Seemingly overnight in the South End hundreds of little pedestrian crossing markers have popped up in every crosswalk. Personally I think these are a great idea. As a 65% pedestrian I know that pretty much theonly way to cross Tremont has been with speed and prayer.
The only place these flags haven't been placed are in the crosswalks at traffic lights. There the theory is that pedestrians cross when they have the little white walk figure. That's the theory anyway. Hundreds upon thousands of pedestrians observe this theory, and in general walk in concert with the flow of all traffic - bicycle, vehicle, animal...
However certain South Enders have a overly inflated sense of entitlement and so lots of them cross s-l-o-w-l-y when they don't have the light and try to stare down drivers to make them stop and reassure the whole universe that they are still the single most important thing since sliced bread.
(I am sure that other Enders do this too, but my recent experience has been with the South type)
How that doesn't get more people killed I will never know.
Sure makes me want to gun for them though!
4 comments:
so true! i was walking on Comm the other night at about 10:00 p.m. and an elderly man with a cane, wearing all black was crossing the street when it said "don't walk." A car was going through the green light and literally had to slam on his breaks to avoid hitting the man. He left marks in the road that's how close it was. My friend and I stopped in shock realizing what almost happened. I wouldn't even cross Comm Ave when it said "don't walk" in daylight running!
I know what you're talking about. I'm the kinda guy who knows both ends of the spectrum: I have been and continue to be a pedestrian the majority of the time, but I've certainly spent lots of time behind the wheel of an automobile.
As a driver, I know that it's a pain in the ass when pedestrians cross the street against the light. It can frig up your entire drive, because there's another dozen or so lights you've got to get through and they're all timed.
I don't care if someone crosses the street against the light but gets some hustle into their step. I've been an aggressive pedestrian before, and I'm sure I will again soon. But to just lazily stroll across a street, against the light, and then glare at a driver like its someone else's problem, that's an arrogance I cannot tolerate. These are the same people, were the shoe on the other foot, they'd be hanging out their window dropping r's and f-bombs all over the place.
You really wanna see it bad? Drive down Dot Ave.
It's a $200 fine for the motorist not stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, I say that jay-walk should be fined in a similar fashion - if the light is green and someone is crossing, chances are I'm gonna get rear ended and well, 'girlfriend talking on her phone' ain't gonna pay to fix 'em cars...
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