Posted by Green Party at 5/22/08 5:44 a.m.

Scared to cross the street?

Better look first...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rvCONaNDXk
(Caution: very graphic)

Posted by Fine-Details First at 5/23/08 4:57 p.m.

What about pedestrians worrying about pedestrian's safety. Some people seem to think anyplace is ok for them to cross the street which makes drivers forget about where the crosswaks are and where people supposed to be crossing at crosswalks.

Do you stop for Jaywalkers and possibly cause a accident or just those pedestrians in legitimate crosswalks?

Posted by Fine-Details First at 5/23/08 4:59 p.m.

Are drivers also supposed to stop for pedestrians who cross the street on red lights making motorists have to stop for green lights? Seen it happen many times in Seattle.

Posted by beautycounts at 5/24/08 12:21 a.m.

Mostly those pedestrians are probably drunk, Fine Details.

But seriously, most pedestrians DO worry about their own safety. But defensive walking isn't enough: look at the pedestrian death stats for this town! Horrible! It is the City's job to clearly mark crosswalks, time lights, and provide freaking SIDEWALKS and curbs on major arterials so pedestrians can actually walk somewhere in this town without taking their life into their hands. Greenwood Ave N is particularly bad, with pell-mell parking, loooong stretches without crosswalks/lights, and speeding drivers. It basically sucks. Shocker, people don't want to take the bus if it means walking six blocks on that road to get home.

To quote my father, who is a policeman and very courteous driver, "Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way." Because if you hit them, you will feel awful, you might go to jail, and you will probably get your pants sued off. That includes jaywalkers, little old ladies, and law-abiding citizens. Our job as a drivers is to focus on driving, get off the damn phone, slow down a little, and stop BEFORE we are halfway into the intersection so that people can cross in safety and others can SEE THEM. The supersized trucks and SUVs have only made pedestrian visibility worse at intersections. Please, let's be careful out there!

Posted by unregistered user at 5/27/08 2:08 p.m.

In my 8 years as a walker, Cab drivers are the worse. They look straight ahead and drive thru crosswalks that are clearly marked.