Crosswalks

[dasgeh]

OK, to be 100% clear: I’m talking about the legal responsibility. I do think it matters what the law says not because it trumps the laws of physics, but because it influences behavior.

Back to DC law (not VA). The quote Baiskeli provided was

18-2303.2

No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb, safety platform, safety zone, loading platform, or other designated place of safety and walk or turn into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.

So, as a pedestrian, to violate this law, you we need to leave a curb suddenly AND it would have to be so close that it was impossible for the driver to yield. My point: if you’re walking up to the crosswalk at GWMP, you’re not “suddenly” entering the crosswalk.

What I’m saying is that as a ped approaches a crosswalk, it’s on the cars to be ready to stop. Meaning slow down. Look at the crosswalk for peds. Don’t follow other cars so closely that (1) you can’t stop if they do or (2) you can’t see the crosswalk until you’re too close to stop. Again, I think that’s what the upshot of the law is.

[DismalScientist]

I don’t particularly want cars to slow down when I am waiting to cross, particularly when crossing a multilane road (or road with heavy traffic both ways). This behavior encourages the crossing cyclist or pedestrian to enter the crosswalk when it is unclear that drivers in other lanes or the opposite direction will see the cyclist/pedestrian. This is particularly problematic for cyclists at speed using crosswalks. Drivers are not expecting that someone out in their peripheral vision can be right in front of them so quickly.

Although likely unenforceable, the stop signs on the trail suggest that “traffic” likely to use the crosswalk should yield to traffic in the street (or parkway) as that is common interpretation of such signs. I would hope the the signage would correspond to the likely traffic pattern at trail crossings.

What drivers (and pedestrians) do in these situations is often a matter of geographic custom. In Canada, for instance, I was going to jaywalk behind a car across a lightly traveled street. I was shocked that the car stopped to let me go in front even before I had left the curb. (The only way he could have hit me is if I were to have run in front of him.) Here, on the other hand, I don’t think the culture says pedestrians should try to cross a steady line of traffic, although behavior along the W&OD suggest that might be changing. All said, I think having people following different customs in the same area seems particularly dangerous.

I think DC law promotes one custom, while VA law promote another.

[baiskeli]

@ShawnoftheDread 45125 wrote:

I find this hard to believe. Surely the Germans have a multi-compound word, probably ending in heit, that translates to Walkingacrossthestreetwhenyouarenotallowedbecauseyouareafatamericananddonotcare.

LOL.

I consulted Google translate, because how could it possibly be wrong? and it gave this:

“unvorsichtig über die Straße gehen”

which literally means “carelessly crossing the street.” Kind of a letdown.

[mstone]

@americancyclo 45119 wrote:

The laws of physics don’t mandate the drivers speed though

This. Until the local jurisdictions actually start enforcing speed limits near crosswalks any suggestion of pedestrian safety is a farce. I manage to drive cautiously near crosswalks every day, but I don’t have anywhere I’m going that’s worth someone else’s life. I guess maybe other people have other priorities.

[baiskeli]

@mstone 45142 wrote:

This. Until the local jurisdictions actually start enforcing speed limits near crosswalks any suggestion of pedestrian safety is a farce. I manage to drive cautiously near crosswalks every day, but I don’t have anywhere I’m going that’s worth someone else’s life. I guess maybe other people have other priorities.

Though I won’t risk my life, I do push a little harder against speeding traffic when trying to cross a street. If they have to slow down, that’s because they were going too fast in the first place. I’ll do like Tim and stick a wheel out, or carefully start to cross if I’m on foot. I do this at my kids’ bus stops too, because that’s where speeding really pisses me off.

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 45136 wrote:

What drivers (and pedestrians) do in these situations is often a matter of geographic custom. In Canada, for instance, I was going to jaywalk behind a car across a lightly traveled street. I was shocked that the car stopped to let me go in front even before I had left the curb. (The only way he could have hit me is if I were to have run in front of him.) Here, on the other hand, I don’t think the culture says pedestrians should try to cross a steady line of traffic, although behavior along the W&OD suggest that might be changing. All said, I think having people following different customs in the same area seems particularly dangerous.

I think DC law promotes one custom, while VA law promote another.

A agree with this, and the implicit assertion that law (+education +enforcement) influences custom. That’s why I care about what the law says.

Ok, I’m not sure the VA law is different enough to promote a different custom. But I do agree that a different custom prevails in VA than in DC.

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