Pedestrians playing Frogger: do they do this in your town?

This may belong elsewhere but I'm curious about pedestrian behavior in your town.

Here in Vegas J-Walking is rampant; typically people will get off the bus and rather than walk 100-200ft back to the crosswalk they'll simply set right out into traffic. 

I got a really crazy one this morning; lady messing with her phone and crossing the road. She finally notices me and stops in the middle lane I put my hand up as to say WTF and she flipped me the bird. This seems appropriate as I was being judgmental after all, I assumed she was dumb or had a death wish. 

I've been here 44 years and as the town's grown pedestrians have become increasingly more crazy. I don't know if that's a trend overall or just peculiar to us.

The town near me has a pedestrian law.  Stop when people are in the crosswalk.  Amazing how many people just blindly walk out into moving traffic.  Many drivers don't adhere to the law, I guess it's a lemmings attitude. Don't know.

Pedestrians are slightly less capable of crossing streets than deer 

There is some of that here. It's almost entirely people who are involved in the local meth problem. A small, but increasing, percentage seems to be the people who can't fathom that they are not the center of the universe, and who believe that the people who have the audacity to drive on the roads are the real problem.

I vaguely recall a reckless young bicyclist (may have been me) riding in a college town some years ago.  Quiet residential street, 25 mph speed limit.  I was probably going that fast on a gentle downhill grade.  Achingly beautiful idyllic Spring day.  Pedestrian steps off of curb and crosses street, presumably to his car parked across the street.  I calculate a course adjustment, factoring in my speed, his speed and direction, and decide to go between his back and the cars parked on the right, as he was moving across to my left and the space behind him was growing while the space ahead of him was shrinking.  Not exactly rocket science.  At no point was slowing even remotely considered.  Everything looked good until that moment when, with me very near him, he perhaps remembers something he forgot and needed to go back for.  He abruptly turns around and takes a step as I have an "Oh, Bleep!" moment and brace for impact.  My left shoulder glanced off some part of him as I uttered "Sorry!" and continued on my way.  I can only imagine that he was fairly startled, but he kept his feet and I saw no need for further discourse.

So yeah, pedestrians can behave rather like squirrels.

Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) said:

The town near me has a pedestrian law.  Stop when people are in the crosswalk.  Amazing how many people just blindly walk out into moving traffic.  Many drivers don't adhere to the law, I guess it's a lemmings attitude. Don't know.

We have the same law.  Drives me crazy how many drivers have no clue about the law- even when there are signs.  Worst is when one direction stops when you are waiting on the sidewalk for a gap- start crossing, and then the other direction is oblivious of you being in the middle of the street.  Especially when they have to come to a stop in a block for a red light.

Nobody uses the crosswalks in Dallas. Every so often some really stupid person tries to run across six busy lanes of freeway and gets the ultimate frogger prize.

Happens all the time here in Atlanta.  Usually people who have less to lose than I do in the event that I hit them.

Seconded in Atlanta. People are crazy.

To be fair, the vast majority of American infrastructure is built with cars as #1 priority. Getting around in most cities here without a car is a pretty terrible time, if not impossible. Vegas is especially bad for pedestrians. I couldn't imagine walking across town in Atlanta, going to the end of every block and waiting on every crosswalk signal, if the intersection even has one. All that time adds up when you do it every day, probably to a crappy low-paying job if you don't have a car. I don't envy that situation, and it doesn't excuse breaking the law, but I guess I get it.

As always in columbus we have both extremes at the same time. Not a ton of jaywalking around me but when it does happen it's at night and the person is wearing all black. I've seriously almost hit someone because I legitimately couldn't see them until I was about ten feet away from them. On the other hand when I'm walking around my neighborhood, if I'm coming up on a street crossing and a car is coming I have to stop 20' back from the corner and be sure to make extensive eye contact with the driver or else they'll just park in the middle of the road for a full minute as I get to and then cross the street. Like a) there's no crosswalk, you have the right of way and b) if you had just gone on your way normally you'd have been through the intersection before I was even close to it.

My recollection of being a pedestrian on my college campus was that if you established eye contact with a driver, you were then "in play," at which point it was your own responsibility to not get run over.  

maschinenbau said:

Seconded in Atlanta. People are crazy.

To be fair, the vast majority of American infrastructure is built with cars as #1 priority. Getting around in most cities here without a car is a pretty terrible time, if not impossible. Vegas is especially bad for pedestrians. I couldn't imagine walking across town in Atlanta, going to the end of every block and waiting on every crosswalk signal, if the intersection even has one. All that time adds up when you do it every day, probably to a crappy low-paying job if you don't have a car. I don't envy that situation, and it doesn't excuse breaking the law, but I guess I get it.

The really bizarre thing (for me) is that most of this occurs within 100-200ft of a marked crosswalk. There is a very busy street on my end of town were they had to put up 1/8 mile of fence to force people to either go down to the light or cross at the regulated crosswalk. Prior to that there was something like 25 fatalities; all out of the same apartment complex. Why? because people didn't want to walk an extra 250ft to get to the mini mart on the other side of a busy 6 lane road.  

70% of our pedestrian fatalities involve J-walking.

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

Happens all the time here in Atlanta.  Usually people who have less to lose than I do in the event that I hit them.

Years ago there was a thing here in Atlanta where people walked in the road to prove they were a badass. Just...waltz right out into traffic and cuss you out for honking. They may still be doing it in other parts of town, but they stopped around here. I'd guess enough of them got run over to send a message.

I like joggers, and the best,stroller moms (often rolling double wide) in the middle of the road. If only there was a path-a walk if you will, on the side of the road. A ... sidewalk. 

I live in a small college city where the campus and downtown Main Street are intimately entwined.

I doubt I need to say any more.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

That happens often in Austin too. There was a string of deaths from it a few years ago from people trying to cross I-35 at night. 

Maybe? Not really?  When I'm driving through congested areas, I'm constantly looking for people to be dumb.  If I see children nearby, I assume they will be dumb and slow down. 

I don't know... Some years ago I discovered not being in a hurry greatly reduced my stress levels. It doesn't bother me if I need to slow down for a few seconds.  

There are some young men around here who make a sport out of waiting at the curb until the light turns red, and then sauntering across the intersection.  Seems like a pretty dangerous game to me.

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

Maybe? Not really?  When I'm driving through congested areas, I'm constantly looking for people to be dumb.  If I see children nearby, I assume they will be dumb and slow down. 

I don't know... Some years ago I discovered not being in a hurry greatly reduced my stress levels. It doesn't bother me if I need to slow down for a few seconds.  

But then there are the guys tailgating you and honking the horn because you are slowing them down.

Duke said:

I live in a small college city where the campus and downtown Main Street are intimately entwined.

I doubt I need to say any more.

 

I went to an engineering school in a small town.  Safest place in the world to jaywalk was at edge of campus.  Pedestrians knew how fast they could walk to avoid getting hit, and drivers knew they didn't have to slow down because of that.

I drive Gulf Blvd between Madeira Bch and St Pete Bch every day. I see more people step in front of vehicles and cause emergency level braking than I care to. In the last few years they have put cross walks every few hundred yards and since bad things can't happen to you on vacation they step into the cross walk without even looking. 

My biggest peeve is people on bikes that zip across traffic in the cross walk and expect me to stop. YOU AREN'T A berkeleyING PEDESTRIAN! These aren't the serious cyclists that come with their special attitude, it is the DUI riders.

Yes. The only reason I slow down is I don't wanna clear crackhead guts off my car. 

I spent four and a half years going to college in Oxford OH. Many evenings shooting pool at Ozzie's Balcony then walking across the street - fairly intoxicated - for late night turkey on a bagel, steamed.

In that town at that time it was common to walk half way across high street (two lane road) and stand on the center line as cars passed in front and behind you.

Not quite frogger but close. I have never seen it done repeatedly anywhere else. 
 

edit: looks like Ozzie's is long gone. New building where it used to be, apparently around 2011.  

People walking or biking on the road drives me nuts. There is a sidewalk right there! Why aren't you using it!?

Oh, that's right. If I hit you because you walked in front of me, it's my fault and you get to sue me for everything I have. 

In several areas around town they are removing traffic lanes to put in bike Lanes. Now the already congested roads are even worse for the 3 people a day that ride by on a bike that could have just used the sidewalk. Bonus point : This is on Michigan where its too cold to ride a bike 6 months of the year.

Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:

People walking or biking on the road drives me nuts. There is a sidewalk right there! Why aren't you using it!?

Oh, that's right. If I hit you because you walked in front of me, it's my fault and you get to sue me for everything I have. 

In several areas around town they are removing traffic lanes to put in bike Lanes. Now the already congested roads are even worse for the 3 people a day that ride by on a bike that could have just used the sidewalk. Bonus point : This is on Michigan where its too cold to ride a bike 6 months of the year.

I don't know about where you are, but as I understand it here it's against the law for cyclists to use the sidewalk.