Okay, so I’m going to sink slightly and post a rant. Not that me ranting is sinking from my normal self, but because I’m doing it here and most personal websites like this seem to only be an endless torrent of worthless verbiage, a diatribe that seeks to prove how everyone else in the world but the author is incorrect… okay, I feel better. Now the real rant :>
Crosswalks. Not so much the crosswalk itself, but the people in them. Now, the law states that vehicles must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians in the crosswalk. I’m fine with that. See how it’s written? “yield the right-of-way to pedestrians IN the crosswalk”. That’s wonderful. If someone is in the process of crossing the street, you should let them. Sure! No problem.
This does NOT mean that if someone walks up to a crosswalk you should slam on your brakes to let them go by. They’re not in the crosswalk, they’re approaching it. Maybe they’re just stopping to get their bearings and going to turn the other way, you don’t know. Either way, there’s no freakin’ reason on this planet to stop for someone standing at a freakin’ curb. When the traffic is clear, they will step out into the crosswalk, assuming that’s where they actually want to go, and they’ll cross the street. At that point, oncoming traffic should stop to let them cross. Not just because they’re standing at the curb. Or for that matter stepped off the curb and standing right next to it.
Okay, next point. This one isn’t necessarily a state or federal law, more of a law of freakin’ physics. A vehicle travelling at 40MPH, and weighing approximately 2500 pounds CAN NOT STOP just because you stepped out in front of it. No point in giving dirty looks to the driver because you walked in front of him when he’s only 30 feet away from said crosswalk, ’cause the brakes are only going to do so much before the front fender gets to do its own dirty work. Is there a crosswalk there? You bet there is. Does that crosswalk mean you can jump out into it and expect the freakin’ world to stop because you’re crossing the street and too damned busy, important or just plan STUPID to look both ways and make sure there’s no oncoming traffic first? Survey says… NO!
Last one, and then I’m done for this rant. When approaching an intersection on foot, and said intersection has a Walk/Don’t Walk sign (for the stupidity enhanced, many are now a walking dude vs a red hand held up in a “STOP!” like way), don’t just look at how the cars are going currently and cross the street if it says Don’t Walk. Why? Because unless you’ve taken the moment or two to see what the traffic signal situation is, and especially unless you know what the signal pattern is, you don’t know when the next light is going to turn green. Ya know, they make those little buttons that say “Push here to cross street” for a reason, it’s so you can push the button and the little hand will turn into a little walkin’ dude when it’s safe to go. How many times does it happen that I’m about to move forward in my truck, because my light is now green, only to see that someone is now standing directly in front of it because they’re not paying attention to the traffic signals, or they just stepped out into the intersection as it’s turning green? Too many to count, though I’d definitely use more fingers to count those incidents than I usually use to wave to the idiot pedestrians.
Okay, I lied, one more. When you do cross the street, and you do see that traffic is coming (it happens sometimes even when you’re paying attention, I’ll give you that)… or some kind soul has stopped to let you cross in front of them… HUSTLE! No, not the dance, move your damned ass across that street. Don’t mosey, meander, saunter, swagger or shuffle. MOVE IT! If you’ve got two good legs that can get you from point A to point B without needing a car, then they’re good enough to put a little spring into your step as you cross the street, so the kind soul who is currently refraining from leaving a “raeydooG” tattoo on your backside doesn’t have to wait so long that he needs another shave just to continue on his way. This should especially be the case if you are the freakin’ idiot that walked into the intersection without first looking carefully at what’s going on and now have a 1.25 ton vehicle bearing down on your current position.
That’s it, I need a brush guard for the Sport Trac.