What the hell is it with pedestrians in parking lots walking around as if they're the only people in the world? I mean: You gotta be some kinda st00pid to wander about, completely oblivious, while several-ton vehicles driven by equally oblivious it10ts are moving in the same space.

Had an older couple, perhaps about my age or a bit better, step off the curb in front of the stores a couple days ago, just about right in front of me. Never. Even. Looked. Not in the crosswalk, btw.

I stopped (of course). Then, after he was right about where my bumper would've been had I not stopped, turned and looked. I threw up my hands like "WTF?!?!" He stopped, backed up, and gave the sarcastic-low-bow-wave-through kind of a thing. Nope. A waved him through and he went.

Had a woman, few months ago, slowly ambling right down the middle of the parking lane, not a care in the world. The urge to creep up right behind her and lay on the horn...

Ok, I get it: Pedestrians have the right-of-way. But, for the love of God, look where you're going.

People walk just like they drive. If they are oblivious walking around, they're the same behind the wheel.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Ok, I get it: Pedestrians have the right-of-way. But, for the love of God, look where you're going.

IMO, if they changed the law to state that pedestrians did not have the right-of-way, far fewer of them would get creamed.

It has done nothing but breed complacency and a sense of entitlement. Any more, people (particularly the younger crowd) don't look at all and will simply walk right out in the street, crosswalk or no. They seem to have no concept of the Law of Gross Tonnage.

There's a grocery store here which has bricked pillars outside the and up against the driveway. With the exception of where the curb is, you literally cannot see cross-traffic. I fell into that trap once and was nearly hit by the driver focused on which aisle he wanted to turn down.

Not sure if anyone has every been actually hit though I am certain there is likely a report a month.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

IMO, if they changed the law to state that pedestrians did not have the right-of-way, far fewer of them would get creamed.

I'd support that. It's a road made for vehicles. They should have the right of way. Eventually, we'd weed out the morons through natural selection.

Even if they do have the right of way, why walk in areas where you can get hit by a driver not paying attention. Especially when there is a side walk 5 feet away.

Every day in the parking lot.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
There's a grocery store here which has bricked pillars outside the and up against the driveway. With the exception of where the curb is, you literally cannot see cross-traffic. I fell into that trap once and was nearly hit by the driver focused on which aisle he wanted to turn down.

You just kinda sorta proved my point.

You cannot see through the pillars, and I'll concede it's a very safety-adverse layout, so what you have to do is stop and look around them.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Even if they do have the right of way, why walk in areas where you can get hit by a driver not paying attention. Especially when there is a side walk 5 feet away.

Every day in the parking lot.

Yup. Used to see that all the time in the Life Time Fitness parking lot. Sometimes a night, in the wintertime, when the parking lot surface did not lend itself to sudden maneuvers.

Nearly clipped a woman doing that, one night. It was dark, it was snowing (IIRC), the parking lot surface was an icy disaster, I was watching for other vehicles and honestly did not see her until I only feet away. Slamming on the brakes might have slewed me right into her.

I could see her and her male companion yelling at me as I drove on.

There was a lit, cleared sidewalk literally a car length away.

One thing I do not miss about Calgary are the pedestrians. It was a rarity where someone looked both ways before stepping off the curb. Instead, they'd see the light change and return to the Canadian obsession of looking at their feet while they walked.

Calgary even had crosswalks nowhere near a corner where someone could bang the walk button and instantly lights would come on to stop traffic. I saw joggers and bicyclists who just hit the button and neither slowed down nor looked both ways.

The worst was I was coming back from the airport late at night in the winter, and was driving down a hill that was about a mile long. There are no other cars on the road and I spot a jaywalker dressed all in dark clothes (another rant for another time) start walking across the road. I'm hitting the brakes and not much is happening, but the jackass jaywalker is walking at a pace to meet me. They stopped and flipped me off when I drove by.

I even saw Calgarians walk behind a car backing up in a parking lot when there was less than a meter between the vehicle backing up and the parked car.

I've never met a group of people with less sense of self-preservation than in Calgary and that is saying a lot since I've lived in SoCal. I was never surprised when I saw a news report that a Calgarian died on vacation because they got hit by a car.

I suppose the 12 volt train\truck air horn would give the old farts a heart attack. Or not.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

IMO, if they changed the law to state that pedestrians did not have the right-of-way, far fewer of them would get creamed.

I'd support that. It's a road made for vehicles. They should have the right of way. Eventually, we'd weed out the morons through natural selection.

Could just put a bounty on them

quote:

Ok, I get it: Pedestrians have the right-of-way. But, for the love of God, look where you're going.

As dear ol' Dad said, when he was teaching me to drive: "having the right of way doesn't do you any good if you're dead".

Last month I had some kid (15-18) playing on his phone walk out in front of me in the Walmart parking lot. I always assume any and all pedestrians are going to just walk on out, so no matter what he and my bumper were both safe. The look of surprise and abject terror on his face when I honked my horn at him was worth the price of admissionm. Entertaining to me, and a valuable life lesson for him.

A loud blast from a set of FIAM horns will bring the brain dead Pedestrians back to life.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Ok, I get it: Pedestrians have the right-of-way. But, for the love of God, look where you're going.

IMO, if they changed the law to state that pedestrians did not have the right-of-way, far fewer of them would get creamed.

It has done nothing but breed complacency and a sense of entitlement. Any more, people (particularly the younger crowd) don't look at all and will simply walk right out in the street, crosswalk or no. They seem to have no concept of the Law of Gross Tonnage.

That's how it is in Central America. Pedestrians don't have the right away and drivers DON'T stop for them to cross. They PAY REAL GOOD attention before they step off of the curb to cross a street or walk across a parking lane.....unlike the idiots here who half of them are looking at their cell phone while walking.

I was always taught that pedestrians only had the right of way in a crosswalk. Of course, that doesn't mean that I dont avoid them when they are being morons. Now, what can we do about the bike riders?

If you ever watched my wife drive a grocery cart in the local grocery store, you'd wonder how in the living hades she ever managed to get a drivers license.

quote:

IMO, if they changed the law to state that pedestrians did not have the right-of-way, far fewer of them would get creamed.

They do not have the absolute right of way. some think they do but are unpleasantly surprised when that backfires.

quote:

I even saw Calgarians walk behind a car backing up in a parking lot when there was less than a meter between the vehicle backing up and the parked car.

Calgary must be the new name for where I live. I absolute hate people that see you backing out and have to squeeze between you and the other vehicles.

quote:

Originally posted by eTripper:
The post office seems to be the worst place for clueless pedestrians. Man, they walk right behind you when your backing-out!. Don't even get me started on dumbasses glued to their smartphones walking-around!

Yeah, they are certainly clueless when at the counter attempting to conduct business at the PO, makes sense they are morons in the parking lot too!