| User | Comment |
|---|
| blondie20 | | posted 21-Feb-2007 5:32pm |
When it's clear of pedestrians. |
| southernyankee | | posted 21-Feb-2007 5:51pm |
A combination of when its clear of pedestrians, what color is the light, and the probability that the cops may be watching. But mostly the pedestrian thing. If you run over a pedestrian, you get sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars if its your fault, or if its not your fault you still get sued for about half the victims medical bills. If you zoom through the crosswalk on red, at worse you get a ticket for $500. There aren't that many crosswalks where I drive so its not a super huge issue. |
| Amanda | | posted 21-Feb-2007 7:16pm |
When the light changes. If there are people still in the crosswalk, then I go slowly, to give them time to get across. |
| RGirl | | posted 21-Feb-2007 9:27pm |
When the person is out of the way enough that I won't run them over after the light has changed. |
| JessicaWoman99 | | posted 21-Feb-2007 10:35pm |
When I dam well feel like it I only come upon the crosswalk if
it is clear of pedestrians otherwise I have to yield to all pedestrians it is dee law |
LindaH    | | posted 21-Feb-2007 10:44pm |
When it is clear of pedestrians, or when the pedestrian is out of the way. |
| cabinfever | | posted 21-Feb-2007 11:31pm |
Pretty much whenever I feel like it... I do stop and give right-of-way to old people and women with little kids. What I can't stand are those idiots who just walk on out there whether the light is in their favor or not... their whole attitude is that the pedestrian has the right-of-way... well, guess what?? That pest-rian can stop a lot faster than my 4500-pound car! |
| llamamama | | posted 22-Feb-2007 12:12am |
When there are no pedestrians...Pedestrians have the right of way... |
| RGirl | | posted 22-Feb-2007 1:34am |
Funny story about pedestrians. When I moved to Missouri I had never seen a sign that said 'Watch for pedestrians' and I had no idea what they were. I thought they were a little animal or something! And I asked, aloud, a friend in her car with her whole family 'What's a ped-u-stree-in' Yeah, they laughed at me. I was 13. Felt like an ass. |
cloudhugger   | | posted 22-Feb-2007 2:30am |
Uh, this is so rare...at home in my small town, and I want to turn right I wait for the pedestrian to mostly get to the other side. In the city of Chicago, I go at the light. At a Walmart, I come to a complete stop and than edge my way into the cross walk because those butt-holes never look to see if a car is coming, or waiting to cross, the stream of ignorant people does not ever stop to let a car through. They really irk me, I actually hate them. |
| RGirl |
Too bad you can't get away with just running those suckers over. |
| cloudhugger | | (reply to RGirl) posted 22-Feb-2007 3:19am |
Indeed.
Just to see what makes people do this, I came out of a store and did not look. I just plowed out of the door into the street without looking. I wanted to know 'the feeling of power' or 'devil may care' attitude. I didn't get it, I don't know how people can walk around a parking lot and not look. They just suck. |
bill  | | posted 22-Feb-2007 7:18am |
I always give pedestrians right of way and plenty of room, even if they aren't in the crosswalk. But, where I live, I also don't encounter many pedestrians. A more common issue where I live is when you're traveling on a double-line road and a cyclist is ahead of you. How do you pass the cyclist? Do you cross the double line, to give the cyclist plenty of room as you pass? Some people do this, even if there's a car coming the other way (in other words, they drive into the on-coming traffic lane). So, it can be a dangerous situation. My wife and I are very careful and will only pass a cyclist when it's safe to do so. So, we will sometimes slow down and tail the cyclist for a mile or more (our roads are twisty and hilly, so it's often hard to tell if another car is coming). But, this can cause the cyclist to get a little nervous. Also, cars behind us may get pissy about it too. |
| jettles | | posted 22-Feb-2007 8:35am |
when it clears of pedestrians |
| Morrigan | | posted 22-Feb-2007 11:32am |
I live about 30 miles from Washington, DC and pedestrians there are like kamakaze walkers. Whenever you go into the city you have to be a paranoid driver, eyes darting all over the place. And I've been told they legally have the right of way. Virginia bad too. In the parts that are closest to DC it is illegal to even stop in a pedestrian crosswalk, say for instance the light suddenly changes in heavy traffic and you are stuck there. I have seen people actually get tickets. |
| Enheduanna | | posted 22-Feb-2007 11:45am |
I enter when the pedestrians are out of my way, although they may still be in the crosswalk. I know I'm supposed to wait until they're completely out of the crosswalk, but seriously, in a city, you'd never be able to make a turn if you did that. |
| JessicaWoman99 | | posted 22-Feb-2007 1:41pm |
Get out of my WAY" I will run you down |
| guido | | posted 23-Feb-2007 1:55am |
when it's clear of pedestrians |
| Enigma | | posted 23-Feb-2007 8:53am |
NEVER until pedestrians have cleared. Twice when I had my daughter in the stroller I almost got run over by cars turning left not looking for people but only other cars. |
| ROCKMAN | | posted 24-Feb-2007 9:44am |
When it is clear of pedestrians of course. |
| mve17 | | posted 25-Feb-2007 8:26am |
I drive straight into them with my magic motormobile |
| Zang | | (reply to Morrigan) posted 21-Mar-2007 3:09am |
> In the parts that
> are closest to DC it is illegal to even stop in
> a pedestrian crosswalk, say for instance the light
> suddenly changes in heavy traffic and you are
> stuck there. I have seen people actually get
> tickets.
Actually, I think that's probably the law most places. It just isn't that heavily enforced. You aren't supposed to enter an intersection unless there is room for your car on the other side. In heavy traffic, people will just drive until they have to stop. This constantly results in gridlock, where they wind up blocking the intersection completely after the traffic light changes, forcing the other traffic to wait for an additional rotation of lights. I see it all the time around here.
|
| Morrigan | | (reply to Zang) posted 21-Mar-2007 12:16pm |
That law definitely makes sense. It's just irritating because the streets in DC are so packed that the traffic patterns change so fast that you might think you'll make it through but suddenly the light changes to red. I live in Maryland and if I see the traffic backing up I don't risk going past the stop light line. We have red light cameras at many of the stoplights and it's a $75 ticket if you get caught. |
| Zang | | (reply to Morrigan) posted 21-Mar-2007 9:07pm |
I find that it's best just to get into the habit of looking ahead to see if there is enough space on the other side of the intersection. If not, I slow down and stop before the crosswalk. Oh yeah, people will honk at you, but it's not nearly as bad as when you block the entire intersection! Then you get everyone honking at you, not to mention all the dirty looks from the pedestrians as they try to squeeze by... |
