Almost run over while legally crossing street (Again!!!!)

[zitsky]

Probably the best feature of my 2015 Buick LaCrosse is that it will read text messages to you. And you can keep your hands on the steering wheel.

[Francois]

Originally Posted by goldenlove

I learned when I was jogging in North Raleigh to ALWAYS make sure to make eye contact with the drivers of cars to ensure they saw me.

THISS!!
Pedestrians may usually have the right of way (though popping out from behind an SUV into moving traffic without looking is debatable), but **the cars might not always see you**. I am constantly appalled at the people who cross a busy street, not in a crosswalk, and don't even look in the direction of traffic. Right-of-Way or not, if you're dead, I don't think you'll really care if you were "correct". When I just to take Western Blvd to work, every day I had distracted college kids charge out right in front of traffic that had a green light, not only not looking in our direction, but *on their phones* and/or wearing headphones.

It seems like modern parents, instead of teaching kids to look out for cars, tell them "you have the right of way, cars have to stop" (I literally heard a kid tell his little brother that as they traipsed through a busy parking lot where visibility was poor). I still go with the "better safe than 'right'" and often will let a car go on past even if I have the right of way, so there is 0% chance they will hit me if they don't see me.

Especially with people looking at their phones and such, I always go by safety rather than right-of way. even in a crosswalk, my eyes are riveted in the direction of oncoming traffic, so if some bozo who's texting doesn't see me, I can jump out of HIS way. Yet I see so many who just charge right into a crosswalk, or worse, where there isn't even a crosswalk, presuming they will have some protective shield around them called "Right of Way" that will keep them from getting run over by a distracted driver (or a driver who doesn't see them, since sometimes people will cross where a curve or other obstacle prevents drivers from even seeing them).

LOOK BEFORE YOU CROSS.
LOOK AS YOU CROSS.

[Repatriot]

LOOK AS YOU CROSS.

I won't quote all of Francois' quote nor the one he responded to but this goes back to something pierretong#### and I had a dialog about here some time back regarding a certain crossing on Six Forks and how if one were not to do this there, well I don't want to be a doomsayer but that intersection and many other are recipes for disaster.

Anything less is cheating Darwin.