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Do you have a death wish!?

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  • #1

    Do you have a death wish!?

    Coming home from the grocery store I'm turning right at the light. I have solid green, there is no arrow at this light. Traffic coming the opposite way also had solid green no arrow.

    This old man on a Vespa starts turning left from the opposite way, even though he sees me and I have right of way.

    I have 2 choices. Hit him or let him go ahead of me. I'm glad no one is behind me because I have to slam my breaks to keep from hitting him.
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  • #2
    Confession time. This AM I was the idiot pedestrian. Started to cross and wondered why a dude was trying to make a left turn over me. That would be because I still had the orange hand and he had a green arrow. My brain had obviously not fully booted for the day.

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    • #3
      Another person trying for a Darwin award. On Major Street from Arquebus Motor Freight's yard to the Highway, the last block or so is poorly lit, and has a center divider. It was after dark, and someone wearing dark clothing (no lights or reflectors on their bike) was riding their bike eastbound in the westbound lanes. Fortunately I saw them in time, and avoided scratching the chrome on my bumper.
      Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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      • #4
        Quoth Akasa View Post
        Coming home from the grocery store I'm turning right at the light. I have solid green, there is no arrow at this light. Traffic coming the opposite way also had solid green no arrow.

        This old man on a Vespa starts turning left from the opposite way, even though he sees me and I have right of way.

        I have 2 choices. Hit him or let him go ahead of me. I'm glad no one is behind me because I have to slam my breaks to keep from hitting him.

        Did you lean on the horn or give him the 1-finger salute? Did he even acknowledge how close to death he came?


        Somewhat related - I was crossing a street today and some older woman turned onto the street right in front of me. Had I kept walking I would have gotten clipped. She seemed lucid enough and I'm pretty sure she saw me. I was so shocked that I didn't get out any words - I wish I had.

        Here's a question:



        I'm the innocent stick figure, crossing a side street. No pedestrian lights (Walk/Do Not Walk) - the side street is also one-way.

        The vehicle in red is the one turning onto the side street, who nearly side-swiped me.


        Who's in the right? I know in NJ you are required by law to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, but there's no crosswalk for this side street. But there's no lights, so it's not a controlled intersection, either.

        Most people stop for pedestrians crossing like I was, but was I in the right?

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        • #5
          Quoth An Haddock View Post
          Who's in the right? I know in NJ you are required by law to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, but there's no crosswalk for this side street. But there's no lights, so it's not a controlled intersection, either.
          AFAIK, any corner where streets intersect is considered a legal crossing, even if there's no marked crosswalk. That's how most jaywalking laws are determined, since not every city has every single intersection marked and if jaywalking was defined as "crossing outside of a marked crosswalk," a lot of people wouldn't be able to leave their block. As long as you didn't start walking while the lady was already making her turn, you would be in the right.
          The fact that jellyfish have survived for 650 million years despite not having brains gives hope to many people.

          You would have to be incredibly dense for the world to revolve around you.

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          • #6
            Quoth An Haddock View Post

            Who's in the right? I know in NJ you are required by law to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, but there's no crosswalk for this side street. But there's no lights, so it's not a controlled intersection, either.
            As far as I know (and laws may be different in different places), if the intersection is NOT marked or controlled by a walk/don't walk sign, and the vehicle isn't already turning when the walker steps onto the street, pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way.
            You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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            • #7
              In the US -- It may or may not be universal, but I'm fairly sure it's damn close if "not" -- Pedestrians ALWAYS have right of way, PERIOD. Even if they're jaywalking...which you were not
              "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
              "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
              "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
              "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
              "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
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              Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
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              • #8
                In California, there is a "presumptive crosswalk" that is defined by the continuation of the line of the sidewalk, if any is present. If no sidewalk is present, there is some other metric. But there is always presumed to be a crosswalk unless pedestrians are explicitly prohibited.

                Then again, there's legal right of way and there's taking chances. Momentum is proportional to (mass * velocity * velocity), which means a 10-ton truck going 30 MPH has a whole lot more of it than your 150-lb self walking along at 2 MPH.
                “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

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                • #9
                  Actually, momentum is mass x velocity. Kinetic energy is (mass x velocity x velocity)/2. Either way, I've got a hell of a lot more of both than any car does, unless I'm barely moving and it's traveling at a ridiculous speed.
                  Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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                  • #10
                    *shakes fist at sky*

                    D-MN YOU, LAWS OF PHYSICS!!!

                    (Sorry, I know just enough to really foul things up... Thanks for the correction!)
                    “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                    One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                    The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

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                    • #11
                      Quoth Kittish View Post
                      As far as I know (and laws may be different in different places), if the intersection is NOT marked or controlled by a walk/don't walk sign, and the vehicle isn't already turning when the walker steps onto the street, pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way.

                      I can't really be sure if she knew I was crossing. It's possible she didn't see me approaching the street from the sidewalk (or perhaps assumed I would turn and continue walking down the sidewalk instead of crossing the street)

                      She was an older woman - 60's, maybe. Perhaps slightly older. Might not have been all there. Who knows. I just wish I'd said something. "Thanks for stopping for a pedestrian!"

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                      • #12
                        Sometimes (as a driver) I'll be waiting to be able to make a left hand turn and just when I see a break in traffic, a pedestrian crosses. Do they have the right of way? Yes. Do I cut them off or otherwise get too close to them? No, of course not. I do sigh.

                        When I'm a pedestrian I make ultra sure to watch for cars waiting to turn before I cross. If there's one waiting, I'll glance around to see if they have a break in traffic, and if they do I will stop far enough back to indicate that I'm not crossing. As I've mentioned before, I grew up in a tourist town, with lots of pedestrians. Sometimes the steady stream of people walking would bring traffic to a standstill, since there weren't any traffic lights, just stop signs.

                        I don't mean to be cranky at pedestrians, I'm often one. Or to defend the lady in the car in the OP. No matter what we all have to follow the rules of the road. Just a random comment.
                        Replace anger management with stupidity management.

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                        • #13
                          A couple months ago there was an incident here where a woman on a scooter was hit and killed by a duck boat downtown (her passenger was unharmed). The 'intersection' in question is congested and convoluted, the duck boats travel at a reasonable speed and there's no way to not see/hear one coming.

                          If it was the boat driver's fault a further investigation would have made the news. Past the initial report and revelation that the driver had a moving violation from 12 years ago (not with a duck boat), we heard nothing more. Given that and the fact her passenger jumped clear, I suspect the scooter driver was trying something stupid.
                          "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                          "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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