quote:

Originally posted by jayhalsey:
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?

In Kentucky, they only have the right of way in cross walks. Plenty of car versus pedestrians that go on where the pedestrian is the at fault.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by jayhalsey:
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?

In Kentucky, they only have the right of way in cross walks. Plenty of car versus pedestrians that go on where the pedestrian is the at fault.

When I lived in Alaska, my coworker and her Mom got hit jaywalking across the busiest east/west road in midtown Anchorage. Coworker got a concussion and her Mom had to have surgery and many months of physical therapy before she could even fly home. APD met them at the ER and ticketed both for jaywalking.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
]When I lived in Alaska, my coworker and her Mom got hit jaywalking across the busiest east/west road in midtown Anchorage. Coworker got a concussion and her Mom had to have surgery and many months of physical therapy before she could even fly home. APD met them at the ER and ticketed both for jaywalking.

I seem to recall that a long time ago when I lived in NYC, jaywalking was a ticketable offense. It was also life-threatening. Suicide by traffic.

I have never written for jay walking. But I do write for no lights on a bicycle every chance I get.

That is one of my pet peeves for the same reason. And if someone gets hit on a bicycle in the hours of darkness with no lights? It gets bolded and underlined in the report.

if you wait 45 minutes in any Wal Mart parking lot you will see an adult or two pushing the groceries out in the cart.

While two or three 4 year olds meander about behind cars backing out of parking places.

and the backers do not see them because they are way to short to be seen in the mirrors.

As annoying as the pedestrians can be, I find the drivers to be every bit as bad, and often more at fault.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
]When I lived in Alaska, my coworker and her Mom got hit jaywalking across the busiest east/west road in midtown Anchorage. Coworker got a concussion and her Mom had to have surgery and many months of physical therapy before she could even fly home. APD met them at the ER and ticketed both for jaywalking.

I seem to recall that a long time ago when I lived in NYC, jaywalking was a ticketable offense. It was also life-threatening. Suicide by traffic.

When I lived in Dallas, DPD was adamant that you only cross downtown streets at cross walks especially where the DART light rail train ran down the middle of the street. I'd see grown men in suits sprinting through the front doors of our skyscraper (we rented a few floors so it wasn't necessarily our employees) heading straight for the elevator bank with DPD hot on their heels. They were hoping to beat a jaywalking ticket by hopping in an elevator without DPD There was an abundance of signs everywhere so not knowing was not an excuse.

I live in a college town, college kids have it in their heads that they always have the right of way and will step off a curb right in front of you in a heart beat. I have a habit of not stopping til the last possible second for those idiots, several of them have dove for the sidewalk to get out of my way. Professors aren’t much better.

I've written twice for jaywalking.

One was a kid (early 20s) running across a four lane road in the middle of the night in dark clothes and was struck by a car. His mom was real upset when I wrote him the ticket and not the driver of the car. She even said don't pedestrians have the right of way? No crosswalks here lady.

Another was some dbag who would always beat up his woman and run away before we got there and she would never do anything. Saw him jaywalking one time and stopped him and wrote him and said every time I see you, I'll find something to write you for. Next time was spitting on the ground. He eventually got the hint and never came back.

quote:

Originally posted by redwood25:
As annoying as the pedestrians can be, I find the drivers to be every bit as bad, and often more at fault.

Yep. Slow down! LOTS of pedestrians, some with kids and/or shopping carts. Cars backing out, drivers looking for that perfect slot 10' from the entrance, etc. This is not the place to fly through the lot.

I have solved the parking lot bad driver problem. Simple, I park away from the crowds, then walk to the store pushing an empty basket. Same on the way out even if I bought nothing.

Easy for the drivers to see and no one wants to damage their car. Blood is easy to wash off, scratched up car from a basket not so much.

Parking away from heavy traffic near the store entrance avoids the clueless pedestrian.

How about bicycle riders in parking lots?
We were backing up in an iHop lot, using back-up camera on rented SUV; heard someone scream, so stopped, just then little black kid riding bike came from one side of view (of backup camera) to the other. His dad said something nasty to the woman who yelled and saved his kid's life. My wife thanked her, she said "at least someone's grateful".

Christmas time is the worst for pedestrians in parking lots. Lots of people, it's dark, they're wearing dark clothes, completely oblivious to all the people who are trying to back out of their spaces. Nightmare.

I hear you... Unfortunately I had to go to the grocery store during busy hours a few weeks back had two back to back incidents.

Had the(I'm walking right down the middle of the isle and you have to wait for me I'm the tough guy)followed by the (old lady who should have been accompanied by somebody cause she almost walked aimlessly into the side of my vehicle when I can to a stop)

Local Kroger store here has a smallish parking lot for the amount of trucks, SUV's in this area. That's bad enough not to mention the morons that walk down the middle of the aisle and the ones that will walk right behind you while you are in the process of backing out of a space. It has gotten so bad at least to me that I find a spot I can pull through so I don't have to back out. A year or two ago the local paper called out that store as having the worst parking lot in the county.

While we are on the subject of parking lots, I think the GM engineer (term used loosely) that designed the backup light on feature when the ignition switch is turned off should be beaten with a sack of doorknobs then soothed with a balm of cat turds. Nothing like trying to get through a parking lot missing the wandering pedestrians with Bubba the lifted truck upon your rear bumper when a back up light flashes to life. So to avoid a potential collision you stop. Bubba jams on his brakes as Suzy Soccer Mom gets out and walks in front of her car to the other lane. Congrats, you have stopped for nothing and almost in the process have a lifted late 90's Dodge Ram park his bumper in your back window........rant over.

shovelhead, that was a rant I cheered for. I despise parking lots with narrow spaces, spaces one must back out of, and the various curbs and plantings that make it impossible to pull through to leave.

Times I've thought that lieu of my annual stress test my Cardiologist should hook me up to a monitor and have me circumvent that parking lot for a half hour especially during the early evening hours. That should give them all the readings they need.

I live near a major intersection and there are people jaywalking all the time about 50ft from the crosswalk and several times, I've almost hit one at night...it doesn't help to be jaywalking in dark clothes at night when it's a bit foggy

quote:

Originally posted by dwright1951:
I live in a college town, college kids have it in their heads that they always have the right of way and will step off a curb right in front of you in a heart beat. I have a habit of not stopping til the last possible second for those idiots, several of them have dove for the sidewalk to get out of my way. Professors aren’t much better.

This is true.
Elite, entitled, high intellectual college professors have been squished in this town.

Some people are just stupid and inconsiderate.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
People walk just like they drive. If they are oblivious walking around, they're the same behind the wheel.

And they drive their shopping carts like they drive. The folks at my local Costco are totally oblivious to the fact that they have left a cart that's half the size of Cinncinnati sitting crosswise in the middle of an aisle while they stop to gorge on some free, high fat, over processed junk food at the aisle cap.