Obnoxious pedestrians

[Lace Neil Singer]

And if their body bouncing off your vehicle causes damage, their relatives should have to pay for it? XD

I think that some of these idiots ought to be sent back to primary school to relearn the Green Cross Code with all the tiny tots and not allowed to stop going til they've mastered the basics.

It's the same refusal to understand the laws of physics that the lycra louts have. Even a little motorbike like mine is going to cause a pedestrian some serious damage if we collide, seeing as I'm leathered up to the eyeballs and wearing a crash helmet. No matter how thick your skull is, if you slam it against a car, you are not going to come off unscafed; what will happen is that the person's car will be redecorated in an interesting new colour called hint of brain.

[aurelemsrealm]

I wonder if these same people would be stupid enough to try it with an oncoming train at a railroad crossing?

[Sage Blackthorn]

I wonder if these same people would be stupid enough to try it with an oncoming train at a railroad crossing?

Interesting point. I don't think Pedestrians have ANY right of way on railroad tracks. Hence they don't expect the trains to stop for them.

[Kaylyn]

I once heard that around here, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way unless they are in a crosswalk, or in the process of crossing at an intersection. Don't know if it's true, but if it is, it means that it would be possible to actually get away with hitting the idiots that play ball or stroll down the middle of the street.

Doesn't mean you SHOULD, of course, but just throwing that out there into the discussion.

And why is it the people that insist on doing this at night always wear the darkest clothing possible? And often they have dark-colored skin as well, for maximum invisibility.

[Racket_Man]

I wonder if these same people would be stupid enough to try it with an oncoming train at a railroad crossing?

yes some would. I remember back in Chicago about 15 years ago someone (not purposely) filiming a Metra crossing in Des Plaines a woman getting hit full on by a Metra train. she ignored the warning lights and gates, walked around a STOPPED train and got (sorry) splatted

just did a quick lookup of recent Metra pedestrian accidents and found numerious ones such as

Stupid teenager ignores warning lights

Man in car drives around barriers and gets hit by train


Woman and 1 year old killed at train corssing after warning lights go off

[jackfaire]

At least in the area we were living at the time there is no such thing as "I am a pedestrian hence I am always right of way" simply the assumption that there is.

Me and my brother always heard the myth the pedestrian had the right of way so when he was driving through the grocery store parking lot at less than 5 miles an hour and hit the woman who darted in front of him the police told him that he was fine and not at fault because there were at least three witnesses outside of the car that testified that the woman darted in front of my brother.

The police said right of way doesn't apply if the pedestrian is the cause of the problem such as darting into traffic.

When a pedestrian runs in front of you before getting angry look around and think about it first. My neighborhood was right next to another neighborhood and we were divided by a busy street but we all went to the same school, on our side but on the edge where the boundaries encompassed us both, and so were friends with kids from the other neighborhood.

To go visit them on a warm summer day when your parents were working, most cases both parents worked we were pretty poor, and you wanted to go see your friends you walked to the sidewalk looked both ways and then ran like hell.

The reason is because the nearest crosswalk was at least 20 blocks away. That area still doesn't have a lot of stop lights/crosswalks for people to use. Each neighborhood is like it's own little fort the busy streets forming a wall around them and to get to your friend's fort you hitch up your jeans check for enemies (cars) and you run like hell.

[lordlundar]

Interesting point. I don't think Pedestrians have ANY right of way on railroad tracks. Hence they don't expect the trains to stop for them.

Actually, I expect the train to stop for me. I'm just not dumb enough to expect it to stop IN TIME for me, as opposed to a mile down after I become splattered.

[Ipecac Drano]

I always ask the (moron) pedestrian if they've ever heard of the term "jaywalking". After their response to that question, I tell them to look it up. (I doubt that they will, but some day its definition may be given to them by a court official.)

jaywalking
n. walking across a street outside of marked cross-walks, and not at a corner, and/or against a signal light. If there is vehicle traffic or clear markings of a place to cross, this is a traffic misdemeanor subject to fine, and may be (but not conclusively) contributory negligence in the event of injury to the jaywalker by a vehicle.
http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1034

[Boozy]

Are you trying to tell me that the average person doesn't know what jaywalking is? I find that hard to believe. It's a commonly used word.

[IDrinkaRum]

^And so is inconceivable, but not everyone knows the definition and will use it wrong in a sentence.

[Greenday]

Are you trying to tell me that the average person doesn't know what jaywalking is? I find that hard to believe. It's a commonly used word.

It's only jaywalking when someone else does it.

[Ipecac Drano]

Are you trying to tell me that the average person doesn't know what jaywalking is? I find that hard to believe. It's a commonly used word.

No, but they act like it when it's mentioned.

Come to think of it, I once was venting to someone about a jaywalker that I had encountered. This other person did ask, "What do you mean by 'jaywalking'?".

[IDrinkaRum]

It's only jaywalking when someone else does it.

Thank you. McDonald's Sweet Tea through the nose. Gah!

[AdminAssistant]

I almost hit somebody on campus the other day, because they just decided they could cross the street anywhere. As I slammed the brakes and cussed them out, my friend S said, "They're not jaywalking, they're JayHawking!!!"