"Right of Way" author and former Streetsblog USA editor Angie Schmitt: "The MMUCC instructs police to categorize a range of actions including 'running, jogging or stumbling' as 'dart(ing)/dash(ing)' into the road... This produces some questionable assertions." @schmangee.bsky.social
Well I just had a cyclist make a left right in front of my car without signaling on a highway. Luckily avoided near certain death.
Y’all need to be more honest with yourselves. I’ve lived in Southern California most of my life and I’ve seen countless pedestrians step into traffic without looking at all.
Only a few times in my life did I fail to see a pedestrian because they were in my blind spots, something all cars have and no pedestrians do. No, I did not hit them because I was able to see them and stop in time.
I was hit by a car once while riding my bike but I was mostly at fault for that. And, yes, I’ve also nearly been hit by cars a few times while walking. Some of those times I was at fault and some of those times the driver was.
Sometimes like a game of Frogger?
In that photo the car has a RED light, OK to walk across.
Jaywalking is still jaywalking. If everyone were safety conscious and courteous we wouldn't have this problem.
It's ludicrous to think of someone like me dashing or darting. Stumbling is a possibility though since I use a walker to get anywhere "on foot".
Pedestrians have the right of way. Children have the right of way. Cars do not have the right of way. A 76 year old driver who grew up playing in the streets as a child in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s never worried about CARS having the right of way. Children playing in the street all day every day.
Children jumped rope. Played dodge ball. Children walked to candy shops. Children biked around neighborhoods. Children walked to their friends houses. Children walked to a relative’s house. Children walked to school. Children walked to church. This 76-year old woman walked in her neighborhood.
My uncle (mostly deaf, 78) was at a crosswalk when he was struck by a city maintenance vehicle. The city in question eventually settled after my aunt (his sister), got a lawyer. He was definitely not “darting,” but the city did claim he stepped in front of the vehicle.
Lemme see… Uncle walks into crosswalk (he IS stepping) while vehicle approaches…. Yes, he IS stepping in front of the vehicle. I think the real problem here is the vehicle should have stopped for the man in the crosswalk? Which it clearly didn’t.
I believe that is why the lawyer got the settlement. The vehicle was turning. I drive in a metro area daily and I make it a habit to keep an eye on pedestrians until I’ve passed them.
Can't speak for your locals but as a motorcyclist im vigilant in every action I take on the road I keep my eyes peeled and my head on a swivel not just for all the caged belted and airbag sheltered would be killers. Now its phone zombies. They walk out without even looking up ALL THE TIME! 🇨🇦🤦
I live in Houston, downtown....and NO...pedestrians aren't doing that.
I had a phone zombie walk into my Sportster while I was stopped at a red light once. He was a tall, very unstable phone zombie, so he stumbled and tried to support himself by grabbing my pipes. BAD idea! But car drivers, well, it is a long time since I saw one of THOSE notice a pedestrian!
Yep they are everywhere... honestly i was hoping the zombie apocalypse woulda been a little more cinematic🇨🇦🤣
The Dollop podcast has a great episode, "When The Cars Came", about the history. In brief: streets used to be for people, and when cars (mostly owned by the wealthy) started running people over, it was a PR nightmare. The auto industry created the term "jaywalking" to put people at fault.
The Land of the Free™, where you can be arrested for crossing the street. 😂
Attempting to change this by fiat would backfire. States would pass laws to codify the old status quo not long after the first driver got into unexpected legal trouble. I think traffic and street engineering could create more durable solutions.
