Hey, people who drive: here are some tips on how not to hit people who walk or bike

Whether you’re at an all-way stop or the “big fat white line” of an intersection, you have to stop at it, not in it./ Lloyd Alter

TreeHugger - continues

 

It is so sad things like this need to exist. Though after nearly getting hit on my walk home from dinner a few nights ago, I wish more people read them.

 

I was taught to NOT stop in the crosswalk.
Yes, we should very much attempt to stop BEFORE we reach this point.

However, as I get older?
I would also say...

Hey pedestrians walking in the evening and night....a few realities about how NOT to be hit.

Stop wearing grays and blacks. Walking at night, and believing you are anything but almost completely invisible.
Don't count on crosswalks being magic bullets or zones of complete safety.

Take some converse responsibility for being visible, and being aware of YOUR surroundings.

On the other side?
I'll try very much to see you.
And follow all traffic laws that protect both you and myself.
All the while realizing that since I'm the one behind the wheel of a several thousand pound vehicle the responsibility is primarily mine. But not exclusively, IMO mine.

 

@ Mike, thanks for sharing. Your post is great example on the original article from The Toronto Star. It stated that it would be really helpful for others to see what the others are dealing with in their endeavors to get around. In other words; drivers attempt to walk to destination. I guess that could be walk and/or take public transport. Maybe even using a bicycle instead of the car. I kinda like The Treehugger author's comment regarding comment speed reduction* needed. In other words, slow the f-word down! Just a reduction to posted speeds when there's peds and cyclists around would make a great reduction in casualties on the road.

@fitchet, thanks for sharing the suggestions. It can save the life of any ped that happens to read it. I'm betting that many peds already know this and really, there's nothing the ped has done that is illegal in your example. So the large majority of the responsibilities of safe movement on the roads rely on the ones moving 2 tons plus of metals, plastics, glass, rubber, etc. That's the law speaking too.

*That's my main point regarding reducing casualties on the road too. Kinda hard driving around a light weight and nimble Honda car. Really it's needed for people driving around death machines weighing 2 tons plus. Hopefully gas doubles soon.

 

The quoting function doesn't seem to be working for me. So I guess this'll have to do: @fitchet: I wear black every single day. That is simply the clothing I like, that is professional enough to wear to work but also casual/stylish enough to look good socially as well. I should not have to change my clothing for drivers to look for pedestrians, ESPECIALLY in the situations in which I interact with drivers in the most densely populated zip code in my state, in a city of 600,000+ people, packed with students & young professionals that walk, bike, use public transit.

Blaming victims when the fault lay with perpetrators is not a good or moral thing to do, in something like this or in very different circumstances. By the way, I wore a bright red coat today, I was nearly hit by a car while walking through a crosswalk regardless. They came to a stop, looked directly at me (already half way across the street and in the crosswalk) and floored it anyway. I had to stop dead center in the middle of street/crosswalk to avoid being hit by a motorist in a crossover.

The motorist is 100% responsible for not hitting pedestrians. My only responsibility is to somehow avoid these maniacs in an effort to get home safely each day, I'm acting in accordance with the law, they are not.

 

Sorry for the block of text, apparently the site is not letting me quote nor is it keeping the formatting I used when I typed up the message in the first place. That is supposed to be 3-4 paragraphs....and I can't edit it either.

Thanks IB!

 

Hmmmmmm........ the procedure on posting looks different. I clicked the quote box and there's no quote. OK ...... @ Mike, sounds like you have a pretty good location. Where are you located? If you don't want to answer, how far are you from downtown? Nice being able to get around doing alot of stuff walking or biking. Makes things much more social with others in your day BTW, wearing black or dark clothing is actually the more "professional" attire, which I'm sure it's well known.

 

I live in Milwaukee, well within in the city center but not downtown (only business people live downtown, I prefer to avoid that). I agree, walking has always served me well. If I didn't have to drive to commute and could instead walk/take public transit to work and only needed cars for vacation or for having fun....life would be wonderful.
Cars in place of functional public transit is the worst mistake of the 20th century.

 

Sounds like a nice city. I bet there's alot of history there.

Also at least your city isn't on this list, at least at the top. It's cities that got shafted by USDOT for public transportation funding.
Transportation for America - Transportation For America ? Congrats USDOT, for a job poorly done

 

That's despicable.

In this country we dedicate something like 5% of infrastructure spending for public transit.

The only potential outcomes of that lack of spending are sprawl, racial and economic inequities, and massive pollution.

We don't need more highway lanes, we need more rail/subway, buses, etc.

 

You're free to wear whatever shades you want, but what I say is...

" Stop wearing grays and blacks. Walking at night, and believing you are anything but almost completely invisible.
Don't count on crosswalks being magic bullets or zones of complete safety.

Take some converse responsibility for being visible, and being aware of YOUR surroundings"

The bottom line truth is if you choose to wear dark non-reflective colors at night, in the dark, you are going to be very invisible in your surroundings. If you choose to do this, just be aware that drivers around you may not see you.

 

Just be aware, I have the legal right of way as a pedestrian.

I keep my eyes open and am a very defensive pedestrian (and driver).

However, in the last few days I've nearly been hit in the MIDDLE of the intersection multiple times, wearing a red winter coat.

People in cars don't care that they're operating 2 ton weapons, because they don't care about any one but themselves.

 

That's short sighted opinion not fact.
And sorry about you almost being hit...wearing a RED coat...but that has NOTHING to do with my contention about wearing dark colors at night.

And perhaps it's the attitude of pedestrians that having the "legal right of way" is going to protect them, that is part of the problem. That legal right of way? Means nothing if two objects try to occupy the same space at the same time.
YES...drivers have to, and should follow all laws and rules, and take responsibility for driving as safely as possible BUT....I still contend that it should be a SHARED responsibility to avoid accident by both drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.
It's NOT an either or scenario, or just the responsibility of one party or the other.

 

I split up your previous post into multiple paragraphs and it seems to have worked.

"People in cars don't care that they're operating 2 ton weapons, because they don't care about any one but themselves."

Yeah, it can be a little bit scary when people with bigger vehicles start bullying the smaller vehicles when trying to pass, etc. as well. Don't get me started on cell phone usage while driving...*ugh*

I hate walking in the downtown area of where I live because there's simply too much traffic and drivers are almost always going well over the imposed 25 mph speed limit in the aforementioned area.