Pittsburgh drivers - pedestrians (bus, food, design)

[LillyJo]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Because pedestrians who fail to follow the rules are highly unlikely to hurt anyone other than themselves but car drivers who don't follow the rules kill tens of thousands of people a year.

Oakland and Squirrel Hill were both laid out prior to the dominance of the automobile. Pedestrian and transit traffic dominate the landscape and people behave as such. Expecting to be able to maintain 35 mph down Forbes is like expecting a crosswalk across the Parkway.

Then your business model is fundamentally flawed and having it regulated out of existence would be a positive good for the city. There have been competitors springing up from time to time. Maybe one of them can manage it.

Good post. In college towns across the country students regularly 'prance' across the roads with little regard for traffic lights. Any business that doesn't recognize that won't last long around a campus.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by GeneW

I won't even talk on the phone while I'm driving, texting is insane.

Likewise, I will occasionally talk while on a highway, but texting, never. Probably an age thing.

[tclifton]

Originally Posted by erieguy

Agreed, however, enforcement equals manpower. Manpower equals money. Where does the money come from for more manpower? There are crimes going on all the time to where police cannot be in all places at once.

Here's my suggestion for stopping such things (also gridlocking).

Have a plainsclothes police officer occasionally do rounds and hand out tickets. If it happens enough times, word gets out that at any point a police officer could be there handing out tickets. That alone will cut down on a lot of stuff, and you wouldn't have to have someone there all the time in order for it to work.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by LillyJo

Good post. In college towns across the country students regularly 'prance' across the roads with little regard for traffic lights. Any business that doesn't recognize that won't last long around a campus.

Actually, that's a good point. Although I can understand the need to deliver food quickly, it's also true If college kids get ticked off at a delivery guy almost hitting them, they can and will organize campus wide boycotts of that business. Even though they were jaywalking and in the wrong. It may not be fair, but it's reality.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by tclifton

Here's my suggestion for stopping such things (also gridlocking).

Have a plainsclothes police officer occasionally do rounds and hand out tickets. If it happens enough times, word gets out that at any point a police officer could be there handing out tickets. That alone will cut down on a lot of stuff, and you wouldn't have to have someone there all the time in order for it to work.

i just cant see the pittsburgh police handling that with any seriousness, tclifton! it is a quality of life issue, but from their perspective, i can imagine eye rolling when one cop is assigned that duty. as mentioned in this thread already, how many times is ped safety violated? we ALL have a memory (or two or ten) of nearly being struck by a moving vehicle while walking with the right-of-way. nothing is done as it is.

in downtown, the cops themselves drive 'normally' - that is, too fast, through yellow lights, etc.

its funny that the city made them move all their illegally parked cars to the parking lot at Fourth/Ross! the state police took one whole travel lane away. just assumed it was theirs! yes, yes, official business, but come on.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

i just cant see the pittsburgh police handling that with any seriousness, tclifton! it is a quality of life issue, but from their perspective, i can imagine eye rolling when one cop is assigned that duty. as mentioned in this thread already, how many times is ped safety violated? we ALL have a memory (or two or ten) of nearly being struck by a moving vehicle while walking with the right-of-way. nothing is done as it is.

It always seemed weird to me that traffic police aren't a separate force from the "regular" police. I think we could have separate traffic enforcement officers just like we have separate parking enforcement officers. It would require less training and you could correct the costs, too (operating a speed trap shouldn't cost as much as a drug bust or breaking up a fight). I realize there's still safety concerns when pulling someone over, but that might go away if the traffic cops weren't checking for warrants and signs of drugs in the car and other things the police check for when they pull you over.

[minthotchocolate]

I started a thread on the same subject last spring when I just moved to Pittsburgh:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/pitts...l#post29608187

I have to say, almost a year later the lack of roadside manners here still amazes me. I see blatant disregard to road rules at least once a week. Last week, for example, in Shadyside, I saw a driver on the intersection getting impatient with the red light. So he went on the left side of the road (into oncoming traffic) to pass two cars that were in front of him. Immediately after that another car followed this route and made a right turn in front of the cars waiting for green. I am mostly in Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Oakland - these are fairly quiet areas, people who do this look completely normal, they drive good cars, I wonder why would they do this?

And of course I keep seeing complete disregard towards pedestrians and bikers, that's very unfortunate.

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by minthotchocolate

I started a thread on the same subject last spring when I just moved to Pittsburgh:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/pitts...l#post29608187

I have to say, almost a year later the lack of roadside manners here still amazes me. I see blatant disregard to road rules at least once a week. [..stuff deleted ...]

And of course I keep seeing complete disregard towards pedestrians and bikers, that's very unfortunate.

In a major city, that would be once an hour. Or you could just follow SCR around, I guess

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Unless you are a murderer, I suspect the answer would be you yield to pedestrians. You are driving a weapon. Sadly, people kill others all the time in vehicles and they get a little slap on the wrist. Heck that guy that ran over the cyclist on Harts Run Road a while back didn't even have to do some community service. He just went out for a steak dinner and enjoyed the day. Nothing you can do about a car centric society.

Accidents happen, which is a point that I think many have missed on here. Having a legal right of way will not protect you from the fact that humans are imperfect beings, can be distracted, and have varying degrees of efficiency in how they safely operate a motor vehicle. You are still responsible for your own safety.

I walked a lot when I first moved to town in 2007. No car and a limited budget had me walking everywhere. Great way to learn the lay of the land. I saw a lot of bad behavior by motorists. Some of it was intentional and the result of the driver being impatient. A lot of it was accidental. Now when I drive downtown to drop my wife and kid off I see a lot of it from the other side. Pedestrians playing frog-ger or dragging their feet through a cross walk. I've never come close to hitting anyone, but I really don't care about entering a cross walk when there's a person in it. Guess what? The police around here don't care either. Its in my best interest to avoid hitting them, so I don't. I'll venture a guess that the people who get hit downtown (like that woman who died in the strip) aren't struck by motorists that see them.


Cyclists choose to put themselves at greater risk by operating unprotected in an environment with moving objects that outweigh them by thousands of pounds. I treat them as other vehicles and give them the space they're due, but I don't have any sympathy for the one's who get in accidents. The driver of the car caused the accident, the cyclist (or motorcycle biker) caused it to be more serious than a fender bender.

Unless there was evidence to demonstrate that the driver was grossly negligent or had malicious intent...I hope he enjoyed his steak.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Q-tip motha

Cyclists choose to put themselves at greater risk by operating unprotected in an environment with moving objects that outweigh them by thousands of pounds. I treat them as other vehicles and give them the space they're due, but I don't have any sympathy for the one's who get in accidents.

So, if I drive a Civic to save gas and I get creamed by someone in an Expedition pulling a trailer full of rocks, it's my own fault for dying?

That's really a horrible attitude. I don't think there are very many accidents at all. Mostly, it is people driving too fast to control themselves and blaming "accident" for their mistake.