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[Arx]

Urgh. I know that feeling too well. There's an intersection I have to navigate through every day, but the pedestrian crossing buttons are a rare outlier in that they not so much don't really work, as really don't work (the buttons here aren't placebo buttons; they actually normally stop traffic and beep rapidly to indicate you should be crossing). This button doesn't take left turners into account, and the cycle is only long enough to cross to the centre island, where there is no button. It's bad enough that one of my friends complained that the intersection actively tries to kill you.

Yeah, I learned about it the hard way first. Massive adrenaline kick when a car slams to a halt a metre away from turning you into a statistic.

[pisskop]

I just finished watching a video lecture series, and when they got to the end and starting saying 'farewell' to the audience I started to tear up.  He was talking about excellence and power and all I could think of how that is the exact opposite of what I have, do, and currently represent . . . I was 17 and on my way the one of the most likely Ivy League candidates in the country (if there going to be a new one, my school would have a decent shot at it).  what happened? . . .

[Orange Wizard]

I have no idea why it's expected that cars slow down to let pedestrians pass. Shouldn't pedestrians give way to cars?

[smjjames]

I have no idea why it's expected that cars slow down to let pedestrians pass. Shouldn't pedestrians give way to cars?

Then how will pedestrians get through the intersection?

[i2amroy]

I have no idea why it's expected that cars slow down to let pedestrians pass. Shouldn't pedestrians give way to cars?

If we define our total waiting time as the amount the pedestrian waits plus the amount of time the cars wait then you will notice that the total waiting time is minimum when the majority group in any given pathway gives way for the minority to cross. This is because the chance of there being a long string of the minority leading to longer waiting times before an opening to cross is less than the chance of their being a long string of the majority preventing crossing.

Since roads have many more cars traveling down them than pedestrians crossing them, the cars therefore give right of way to the pedestrians to minimize overall waiting times. In cases like pedestrian walkways that also host bikes or occasionally cars (like you see on colleges fairly often), pedestrians serve as the majority and tend to let the cars and bikes go by before going. It's all a time efficiency thing.

[Descan]

Plus, a car is ever so slightly more dangerous to a pedestrian than vice versa.

A dent in your hood versus a dent in your skull, yeah?

[Orange Wizard]

Yeah, yeah. Fine.

But the fact of the matter remains: Pedestrians are awful.

[pisskop]

If you're paying  two thousand dollars a month for your car you're going to stop for that inattentive pedestrian.

[Aseaheru]

Cars are horrible. Pedestrians have the right-of-way in nearly every place in the world, so even if yer on the highway, that means you STOP YOUR FUCKING MOTORIZED VEHICLE FOR THEM.

[Orange Wizard]

I'm not saying cars shouldn't stop (well, I was, but not any more) but rather that pedestrians shouldn't run out in front of cars and just expect them to stop. It's downright rude.

...

If you're paying  two thousand dollars a month for your car you're going to stop for that inattentive pedestrian.

Who the balls pays two thousand a month for a car!?

[Eric Blank]

An idiot. A very rich idiot.

But no, it is equally idiotic to step out into traffic when drivers aren't expecting it. Sure, legally it's the drivers fault if they hit you, but you damn well know not to put yourself at risk in the event they cant stop in time or simply didn't see you. Wait until they stop moving before you run out there.

[Darvi]

In my experience, pedestrians are far, far worse because cars usually won't block the entire sidewalk by walking side-by-side.

[i2amroy]

But no, it is equally idiotic to step out into traffic when drivers aren't expecting it. Sure, legally it's the drivers fault if they hit you, but you damn well know not to put yourself at risk in the event they cant stop in time or simply didn't see you. Wait until they stop moving before you run out there.

Actually if the pedestrian acts in way that makes it impossible for someone driving in a normal, cautious manner to avoid a collision (regardless of how the driver was actually driving), it's completely possible that it could be deemed legally the pedestrian's fault. If you run out into the street from concealment a few feet in front of a car it'll be your fault that the accident happened, regardless of if they were speeding or not and if there was a crosswalk or not. (Though they might get a separate ticket for speeding).

[Reelya]

It's not always the driver's fault. If you suddenly jump out into busy traffic and the driver swerves or suddenly brakes he could kill other drivers or potentially hit other, saner pedestrians. We can't expect the driver to mount the footpath to prevent every lunatic being hit by a car. The driver has a legal responsibility to drive in a responsible manner. That could include running you over if there's no safe way to avoid it.

[timferius]

Cyclists have the potential to be teh worst. If you want to pretend to be a pedestrian on the sidewalks? Fine. Want to be like a car (the legal way?) That's fine too. But there's the category who choose the rules that suit them best that drive me mad. (Come up to a red light as a car, turn in to a pedestrian and fly down the crosswalk for example).