Attention Massholes

[gilana]

There is a state law *requiring* you to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, if there is no traffic light otherwise indicating your right of way. If I fail to thank you for stopping, that is no more discourteous on my part than your failure to thank every car that stops at a red light so you can proceed.

In closing, suck it.

Yours,
Gilly

Comments

[valadil.livejournal.com]

I've always been tempted to take photos of license plates as I get passed by at a crosswalk and sending them to some authority. Too bad I'm lazy.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

SRSLY

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Yikes!

Incidentally, I also saw a pedestrian chew out a car this morning for almost hitting him in the crosswalk, but that was indeed at a light where the car had the green. -- Okay, yellow, but all the more reason for the guy to have waited three more seconds on the curb, I thought. Still -- that was already too many close calls in one day for my taste. I'm sorry you had one. :-/

When I was working in Concord last year, I was always amazed and impressed at how all the cars Really Truly stopped and waited (cheerfully) to let me cross the street. It was like, I know this is the way it's supposed to be, but this is the first time I've seen it done!

[gilana]

Oh, it wasn't a close call -- it was just that someone stopped at the crosswalk so I could cross, and then yelled sarcastically after me "Thank you!" As it happens, I often do give a little thank-you wave, but really, it pissed me off that drivers think they're doing me some huge favor by obeying the law!

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

The proper response is "You're welcome."

[rainbow-spork.livejournal.com]

I think one of my biggest driving pet peeves, more so than people who don't stop at crosswalks (because hey, I get it, you don't always see people in time to stop), is people who *do* stop at crosswalks with traffic lights when there's a green light, or anytime when the pedestrian has a Don't Walk sign. It's freakin' DANGEROUS for all involved. There's a reason the pedestrians have also have signals in those situations. (And obviously my pet peeve extends to pedestrians who fail to grasp that they don't have the right of way in these situations.)

But even more so, the one I REALLY don't get, is when I'm planning to jaywalk my way across the 4 lanes of traffic on Mass Ave (there's no crosswalk at my street) and thus am standing on the side of the road waiting for a break in the first 2 lanes so that I can get to the median. And then someone in the right lane sees me, and stops to let me cross. On a single-lane street I would think this was weird but be grateful and cross. But on Mass Ave, this is ridiculous. Just because *you've* stopped for me to jaywalk doesn't mean the next lane over is going to stop, and I'd rather not get killed, thanks. So I don't cross, and then invariably, they sit there and get annoyed at me for not taking them up on their gracious offer. The hell? I'm not in a crosswalk! You were the one who decided to stop and be unhelpful!

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

I get that all the time when I'm waiting to turn left on my bike, esp at a crosswalk that has no light. Dude; I know how to turn left. I know how to wait until there's a break. If it's rush hour, there's no need to piss off all the people behind you by stopping and motioning for me to barrel headlong into the rush of traffic to your left.

[cos]

I think there's a balance. If there's a stream of cars and a pedestrian steps up to the crosswalk, the first car that sees them should stop. But if there are just one or two cars when the pedestrian steps up? They should go, and the pedestrian should wait for them to pass. What's the point of making one or two cars stop, then accelerate again, just so the pedestrian can cross the sidewalk a few seconds earlier than they otherwise would? It's a big waste of gasoline, to no good end. However, people who are *only* pedestrians and never drive, often feel entitled (which, technically, they are) and step out partly into the road, making the cars stop or at least feel guilty if they don't stop, even if there's nobody behind them and they're not delaying the pedestrian. Perfectly legal, but IMO rude and thoughtless on the part of the pedestrian unless they're trying to catch the bus just about to pull up across the street and every second matters.

(Note: None of this addresses the ridiculousness gilana is describing in her post)

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Someone should tell this to the bicyclists who've almost run me down in crosswalks as well.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

That's a peeve of mine. Cyclists are vehicles, in MA. They have all the same rights, but with those come all the same responsibilities as well.

[tapuz.livejournal.com]

AMEN!

I keep a daily tally of cyclists running lights.

[vanguardcdk.livejournal.com]

The worst I saw was on Mass Ave. over by The Greek Corner. A little old lady was trying to cross on the crosswalk and the far lane cars just would not stop...

A cop noticed this and went out to help (waving and telling the cars to stop) and the next car just went zooming by anyway.

Dude..not stopping for a cop and a little old lady? Not cool.

Karma

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Over at the busy one in D^2 at Elm and Chester, a car zoomed through past some pedestrians... and right in front of a bike cop who just held up his hand, stopped the car, and issued a citation right then and there.

But yeah, the pedestrian/vehicle contention for those spaces really irks me. We have good conventions for dealing, but the few folks who fail seriously ruin it for the rest of us.

Corrolarry

[rainbow-spork.livejournal.com]

Dear Asshole In The Giant Rental Truck Who Almost Rear-Ended The Nice Person In The Tiny Car Who Stopped For Me At A Crosswalk This Morning,

Laying on your horn and cursing out Nice Person is not an acceptable course of action in this situation. They were doing exactly what they were supposed to do. You are WRONG, and had the aforementioned accident taken place, it would've been ALL YOUR FAULT. If you were moving too quickly to stop your truck in time, then you were moving to quickly and following too closely.

So kindly FUCK OFF.

Thanks,
Jen

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i wish i had some kind of cartoon-type side-punching feature on my car, so when i stop for a crosswalk and the person in the lane next to me blithely continues on, my car could punch them.

i occasionally stop at the cvs in newton centre on my way home from work. it's a busy street with two lanes of traffic in one direction and one in the other, and there's a crosswalk. when someone in the center lane fails to stop for me when the person in the right lane does and i'm almost halfway across the street and they're practically taking my kneecaps off... yeah, i hit their car if i can. it's really good if i have a gallon container of milk in a bag -- those swing well.

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

I bet a gallon container of milk makes a really nice dull thud also. ;-)

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

On a related note: if the car in front of you stops, like, y'know, at a crosswalk or something, don't blare the horn while maintaining speed to swerve around them without trying to figure out why they stopped.

I nearly got hit that way recently. The car that was swerving around the car that had (correctly) stopped for me, slammed on the brakes just in time. Beyond belief.

[currentlee.livejournal.com]

i was the front car in that situation yesterday.
except the other driver didn't honk, just tried to squeeze around and nearly hit the pedestrian, then had the gall to cut in front of me.
i'm not a honker, but i'd had a bad day, so i laid on the horn for half a block.
stupid mini thinks he can thread the needle and still gets stopped at a red light a block later.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

*eyeroll* I can't even count the number of times I've seen somebody pull some stupid manouver (weaving, cutting people off, etc) only to end up stopped right in front of the person they cut off at the next red light... and the next one...

[42itous.livejournal.com]

That totally almost happened to me today!

[thatwesguy.livejournal.com]

"In closing, suck it." ... Brilliant!

FWIW, one of the things I like about San Francisco is that its drivers are generally WAY more civilized.

On a related side note, SF pedestrians also wait for the orange man to turn into a white walking man before crossing the street, even when there's no traffic coming.

Finally, a quick story: I once got on the Mass Pike, got over to the right lane, and drove the speed limit. You would be horrified at the reactions that bold move got me.

[gilana]

I spent a while in SF one summer. I really enjoyed the fact that cars stopped for pedestrians, but was terrified that I would get to used to it and be killed as soon as I got back to Boston.

[http://users.livejournal.com/urban_faerie_/]

I really hate getting beeped at for stopping for pedestrians, would the person behind me prefer I run somebody over so they can get where they are going a full two seconds faster? I've even gotten honked at for stopping for moms with baby carriages. No thanks, I'm not committing double homicide because the douche-bag in the car behind me is impatient.

I was pulled over once for not stopping when there were people crossing on the other side of the road and there was no possible way they would have crossed the yellow line before I got to them as they were moving way too slow. The cop told me that even though there was no way I would have ever intercepted them that the law states that technically I should have stopped. Luckily I got let off with a warning. I want to know where that same cop is every time I nearly get mowed down crossing the street. I like to smile and wave politely when people don't stop for me. A lot of the time they wave back and look confused, it proves they DO see people, they just don't care enough to stop.

That being said, Boston is the only city I have ever been too where pedestrians totally ignore the DO NOT WALK sign and will cross in droves during a green light. I have almost gotten killed in places outside Boston (NYC and London in particular) for assuming that people will stop for me even though I do not have a walk arrow.

Moral of the story, EVERYBODY needs to be more careful.