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Have you noticed that there's no slower walking creature than a young person crossing a street with the walk signal? Older folks tend to step lively but young people slow down when crossing especially if there's traffic trying to make turns.
Have you noticed that there's no slower walking creature than a young person crossing a street with the walk signal? Older folks tend to step lively but young people slow down when crossing especially if there's traffic trying to make turns.
Yes because the younger generation has been taught that they are all special and that you need to wait for them to cross. Don't even try to honk at them or tell them to hurry up, you will be called out for Mad Disrespect Yo!
Everyday as the pedestrain I almost get hit walking when I have the walk sign at the cross walk while the driver is making a right hand turn so it goes both ways.
What it comes down to is people are just rude and don't care about laws or rules and do what appeases them.
Back like 13 years ago they did give tickets for jaywalking. My friend got one in Astoria.
Giuliani after going after other "low level" crimes put jaywalking on his radar. Hence all those railings, gates and whatever you see up and down the avenues of NYC. They were put in place supposedly to "force" persons to cross at crosswalks. What RG and his administration didn't count on is how stubborn some New Yorkers truly are about jaywalking. They just walk around the barrier or in the gutter/street.
I saw somebody do that once and the driver yelled that he had the right of way, even though the pedestrian had the walk signal and was in the crosswalk.
I was once threatened. The woman in the passenger seat yelled "you want me to come out there and f8ck you up"...
All I was doing was crossing the street in the cross walk with the walk sign. I wasn't on my phone or listening to music. The car was making a right hand turn and came inches from hitting me. No cares in the world and I said something like hey I have the light you almost hit me.
It isn't just jaywalking or whatever, drivers do not even yield to pedestrians whey they "HAVE" the light and are crossing in the crosswalk.
Have seen and experienced this numerous times; you have the light to cross and start out into the crosswalk, drivers simply make a very wide turn and pass right in front or back of you without stopping. Problem is there is only but so much room on most Manhattan/NYC streets or avenues. So while the driver is trying (or not) to hit one pedestrian someone else walking the other direction (again legally with the light) could get hit by that wide turn.
As for fights/threats; yeah, I've seen those as well. Including one person who whacked the trunk of a car that made a wide turn in front of him (he had the light) and the driver stopped and got out. From that moment it was "on". Didn't even have time to grab a snack. *LOL* Driver was an older guy and the "whacker" was a young blood who was like "bring it".
Jay-walking laws will never, and should never be enforced. Yes, there are occasionally problems, but most of us do it very efficiently.
Luckily, the one time someone seriously tried to nab a jaywalker, she turned out to be a law student, and it didn't end well for the police.
They absolutely should be enforced as they impend the flow of traffic.
Drivers get their turn, pedestrians get their turn.
If pedestrians take too long, that's fine. It's a privilege drivers actually do not get.
Pedestrians have no right crossing when it presents a danger to them or others on the road.
Common sense is sensible and works fine at 2AM or whatnot, however on days when it is raining- or in busy corridors where there are just too many people to walk across the street in the given light- pedestrians need to settle and wait for the next one.
If the alternative were true, and cars could just go through lights whenever they wanted, and there was no enforcement- one would think it absurd.
Lax enforcement of traffic laws are just one reason of I'll probably be leaving the city in 2 years. Most drivers here have absolutely no regard for pedestrians, and it's not just in Manhattan either. It's arguably worse in outer boroughs where you have a larger influx of people who bring along bad driving habits from other places in the world. I don't trust any driver to yield for me on the roads.
There's 2 other major cities that I visit frequently where pedestrians respect the jaywalking law. Las Vegas and Montreal Canada. As a New Yorker I actually found it strange how hoards of people just stand there idly until its their light to cross. Traffic related incidents/deaths are FAR less than that of NYC.
Dunno about Montreal, but New York City has a far lower traffic death rate than Las Vegas. It's among the safest in the country, perhaps the safest.
Walking in NYC, I've crossed against the light plenty of times but not when a car was approaching. If the street is clear and especially if it's small, I'll cross. And there are plenty of times when I've crossed with the light, and a driver was about to turn into me, either out of aggression or absent-mindness. The times I've bicycled in NYC, I noticed a number of stupid drivers creating hazards. Most annoying were the ones blocking the box (why doesn't the city crack down on those? Harms traffic, both car and bicycle).
Not saying it's always the car's fault, but when you're driving you notice the pedestrians and cyclists and fault more than the drivers.
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