Beware of cops on Milam St. ! (Houston, West: condo, live in, legally)

[tstone]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

Why does one have to do 80 mph, anyway? Unnecessary, and putting other lives at risk.

Before you judge, do a commute to the Golden Triangle every day (6-ish AM and PM) and you'll find doing 80 is barely going with the flow of traffic, and doing the speed limit is putting yours and others' lives at risk. Or drive West TX where the speed limit is 80.

Anyway, HPD has lasers there? So get strapped with a Laser Jammer. Still 100% legal in Texas. Radar jammers on the other hand are illegal, a federal offense. Once you get tired of the equipment, you can eBay it used for 80-90% of its new value.

[XodoX]

For 599 you can get an excellent radar detector. I am very satisfied with mine. Detects lasers well in advance. Love it

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by JamesLang

Right. You can't control what speeders do, but you can minimize your chances of getting runned over. The other thing is to watch for cars turning. Some people don't use the crosswalk seeing that the street is clear, but aren't aware of cars turning onto the street they're crossing. I've seen a pedestrian being hit this way since he was too lazy too use the crosswalk and cut across the street just 25-30 yards from the cross walk. Also, sometimes when use the crosswalk, you still have to be careful with cars turning towards you.

Here's where a lot of people trying to cross on foot go wrong - they tend to assume that motorists are paying attention, looking for pedestrians and will yield to them. I assume the opposite - specifically, that each and every one of them is on the cellphone, texting or is otherwise distracted and is not paying attention to much of anything else and generally has their head wedged in their ass. I know this doesn't apply to every single person but if I approach it that way it's erring on the side of caution. Also, I refrain from such activities as a pedestrian. That way I'm not distracted, and I can use my ears as well as my eyes. I'm sure any cell phone conversations can wait for later, or I can stay put somewhere if I have to have one. For the same reason I do not wear headphones while walking and crossing streets. Walking around a path in a park is different, but even then it's good to be aware.

[nikku]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Here's where a lot of people trying to cross on foot go wrong - they tend to assume that motorists are paying attention, looking for pedestrians and will yield to them. I assume the opposite - specifically, that each and every one of them is on the cellphone, texting or is otherwise distracted and is not paying attention to much of anything else and generally has their head wedged in their ass. I know this doesn't apply to every single person but if I approach it that way it's erring on the side of caution. Also, I refrain from such activities as a pedestrian. That way I'm not distracted, and I can use my ears as well as my eyes. I'm sure any cell phone conversations can wait for later, or I can stay put somewhere if I have to have one. For the same reason I do not wear headphones while walking and crossing streets. Walking around a path in a park is different, but even then it's good to be aware.

I think that's a great assumption to make. I almost creamed a guy leaving downtown a few weeks back, when he ran out in front of me as I was turning left at a red light (from a one way street onto a one way street that's legal). I came to a stop and was looking to my right to see if there was any traffic coming. When I saw there wasn't any, I started to go. As soon as I did, a pedestrian literally ran in front of me, trying to get across the crosswalk before the light changed (there was less than 5 seconds left on the indicator). Luckily I was able to slam on my brakes and he was able to get out of the way, but it was a very close call. Would I have been at fault? Yes. Could he have been paying better attention to traffic? Absolutely. I almost hit the guy, and I'm very mindful of pedestrians and foot traffic, especially because I try to walk whenever I can. Moral of the story is, always be on the lookout for cars.

[Grunn]

Originally Posted by nikku

Moral of the story is, always be on the lookout for cars.

I'd have thought the real moral of this story is that car drivers should watch out for pedestrians.

Midtown crossing Gray last week- moron in SUV sits at lights waiting to turn right on red. Traffic passes on Gray, green man comes on for pedestrians and the 3 men in front of me walk onto the crossing. The stain-on-the-world in the SUV just lurches forward (on his phone I might add) would have hit the men if they hadn't leapt out of his way. He then brakes leaving his car positioned across the crossing and leans out of his window to shout abuse at the men. If that had been me the driver of that vehicle would have been in real danger of being hit with a 90mph explosive charge of pepper spray as I'd have been in fear of my life.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Grunn

I'd have thought the real moral of this story is that car drivers should watch out for pedestrians.

I'd say it's a mutual responsibility.

In nikku's case, what happened (based on how I read it) is this pedestrian was not paying attention like he should have, and stepped out in front of someone who was watching for traffic to his right but may have started a left turn before establishing that nobody was crossing there. You might say it was a lapse on both ends, but if nobody's hurt it's just a learning experience.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

This argument reminds me of when I was a kid-- "Well so-and-so did it, why can't I?" Don't worry about what others around you are doing.

Why does one have to do 80 mph, anyway? Unnecessary, and putting other lives at risk.

Why the hell is the speed limit so low on the highway....I'll never get anywhere going those speeds.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by Grunn

I'd have thought the real moral of this story is that car drivers should watch out for pedestrians.

Midtown crossing Gray last week- moron in SUV sits at lights waiting to turn right on red. Traffic passes on Gray, green man comes on for pedestrians and the 3 men in front of me walk onto the crossing. The stain-on-the-world in the SUV just lurches forward (on his phone I might add) would have hit the men if they hadn't leapt out of his way. He then brakes leaving his car positioned across the crossing and leans out of his window to shout abuse at the men. If that had been me the driver of that vehicle would have been in real danger of being hit with a 90mph explosive charge of pepper spray as I'd have been in fear of my life.

Yes because if someone just walks like 5ft in front of your car (its happened), its your fault because they didn't watch for traffic.

[TexasTheKid]

I'm a bit confused. How can someone even possibly be speeding on Milam and Elgin during rush hour? If you're going over the posted limit there at that time, you've really got to be pushing the boundaries of safety and probably should be pulled over. I'm no fan of police speed traps, but the traffic is so heavy around there at that time, you'd necessarily have to be driving dangerously, weaving in and out of traffic, in order to attain high speeds.

[Grunn]

I suggest people saying it's a mutual responsibility thing go and read the Texas drivers handbook- judging from what I read on here and see on the roads many Houston drivers have probably never even looked at it.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/ftp/forms/DLhandbook.pdf (broken link)

Pedestrians always have priority on crosswalks when there is a green man showing.