be”. Yes, I suppose it does like assuming you are in a hurry, but it’s sort of an informal Law of being a Considerate Pedestrian. Better, surely, than those who wander out, even where there is no crossing place, wearing dark clothes on a dark winter night, trusting the driver to see them and practically do an emergency stop.

I know: here’s an analogy, if I am approaching the door of my building, but am still several yards away, and someone who is already going out sees me and holds the door open, I’ll probably speed up, although it’s a bit unlikely that the person is in such a rush that a few seconds matter, and it’s similar, isn’t it? And now that I stop to think about it, that is exactly what most people do. I could be holding the door, seeing someone coming along, and I think most people grin, “thank you” and do a sort of “here I am trying not to hold you back” thing, even, actually women already hassled with toddlers and prams. Perhaps it’s just a sort of “playing fair with others” thing?

15

Or NE Ohio. Teenagers are the worst, IME - most of them mosey through the crosswalk as if there’ll be a prize for the last to get to the other side.

I step into the street very cautiously, looking both ways, but once I’m committed I move briskly. I give a little “thanks” wave to any driver who stops for me.

16

Cars are a lot bigger than us. I’d like to spend as little time as possible exposing myself to the risk of being hit by a car. So if there’s someone waiting for me to cross before they turn, I motion them to go, and if they insist on waiting for me I hurry across.

17

This is really heartening to know I’m not the only nervous (read “sensible and wishing to live”) pedestrian around. So, are we all queuing up to move to Hawaii? :slight_smile:

EpicNonsense, you’re doing a terrific job of P.R. there. Come to Hawaii, paradise for pedestrians! :slight_smile:

18

I sometimes pretend I’m not going to use a crossing, then double back to it when the vehicle’s gone by. It seems pointless making a car stop just for me to cross, and the deceleration, idling and acceleration involved is a waste of energy.

19

No kidding. On both ends. Drivers are supercaffeinated, way too serious about their dayjobs and in a hurry, and pedestrians are beginning their languid saunter across the intersection just as the light turns, then just when you think you have an opening, a bike courier or taxicab sweeps in and does something dickishly illegal, so you have to wait another light cycle to start the whole thing over.

20

I can’t really add much to what’s already been said, but…

A lot of drivers have tunnel vision. They tend to tune out anything that isn’t the size and shape of a car. To them, bicycles, motorcycles, and pedestrians simply do not exist. Understandable to an extent, as this sort of filtering is a survival skill.

“No”, you say, “I’m very responsible and look out for what I might hit.”

Yeah, I know. But it’s the irresponsible ones that I worry about.