It’s the responsibility of the individual to be aware for their own safety. Nobody else is gonna do it for them. In pedestrian vs car, pedestrian loses every time.
I don’t know about you, but as a child I was taught pedestrians have right of way but to look both ways, etc. When I learned to drive, I was never taught that I should rely on either pedestrians or other drivers to always behave predictably. Literally the opposite. Where I’m at, people were even taught to slow down at crosswalks regardless of whether someone is there. (Maybe that part isn’t universal, though?) The one in the fast-moving vehicle naturally has primary responsibility.
People can choose to stand on moral high ground and say pedestrians have the right of way, or just realize all it takes is one distracted driver to either end their life, or change their life permanently with a serious injury.
Never something I’d ever trust another human with when it comes to my life.
People can choose to stand on moral high ground and say pedestrians have the right of way, or just realize all it takes is one distracted driver to either end their life
You can and should do both.
And when a collision happens, the blame should lie on the person operating the heavier vehicle unless proven otherwise.
Education campaigns should reflect this: they should primarily focus on reminding drivers that they are operating a vehicle that can easily maim and kill, so they must be in the lookout for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians.
I really feel like this is exactly what happened in the video. The driver was like “oh shit, I should have been paying attention”, and the pedestrian was like “oh shit, I should have been paying attention”
The question at hand is if it appropriate to remind people that paying attention when you’re crossing the street, because a driver may be distracted, is an appropriate thing to do.
Apparently, for some people the answer is a resounding “no”, with a slight resonating harmonic of “and how dare you”
And yet we see drivers speeding on a daily basis in densely populated areas with tons of foot traffic. Several pedestrians have been killed in the past decade in an intersection next to where I live. No, they were not “jaywalking”, in every instance the drivers were speeding and ran over people on the sidewalk.
Apparently, for some people the answer is a resounding “no”, with a slight resonating harmonic of “and how dare you”
Perhaps being part of the community of people who are being killed has something to do with it.
Have you looked at official municipal statistics for who is at fault in pedestrian fatalities? Because I did and the yearly reports consistently show the driver being at fault in 75%-80% of the cases.
It’s the responsibility of the individual to be aware for their own safety. Nobody else is gonna do it for them. In pedestrian vs car, pedestrian loses every time.
I don’t know about you, but as a child I was taught pedestrians have right of way but to look both ways, etc. When I learned to drive, I was never taught that I should rely on either pedestrians or other drivers to always behave predictably. Literally the opposite. Where I’m at, people were even taught to slow down at crosswalks regardless of whether someone is there. (Maybe that part isn’t universal, though?) The one in the fast-moving vehicle naturally has primary responsibility.
People can choose to stand on moral high ground and say pedestrians have the right of way, or just realize all it takes is one distracted driver to either end their life, or change their life permanently with a serious injury.
Never something I’d ever trust another human with when it comes to my life.
You can and should do both.
And when a collision happens, the blame should lie on the person operating the heavier vehicle unless proven otherwise.
Education campaigns should reflect this: they should primarily focus on reminding drivers that they are operating a vehicle that can easily maim and kill, so they must be in the lookout for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians.
I really feel like this is exactly what happened in the video. The driver was like “oh shit, I should have been paying attention”, and the pedestrian was like “oh shit, I should have been paying attention”
Only one of them is putting other people in danger, though.
Literally nobody doesn’t understand that.
The question at hand is if it appropriate to remind people that paying attention when you’re crossing the street, because a driver may be distracted, is an appropriate thing to do.
Apparently, for some people the answer is a resounding “no”, with a slight resonating harmonic of “and how dare you”
And yet we see drivers speeding on a daily basis in densely populated areas with tons of foot traffic. Several pedestrians have been killed in the past decade in an intersection next to where I live. No, they were not “jaywalking”, in every instance the drivers were speeding and ran over people on the sidewalk.
Perhaps being part of the community of people who are being killed has something to do with it.
My brother:
Despite the saturation of polarized media, the world does not exist as a set of mutually exclusive options.
Saying “Pedestrians can use their eyes and ears to help them avoid danger”
DOES NOT MEAN
Drivers, therefore, have no responsibility.
It’s like you’re reading words, and conjuring all kinds of meaning that is not there.
So when a pedestrian steps into traffic while messing around on the phone and there’s no evidence, of course they’ll deny doing anything wrong.
They’d be insane to do otherwise. So, we just blame the driver?
Take some responsibility people.
Have you looked at official municipal statistics for who is at fault in pedestrian fatalities? Because I did and the yearly reports consistently show the driver being at fault in 75%-80% of the cases.
Indeed, indeed.
Found the BMW driver.