Pedestrian walking here!

[amommy]

So every day I walk to and from work and I've only got 1 main intersection to cross. I don't live in a big city but the road I have to cross on is a major road that connects to various highways. It seems like everyday there is some ..... idiot who thinks pedestrians don't have rights to cross the street when they actually have the right of way.

It happened again and I just need to vent!!!

I have the right of way .... as the little man on the light post is starring at me urging me accross. As I get close to the otherside I look to my right prior to reaching to ensure no driver feels the need to turn right without fully stopping at the line .... happens all the time!!! And there the car was speeding down not slowing I had to stop walking in the intersection as this dummy takes the right hand turn. I suprised the heck out of the driver as her face was pretty priceless and her kinda slamming on her breaks and then releasing the break deciding on to continue driving. I just don't get it.

That is just one that tops my list of drivers not paying attention or just not thinking.

Once a senior citizen was was waiting at the lights and I was just walking up behind him when the light changed for us to walk accross. This set of lights changes pretty fast so knowing how bad this street was I decided to stay behind him to make sure he got accross safely as his walk was more like shuffling his feet slowly. Once we got to the middle of the intersection the little man turned into the flashing hand. I proceeded to stay behind him as cars urgently wanted to turn left and closing in on us by creeping closer and closer. We were getting closer to the other side when a lady in her SUV wanted to turn right, her bumper was in the walk way and her arms are flying around in the air yelling at us to move faster and her pointing at the flashing hand. The old man couldn't move any faster and I don't even think he knew I was behind him but I gave the road raging women the finger. What the hell did she expect him to do?

Another time I was crossing, as always looking at all the cars around me and what their plans are eg. turing left or right are they fully stopped etc. I do this everytime call me over cautious but hey I want to live! There was no one in the lane who wanted to turn left as I entered the intersection however that soon changed as this guy in a truck was speeding along and came stright at me as I was now in that direct lane just before making it to the half way point to the otherside. He was talking on his cell phone and was starring stright ahead but completely not seeing me. I had to take a big stride and leap onto the meduim, I would have been clipped if he didn't see me last second and he had swerved right almost hitting the guy behind me making a right hand turn. And of course he kept on driving too!!

I know there are bad pedestrians out there and I'm not saying that all drivers are like this, but both drivers and pedestrians need to follow the laws of the road to ensure everyone gets home safely.

I hope people don't mind but I need to vent somewhere and this just may have to be it ... besides telling my DH haha.

[francine1985]

I know what you mean. I had the right of way to cross a busy road once when I was walking both kids home in the stroller. I looked to the side before stepping out and see a car speeding up it turned while speeding and I had to jump/pull the stroller back since the driver rolled onto the sidewalk and barely missed my oldest in the front of the stroller. B**** didn't even slow down or stop. She could have killed my son who was on the sidewalk while we had the right of way... I was so freaked out I never even thought to try and get the plate till it was too late.

[amommy]

I know what you mean. I had the right of way to cross a busy road once when I was walking both kids home in the stroller. I looked to the side before stepping out and see a car speeding up it turned while speeding and I had to jump/pull the stroller back since the driver rolled onto the sidewalk and barely missed my oldest in the front of the stroller. B**** didn't even slow down or stop. She could have killed my son who was on the sidewalk while we had the right of way... I was so freaked out I never even thought to try and get the plate till it was too late.

wow that is really crazy! I have to say when I crossed a street when my little one was still in the stroller it seemed people actually gave me some space haha. They went out of their way to be far from me. I think I need to walk with a stroller all the time!

[lghend]

Good for you for being extra cautious. I honestly do not know why everyone is not required to take a driver's course before getting a license. The fact that it is $700 for Young Drivers makes me so mad. I certainly couldn't afford to pay that for both my children. It should be mandatory and affordable for everyone. And anyone on a cellphone should be reported.

Thank you for watching out for the older man as well, you are an amazing person!!

[amommy]

Good for you for being extra cautious. I honestly do not know why everyone is not required to take a driver's course before getting a license. The fact that it is $700 for Young Drivers makes me so mad. I certainly couldn't afford to pay that for both my children. It should be mandatory and affordable for everyone. And anyone on a cellphone should be reported.

Thank you for watching out for the older man as well, you are an amazing person!!

Yes Young Drivers is very expensive would be great if it was cheaper. They are one of the best out there too so I think they know most people will pay for it.

I think all pedestrians need to be cautious as you have nothing to defend yourself against a car, but so do people behind the wheel. I find it crazy when I see people walking into the street not even looking and then to be angry that there is a car there ... or sometimes in the parking lot where they think they can just walk infront of a car and try to make people stop their cars for them. I mean really you are going to use your body as a shield against a moving car?

Anywho ... thanks for the positive feed back in regards to me helping the older gentalmen ... but really its nothing. I just hope when I get old people still care about their elders.

[abbasgirl]

A lot of people turning right (at an intersection or from a drive way or parking lot) will move their cars into the intersection or sidewalk while looking left at oncoming traffic instead of looking in front of them. It happened to me once when I was already in the cross walk. A lady came speeding into the intersection, with her head turned completely to the left. I had to run to get out of her way. I was so freaked out that when she finally stopped (in the cross walk) I started pounding on her car. You should have seen the look on her face when she realized what had happened!

[luckbealady]

One time the lights were just changing and a guy was standing in front of me. We just got our walk light, and he stepped into the crosswalk. I pulled him back just as a driver turning right honked his horn and gave us the finger while talking on his cell phone (he didn't even have any hands on the wheel at that time!). The driver would have hit the poor guy, and it was our right of way (even if he did have a green light).

As for the topic of drivers ed courses, I did CAA through my school (it was $500, but this was several years ago now). Mine was horrible. I had went onto the gravel on the side of the road a bit and was correcting it when he decided to jerk the wheel to put me back on the road. He accidentally stepped on the brakes while another girl was driving (we did our classes in groups of 3). And the worst one of all was that he would cut his nails and spit them out the window while we were driving. I hated that course so much.

[alicia]

I was having a conversation similar to this last week. My friend was adamant that pedestrians should just be able to walk at a four-way stop without ensuring traffic was stopped. I told him they have courses on defensive driving and pedestrians should also have to be defensive at intersections, right of way or not, because so many drivers are distracted, etc. I have been nearly hit more times than I can count due to drivers having no idea of thir surroundings and not being aware of crosswalks.

That being said, there is nothing I hate more than when I am driving the speed limit and someone jumps out out of nowhere (the whole "every intersection is an unmarked crosswalk law") and expecting you to be able to brake in that space. Going from 50 km/hr (or higher!) takes some stopping room even if you are aware of the surroundings.

[cyn88canada]

I know there are bad pedestrians out there and I'm not saying that all drivers are like this, but both drivers and pedestrians need to follow the laws of the road to ensure everyone gets home safely.

THANK-YOU x 1000!!!!

My mom and I usually go out for a walk to get some exercise/fresh air, and I always worry about the cars/traffic. (She's in her 70's, and obviously cannot walk as fast). We find drivers can be really impatient, and inattentive -- intersections can be a challenge, even when we stick to mainly residential areas. Even though we have right-of-way when we're crossing, a car can cause huge damage to a pedestrian, (even at slow speeds)...and I've seen enough that I don't really trust drivers. (Some Toronto drivers are absolutely horrible!)

With daylight savings making it darker earlier, a pedestrian needs to be extra careful!

I really wish that there were more stringent tests before people got licenses. It's tough to correct driving behaviour in adults, but if it's a new driver, there's a chance to impress upon them that bad driving behaviour is inexcusable. (ie: texting while driving) So often, people seem to forget that driving is not a right, but a responsibility -- with potential severe consequences, if you're not careful.

[RebeccaRYoung]

Good for you for being extra cautious. I honestly do not know why everyone is not required to take a driver's course before getting a license. The fact that it is $700 for Young Drivers makes me so mad. I certainly couldn't afford to pay that for both my children. It should be mandatory and affordable for everyone. And anyone on a cellphone should be reported.

Thank you for watching out for the older man as well, you are an amazing person!!

I did Young Drivers when I was learning to drive. While they are pretty good, there are plenty of other driver's training courses that are equally excellent. Most of the other ones are far less expensive. I think it's really important for a third party to teach driving skills because you do learn bad habits after driving for awhile and I wouldn't want to teach them to my kids. Many parents think that part of the right to drive is that the kids help pay for the course, which depending upon the circumstances could be really helpful.

[RebeccaRYoung]

Yesterday I had to phone the police about a lighted intersection that was not working properly. All of the lights were green at the same time! After the advanced green went, then the pedestrian crossing sign came on. When the pedestrian crossing sign started to do its 20 second countdown, then the lights for the other direction went green too, so everything was green and the pedestrian crossing sign was going. It was a little scary as I was crossing the street!

[itsjustmebub]

yep my DH just saw a guy walking across an intersection with all black on, his hood up, listening to his ipod ... get hit by a truck turning left who didn't see the pedestrian at all ... and he didn't see/hear the truck coming

[abbasgirl]

yep my DH just saw a guy walking across an intersection with all black on, his hood up, listening to his ipod ... get hit by a truck turning left who didn't see the pedestrian at all ... and he didn't see/hear the truck coming

Oh wow...it definitely goes both ways.
I see a lot of jaywalkers wearing all black when I'm driving.

[amommy]

A lot of people turning right (at an intersection or from a drive way or parking lot) will move their cars into the intersection or sidewalk while looking left at oncoming traffic instead of looking in front of them. It happened to me once when I was already in the cross walk. A lady came speeding into the intersection, with her head turned completely to the left. I had to run to get out of her way. I was so freaked out that when she finally stopped (in the cross walk) I started pounding on her car. You should have seen the look on her face when she realized what had happened!

It makes you wonder if they learned from this mistake or not. She is lucky that she only got her car pounded on haha.

[amommy]

One time the lights were just changing and a guy was standing in front of me. We just got our walk light, and he stepped into the crosswalk. I pulled him back just as a driver turning right honked his horn and gave us the finger while talking on his cell phone (he didn't even have any hands on the wheel at that time!). The driver would have hit the poor guy, and it was our right of way (even if he did have a green light).

Wow the nerve of the driver to be mad at you!