The constitutional right of pedestrians to jaywalk anywhere, anytime?

[PotomacCyclist]

What is it with some people, who seem to think that they have an absolute right to cross a road at any point and at any time? I’m not talking about crossing in a crosswalk or where oncoming traffic has a stop sign or a red light. I’m talking about a road where there are no crosswalks or lights, in the middle of a block, and a pedestrian walks across and simply expects all oncoming traffic to come to a screeching halt.

Two personal examples today and another I read about. Someone darted out on Route 50 at night and got struck by a car. (http://www.arlnow.com/2012/06/09/pedestrian-struck-on-route-50/ ) It seems that the pedestrian was solely at fault. As much as I like to complain about car drivers, I also see quite a lot of dangerous and foolish behavior from pedestrians too. (And yes, some cyclists as well.)

I went to a 5K race this morning. I took a taxi over to the race start. As we were headed up a road, a woman walked into the road without even looking to see if there were any oncoming cars. The nearest crosswalk was probably 50 feet away. Same distance for the nearest light. She just jaywalked and expected all cars to stop on a dime, no matter how close they were to her. She clearly heard the taxi when it stopped but she didn’t seem to be startled at all. She merely glanced over and continued walking as though she had done nothing wrong.

When I was in the middle of the race, a non-participant was waiting at a sidewalk to cross the road, which was part of the course. There were many runners passing by. She saw a small gap but she also saw that there were several more of us closing in on her. She looked directly at us but decided to move into the road anyway. She didn’t even make an effort to move across quickly. She stepped into the road and then immediately slowed down, almost as if she wanted to block us. I nearly crashed into her, missing her by a couple inches. She still didn’t move faster! She clearly expected all of us to put on the brakes suddenly to avoid her. She saw us coming from at least 30 feet away and she knew we were moving relatively quickly. But in her mind, she had an absolute right to jaywalk when and where she felt like it. Runners can get injured if they try to brake suddenly, or if they crash into someone stepping into their path. Accidents happen but this was a case where the woman knew we were coming and knew it was a race.

She didn’t even bother to call out “sorry” or take a couple steps to move a little more quickly.

I’ve seen many other pedestrians do this, stepping right in front of oncoming cars or bikes when they have no right to cross at that point of the road. They just don’t care. They won’t even walk a little faster to get out of the way. They slow down, barely moving across the road, expecting the car drivers and cyclists to slam on the brakes. These are not elderly pedestrians either. They are middle-aged people who have the capability to take a few quick steps. They see the traffic or they don’t care if there is any traffic.

Not all pedestrians do this but a surprising number do. I can’t say for certain, but it usually appears that these are local residents, not tourists. (Most of us know the typical tourist garb so I don’t think I’m generalizing too much here.)

No point here except that drivers and cyclists aren’t the only ones who could use some remedial lessons in road safety. What makes this behavior even more bizarre is the fact that earphones haven’t been involved in most of the cases I’ve seen. (Earphone-wearing pedestrians who crash into everyone on sidewalks is a separate gripe of mine. Walk down any busy sidewalk in the DC/Arlington area and within half a block, you will be approached by one of these earphone zombies. Guaranteed.)

Topic

[jabberwocky]

I have no sympathy for people who enter onto busy streets without even looking, be they pedestrians, cyclists, cars or yodeling nudist norwegian rollerbladers. I’m far from totally law abiding on the bike (and in the car and on foot), but I make damn sure to, you know, actually look for traffic before stepping onto a busy road.

[DaveK]

@dasgeh 21798 wrote:

+1 to Mark’s comment about this sounding a bit like drivers v. cyclists. There are pedestrians who break the rules. But pedestrians are the most vulnerable on the road, so they have every incentive to, if not follow the rules, act in a way that doesn’t pose a threat to others.

+2 for both of you. We’ve all been on the other side of this.

Just… chill.

[5555624]

@rcannon100 21751 wrote:

Where the accident took place, I dont have sufficient facts, but the pedestrian could have gone under Route 50 on Washington. Washington is on the slate for major improvements, including a bike path.

The pedestrian should have walked a bit further and gone under Route 50. Getting safely across Route 50 is not a huge problem. Not only is there the pedestrian/bike bridge at TJ, but there is also the pedestrian tunnel under it at the Red Cross. There area number of traffic lights with “Walk” signals — if you press the button. (Some will give a “Walk” signal without pressing the button. Bridges over Washington Boulevard and Carlin Springs Road have sidewalks, as do the bridges over Route 50.

I actually think it’s easier for pedestrians, than bikes, since the bridge at TJ can be a pain and I dislike sidewalks. I’ve crossed Route 50 more times than I can count. As a pedestrian, I hardly give it a second thought, I just think about which “crossing” is closest (Park, Henderson, George Mason, the tunnel, Glebe, the pedestrian bridge etc.), while on my bike I think about which one is the “easiest.” (For example, the traffic light at Irving is easier than the pedestrian bridge.)

[PotomacCyclist]

@Mark Blacknell 21777 wrote:

Funny, this thread is lending a lot of credence to the cyclists: pedestrians as drivers:cyclists claim.

I’m not complaining about pedestrians in general. I do a lot of walking and running too, and will encounter hazardous situations with cyclists and drivers as a pedestrian. (About 40 percent of my active hours on the roads and trails are spent running or walking, the rest on cycling.) What I’m talking about are situations where a pedestrian disregards common sense and the safety of himself/herself and that of others.

Besides the examples I gave, I’ve almost been knocked over from my bike a few times because a pedestrian was trying to jaywalk in between fast-moving cars. They try to time their jaywalk as soon as I pass by on my bike. I’m riding at a reasonable speed for the road. They can see me coming because they are looking right at me, or in my direction. It doesn’t take much force at all from a pedestrian to knock me over if they contact me from the side. Even a child can knock over an adult cyclist by pushing them from the side. There is also relatively little risk to them in doing so. So in some cases, there is greater risk to the cyclist than to the pedestrian in a contact situation. This is different from the car/bike scenario where a slow-moving cyclist is not going to be able to knock over a car.

[PotomacCyclist]

@rcannon100 21751 wrote:

* Infrastructure (we can change it)
* Culture (it is changeable)
* Enforcement (it can be improved)

+1

[MCL1981]

@jabberwocky 21774 wrote:

I’ve found that screaming “NO BRAKES! NO BRAKES!” as I come up on jaywalking pedestrians gets them to move out of the way quickly (or at least do something amusing). Dirt taught me that one.

Why does this not surprise me. Though I thought it was usually “OH MY GOD WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!”

Though this gives me an idea. Perhaps next time, I will just start wildly screaming like mad. Bonus points for confusing the absolute crap out of them.

[Tim Kelley]

While on this topic….

http://www.arlnow.com/2012/06/11/woman-seriously-injured-after-being-hit-by-cyclist/

[txgoonie]

Aw, man. That’s awful to hear

I’m a pedestrian, too. I want everybody to stay safe and for the cyclist/pedestrian machine to run smoothly. And I do agree that education and culture change should always be improved. However, one thing that has always been and will continue to be true is that human beings make bad decisions. Some people may intellectually know the rules and may kinda understand the consequences of their actions but still won’t think when they cross the street. Some may make an active decision to do something but their logic is flawed. On the other hand, some people know they’re making you slow down. And you know what? They don’t care. There really are idiots and *ssholes out there. I’ve seen them. We can’t rid the world of them, but can accept their existence and be prepared for a run-in with one.

[brendan]

I second the squeaky disc brakes -> pedestrian warning signals.

And to play a bit of devil’s advocate on the thread opener, some light reading:

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/04/invention-jaywalking/1837/

and

http://westnorth.com/2009/02/01/a-history-of-jaywalking/

One can argue either case as to whether cyclists or pedestrians are the most vulnerable. But as cyclists, we’re bringing our speed into the picture…which means we’re bringing the higher level of danger upon ourselves and pedestrians…and we control that speed. So, I think more responsibility rests upon us.

Brendan

[5555624]

@brendan 21956 wrote:

One can argue either case as to whether cyclists or pedestrians are the most vulnerable. But as cyclists, we’re bringing our speed into the picture…which means we’re bringing the higher level of danger upon ourselves and pedestrians…and we control that speed. So, I think more responsibility rests upon us.

It’s also not simply going to fast for the road/trail conditions (weather, people, etc.); but also going to fast for one’s skill level.

As a pedestrian, I’ve been nailed by a bike on a MUT, many, many years ago. Hit from behind with no warning, from someone who was going faster than they could control their bike. (Luckily, for me, it was not too fast.)

Many of the close encounters I see between cyclists and pedestrians involve a cyclist going “to fast” for their ability to control their bike. I see this often on the Custis Trail — riders going faster than they can make some of those turns and stay in their “lane.” (Someone else recently mentioned this.) Going to faster in areas where a pedestrian or bike can suddenly “appear.”

[mstone]

@5555624 21971 wrote:

I see this often on the Custis Trail — riders going faster than they can make some of those turns and stay in their “lane.”

That’s even more exciting now that they’ve repaved without restriping.

[consularrider]

@mstone 21997 wrote:

That’s even more exciting now that they’ve repaved without restriping.

I wonder if the restriping is coming one the whole trail is repaved? I hope not, since there is still a significant portion to go.

[paytonc]

Hey, thanks for the link! (The second link is to my blog.)

There’s a bit of a “I’m here, screw you” bravado in the way some people approach streets here, speaking as a recent arrival who’s biked in city traffic on four continents. I was once nearly knocked over while paying my fare on a bus because the driver had to suddenly brake for a jaywalker who just up and stepped out in front of the bus. At least pedestrians are typically easy to dodge; the same can’t be said for perps in cars — I don’t recall ever (nearly) running into this many people who suddenly stop their car in a travel lane for no apparent reason, perhaps to pick up someone or perhaps to chat with someone on the sidewalk or a porch. There are so many times that I wish I had an air horn, but instead it’s just me and my bell.

[Author]

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