Common sense pedestrian safety
I'd like to vent for a bit.
I'm from a decently sized, upper-middle class suburb of Columbus, Ohio, called Dublin. In Dublin, we have sidewalks along basically every street, but since we're not a city, we don't need to cross the street as pedestrians very often. Most of our commuting is done in cars. Having now moved to Berkeley, California, I had to make a quick adjustment to crossing streets every day. Now, crossing streets wasn't new to me; I also had to do it every day as I was at The Ohio State University in Columbus my senior year of high school for a dual enrollment program. I am – if I do say so myself – more or less familiar with how crossing the street as a pedestrian works. And quite frankly, it is a matter of common sense. I was surprised to find that on some occasions while living in Berkeley, this has not been the case. In this post, I'd like to step on a soapbox for a bit and give a totally arrogant lecture on how to stay safe as a pedestrian.
In the United States, if there is a crosswalk that is clearly indicated on the street (e.g. with a sign or with paint on the street), and there is no signal, the pedestrians have the right of way. This means that if you see a car approaching from a reasonably far distance, you can begin crossing the crosswalk safely and expect that the car will yield to you (i.e. stop for you). This does not mean, however, that you should toss common sense out the window. If you see a car that is clearly speeding (i.e. driving even slightly faster than what you would expect for cars on that particular street), even if you know you have the right of way, you should still hesitate to see if the car will, at the very least, appear to slow down to a speed that you are comfortable allows the car to stop in time before the crosswalk. It may be tempting for some people to cross the street anyway – as an intelligent roommate of mine once explained to me, you have the right of way, and if they hit you, you can sue them and use the damages to cover your tuition! Clever thinking, but seriously, is it worth potentially dying for or sustaining an injury that might affect the rest of your life?
This next one really ticks me off. If you are at a signaled light, i.e. one that has a traffic light that includes a signal specifically for pedestrians, your "pedestrian right of way" is determined by the signal. If the light for cars is green and there is a big red "don't walk" signal for pedestrians, that does not mean you may start walking and expect that cars will stop for you. It pains me that I have to explain this. As a matter of fact, cars will expect that you will stop for them. It may be tempting to cross the street anyway – perhaps to your friends, you might look cool or clever if you cross the street, appealing to some fictional pedestrian right-of-way that applies universally, regardless of the signal. And as an intelligent girl once explained to me, even if you don't have right-of-way, the cars will just stop for you anyway! Seriously though, in this case you would be guilty of a misdemeanor in most jurisdictions, and drivers can therefore sue you if you damage their property. What's more, the driver might not notice you in time, especially if it is night out (as it was on the particular night I ran into that girl). And you can certainly expect a nice, loud HONK! As a driver, these are the easiest honks I've ever made at other people. And again, is it really worth potentially dying for or sustaining an injury that might affect the rest of your life?
There are a few noteworthy, common-sense exceptions to not crossing when the walk signal says not to walk. In the United States, it is more-or-less socially acceptable, particularly in urban areas unless your police officers are jerks, to cross a street when the signal says "don't walk" if there are blatantly no cars approaching. I mean zero cars whatsoever. (As I understand it, this is different in Europe; there, you should always wait until the signal allows you to walk before starting your cross.) If there is even one car approaching from a reasonable distance, stop! The second case is when you are at an intersection between two streets, and while waiting to cross one street, you notice the walk signal for the other street (i.e. the street that is parallel to your direction of travel) about to turn to "don't walk" and you've confirmed that all approaching cars have started to slow down for the intersection. In this case, a good number of people, me included, do cautiously begin to cross, since the signal will imminently allow you to do so anyway. Use common sense.
I'm from a decently sized, upper-middle class suburb of Columbus, Ohio, called Dublin. In Dublin, we have sidewalks along basically every street, but since we're not a city, we don't need to cross the street as pedestrians very often. Most of our commuting is done in cars. Having now moved to Berkeley, California, I had to make a quick adjustment to crossing streets every day. Now, crossing streets wasn't new to me; I also had to do it every day as I was at The Ohio State University in Columbus my senior year of high school for a dual enrollment program. I am – if I do say so myself – more or less familiar with how crossing the street as a pedestrian works. And quite frankly, it is a matter of common sense. I was surprised to find that on some occasions while living in Berkeley, this has not been the case. In this post, I'd like to step on a soapbox for a bit and give a totally arrogant lecture on how to stay safe as a pedestrian.
In the United States, if there is a crosswalk that is clearly indicated on the street (e.g. with a sign or with paint on the street), and there is no signal, the pedestrians have the right of way. This means that if you see a car approaching from a reasonably far distance, you can begin crossing the crosswalk safely and expect that the car will yield to you (i.e. stop for you). This does not mean, however, that you should toss common sense out the window. If you see a car that is clearly speeding (i.e. driving even slightly faster than what you would expect for cars on that particular street), even if you know you have the right of way, you should still hesitate to see if the car will, at the very least, appear to slow down to a speed that you are comfortable allows the car to stop in time before the crosswalk. It may be tempting for some people to cross the street anyway – as an intelligent roommate of mine once explained to me, you have the right of way, and if they hit you, you can sue them and use the damages to cover your tuition! Clever thinking, but seriously, is it worth potentially dying for or sustaining an injury that might affect the rest of your life?
This next one really ticks me off. If you are at a signaled light, i.e. one that has a traffic light that includes a signal specifically for pedestrians, your "pedestrian right of way" is determined by the signal. If the light for cars is green and there is a big red "don't walk" signal for pedestrians, that does not mean you may start walking and expect that cars will stop for you. It pains me that I have to explain this. As a matter of fact, cars will expect that you will stop for them. It may be tempting to cross the street anyway – perhaps to your friends, you might look cool or clever if you cross the street, appealing to some fictional pedestrian right-of-way that applies universally, regardless of the signal. And as an intelligent girl once explained to me, even if you don't have right-of-way, the cars will just stop for you anyway! Seriously though, in this case you would be guilty of a misdemeanor in most jurisdictions, and drivers can therefore sue you if you damage their property. What's more, the driver might not notice you in time, especially if it is night out (as it was on the particular night I ran into that girl). And you can certainly expect a nice, loud HONK! As a driver, these are the easiest honks I've ever made at other people. And again, is it really worth potentially dying for or sustaining an injury that might affect the rest of your life?
There are a few noteworthy, common-sense exceptions to not crossing when the walk signal says not to walk. In the United States, it is more-or-less socially acceptable, particularly in urban areas unless your police officers are jerks, to cross a street when the signal says "don't walk" if there are blatantly no cars approaching. I mean zero cars whatsoever. (As I understand it, this is different in Europe; there, you should always wait until the signal allows you to walk before starting your cross.) If there is even one car approaching from a reasonable distance, stop! The second case is when you are at an intersection between two streets, and while waiting to cross one street, you notice the walk signal for the other street (i.e. the street that is parallel to your direction of travel) about to turn to "don't walk" and you've confirmed that all approaching cars have started to slow down for the intersection. In this case, a good number of people, me included, do cautiously begin to cross, since the signal will imminently allow you to do so anyway. Use common sense.