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| Re: BrooklynBus does not know how to drive!!!! -- Re: Fighting the DOT S(BS) on Woodhaven Blvd (319400) | |||
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Re: BrooklynBus does not know how to drive!!!! -- Re: Fighting the DOT S(BS) on Woodhaven Blvd |
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Posted by AlM on Wed Oct 12 10:11:35 2016, in response to Re: BrooklynBus does not know how to drive!!!! -- Re: Fighting the DOT S(BS) on Woodhaven Blvd, posted by BrooklynBus on Tue Oct 11 12:22:27 2016. If I were a pedestrian at that corner, I would be afraid to set one foot into the crosswalk until I am certain no car is turning or trying to beat a red light. That could take up to a second to determine. It is especially true since one quarter of the pedestrian accidents involve turning vehicles. It pays to be safe than sorry. What if you step into the crosswalk and a car is taking the turn at 20 mph and nearly runs you over?In the last 30 years I have crossed the street in Manhattan roughly 300,000 times. I balance getting where I'm going as quickly as possible with doing it as safely as I possibly can. There is never a guarantee that you can cross the street safely without paying close attention. Too many drivers are erratic, inattentive, or just plain criminally reckless. I take actions to assert that I can cross the street, but watch very carefully for any driver who could be a threat to me. I look at the direction in which the wheels of vehicles are pointed. I look to see whether a vehicle is accelerating, decelerating, or neither. If possible I try to see the driver's face to see where he is looking (many drivers turn while not looking at the space directly in front of where their car is heading). I look in the direction from which traffic is not allowed to come (usually, especially since I got hit by a bicyclist going the wrong way on a one-way street at night while I had a walk light). Maybe 1-2% of the time when I try to cross a street a driver does something really reckless, and I have to surrender my right of way in order to stay safe. But I wouldn't avoid those situations even if I waited a second before starting to cross. Often the driver's reckless action begins once I am already crossing. So the answer is that there is no easy answer. Pay attention and soon you will realize the kinds of driver actions that threaten harm. And yes, it does diminish the joy of walking - it's just not safe to be a carefree pedestrian. But I can say that in all 300,000 crossings, I've never had a really close call. (Knock wood.) |
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