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"When Does Your CALL Matter More Than Your LIFE?" Topic


16 Posts

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1,469 hits since 10 Apr 2018
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Cacique Caribe10 Apr 2018 12:35 p.m. PST

I've been seeing a lot of these pedestrian near-misses lately.

What is seriously wrong with people who, even after a near death experience, 1) still continue to run along without looking at where traffic is coming from, and 2) still have the damn phone stuck to their stupid ear???

Karma (or survival of the fittest) just insists on giving some of the stupidest people on the planet a free get out of extinction card. I mean, isn't Nature supposed to be allowed to cull the herd of these things from the gene pool?

Dan

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Cacique Caribe10 Apr 2018 12:46 p.m. PST

Here are other idiots on the phone, this time texting.

Instead of banning phones, I would ban the idiots.

Dan

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princeman10 Apr 2018 1:05 p.m. PST

You can not fix stupid.

Cacique Caribe10 Apr 2018 1:18 p.m. PST

Well, urban dogs are definitely learning and evolving faster than some humans.

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My dog does that, and so do the coyotes outside our subdivision. They've learned that cars are heavy and can kill you.

Dan

Phil Hall10 Apr 2018 5:18 p.m. PST

A few years ago a bus driver on the U.of Ill. campus hit and killed a student who was on her phone and stepped in front of her bus. The driver was fired although she wasn't at fault. not paying attention when you're walking can have consequences beyond your own injuries and/or death.

Old Wolfman11 Apr 2018 6:53 a.m. PST

I've seen folks who,even when the pedestrian is in the crosswalk,paying close attention, and had the legal right of way,the car driver still acts like they have the de facto right of way 24/7. In one instance,the driver buzzes close enough to the dude trying to cross the street,to nearly hit him and still,the driver keeps going. Luckily,in the case described,cops were close by and pulled the driver over. Also,I knew a lady who was the vic in a hit/skip. She survived,barely.

Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP11 Apr 2018 8:01 a.m. PST

Given the manner in which most drivers ignore nearly every traffic law, from speed limits to right of way, expecting a car to actually stop at a crosswalk is a fool's bet. I don't step out until I'm certain the traffic is stopping. And even then, I keep a close eye on the cars.

Here's the truth: most people (drivers or pedestrians) are stupid. They justify their stupidity ("he should have been looking!"), or refuse to admit that they could in anyway be doing anything wrong, but that's the fact. The best advice is to always pay attention to your surroundings and never assume the other guy is going to do the legal, considerate, or intelligent thing.

Personal logo etotheipi Sponsoring Member of TMP11 Apr 2018 9:02 a.m. PST

The real question is "When is YOUR call more important than OTHER PEOPLE'S lives?"

Beyond the firing example above, when you are not following the traffic laws, you are deciding that it is OK to add unagreed upon risk to others' consequences.

Patrick R11 Apr 2018 9:44 a.m. PST

I can back up the "never wrong" principle.

I was cycling to work and a girl utterly enthralled by her screen was crossing my path. It was simply a matter of swerving behind her and she would be none the wiser.

Huge mistake.

The second I'm about to slip past her back, she looks up, sees me, panics and leaps back right under my wheel.

She went hysterical and screamed at me her pants were ruined and I was a terrorist on wheels and I spent the rest of the day picking chunks of verbal abuse out of my hair and clothes.

I could have been a jerk and cut her off or I can start to give in to those idiots and come to a dead halt ten feet away from them, wait until they finally clear the road and continue at which point I might as well wait for plate tectonics to move where I'm going towards me, it would be much faster.

Cacique Caribe11 Apr 2018 1:48 p.m. PST

Patrick: "I spent the rest of the day picking chunks of verbal abuse out of my hair and clothes"

LOL. I didn't know that hot air left behind "chunks" of anything!

"She went hysterical and screamed at me her pants were ruined"

Were her pants ruined because she peed or soiled herself? :)

Dan
PS. I would buy an air horn. One or two blasts might get her to move quickly next time, before you even get to the ten feet. Just make sure you capture it on your camera. :)

zoneofcontrol11 Apr 2018 2:13 p.m. PST

iPhone = Darwin

Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP11 Apr 2018 3:42 p.m. PST

Patrick R: Sorry, but if she was at a crosswalk and you were on a bicycle, you were in the wrong. Legally, a bicycle is as much of a vehicle as a car, and required to follow the same rules of the road. You were required to yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk, even if you could "swerve around her."
And even so, as the operator of a vehicle, *you* are responsible for safe operation of the same. You could see the pedestrian, you could stop for the pedestrian, therefore you are responsible to do so, even if the pedestrian is a clueless, unaware idiot.

I can rant about cyclists who routinely:
Fail to stop at stop signs.
Fail to yield to oncoming traffic.
Turn right on red without stopping.
Fail to signal a turn or a stop (yes, you are legally required to do so).
These rules (and others) apply to cyclists for your own safety, as well as the safety of others. You may be on a bicycle, which is certainly not as massive as a car, but velocity is the big issue. When 200+ pounds of cyclist and bike slam into a pedestrian at 10-15 mph, both cyclist and pedestrian could be seriously injured, or even killed.

altfritz12 Apr 2018 3:42 a.m. PST

He did say anything about a crosswalk.

Cacique Caribe12 Apr 2018 4:18 a.m. PST

Lol. And I thought this was about pedestrians so enthralled by their phones that they are oblivious of all other matters and dangers around them, including stairs and fountains.

Shouldn't they be "considered responsible for the safe operation of" their legs?

Dan
PS. Patrick didn't mention any crosswalks.

Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP13 Apr 2018 7:41 a.m. PST

I did say "if."

But he also indicated that he had time to make a decision regarding the action to take when the pedestrian crossed in front of him. If he did have time to stop, and did not, the onus is on him. If he did not have time to stop, it is indeed on her.

In general, the best policy is to pay attention to your surroundings and choose the safest response, even if it's irritating. Irritation is temporary.

Bowman05 Jun 2018 11:18 a.m. PST

Here's the truth: most people (drivers or pedestrians) are stupid.

Late to the party:

Regardless whose fault it is in the collision between vehicle and pedestrian, it is usually the pedestrian that pays the bigger price. Those in vehicles, whether cars or bicycles, have to remember that.

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