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Trying to become Road Pizza

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  • Trying to become Road Pizza

    This is a pedestrian issue, and almost literally roadkill.

    It was around noon on Sunday, and I was heading to the theatre for the Superman double feature special they were doing. (Death of / Reign of animated movies showing).

    I was downtown on the main street heading up the hill to the main shopping district, and my light was just turning green. On the far corner is a Tim Hortons, and I saw someone come out and I could tell exactly what he was going to do.

    Without looking, without pausing a second, he walked out and crossed the street on the Don't Walk/Red light signal.

    Luckily I was paying attention (as was the person coming the other way). The light had just changed but it was solid red for a few seconds by that point (in his direction). I laid on the horn, but he just kept looking ahead, acting oblivious to what he was doing.

    Overall traffic was pretty light at least, and I'm not one to road rage much; but that was one case where I inched closer. Just because of that idiot's sheer audacity. You could tell as he was coming down the sidewalk he was going to cross the street without a pause, lights be damned.

  • #2
    It is time like this that I hate ABS. Nothing like the sound of tires skidding to make someone s***t their pants.
    Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
    Save the Ales!
    Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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    • #3
      Let me guess -- staring at his phone? I had someone do that to me right in front of my work. She had her face in her phone, and she blindly stepped out into the street and crossed without ever even looking up from her phone.
      Sometimes life is altered.
      Break from the ropes your hands are tied.
      Uneasy with confrontation.
      Won't turn out right. Can't turn out right

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      • #4
        For as much as bicyclists scare me on a daily basis, I don't see super close calls that often. Today I saw a guy nearly become road pizza. It wasn't anything special, just a guy on a bike going from the sidewalk to the crosswalk without looking to see if any cars were coming. One direction had a red, but the other way had green, just turning to yellow. Someone going through the yellow laid on the horn and slammed on the breaks as the guy on the bike goes right in front of him.

        Bicyclist throws his hands up and spits, and looked like he was still going to go in front of the car! But the car was not having it, so the bicyclist was forced to stop. This sort of thing is why I bought my dash cam.
        Replace anger management with stupidity management.

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        • #5
          Quoth MadMike View Post
          Let me guess -- staring at his phone? I had someone do that to me right in front of my work. She had her face in her phone, and she blindly stepped out into the street and crossed without ever even looking up from her phone.
          Surprisingly, I don't think he was staring at the phone. (and that area of downtown is prime PokeGO territory. I've been known to wander around there spinning stops and catching Pokemon. Though I specifically make sure I have my phone lowered as I cross the street with the walk signals).

          He was determinedly looking forward and specifically NOT looking from side to side. I'm pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing and being an asshole and not acknowledging anyone.

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          • #6
            ...So, basically the original meaning of the term "jaywalker" -- "jay" is a (now-outdated) pejorative that refers unkindly to idiots/hayseeds/rednecks, etc. It is of note that the car industry and/or its supporters were the ones that brought about such laws -- to keep those stupid pedestrians off of the streets (that had once belonged TO the pedestrians...), as a way to blame them for all of the fatal traffic accidents. I mean, what are drivers supposed to do, YIELD to a mere human? Pff! For shame
            "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
            "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
            "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
            "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
            "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
            "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
            Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
            "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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            • #7
              Quoth Jetfire View Post
              I'm pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing and being an asshole and not acknowledging anyone.
              Oh, OK. I've seen this type before too -- "I'm the pedestrian and I'm going to walk about in front of you and you have to stop!" While technically that's correct, the laws of humans don't override the laws of physics. As the title said, road pizza.
              Sometimes life is altered.
              Break from the ropes your hands are tied.
              Uneasy with confrontation.
              Won't turn out right. Can't turn out right

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth MadMike View Post
                Oh, OK. I've seen this type before too -- "I'm the pedestrian and I'm going to walk about in front of you and you have to stop!" While technically that's correct, the laws of humans don't override the laws of physics. As the title said, road pizza.
                Sadly, they can choose their legal rights or their life.. There's a main crossing point by a mall near me, where this is rife. One small happiness in my frequent trips there are the days I hit the lights just right, sailing through an empty lane just as the lights turn green.

                One such day, a bloke to whom the red man on the crossing does not apply, got a nasty shock. He hadn't made it half way across the lights when I sailed past his nose, causing him to stop, as it was that or walk into the side of my car. He was invisible to me thanks to the truck in the other lane, I only saw him when it was too late for me to stop, even at 20mph. Hopefully he was reminded that physics and mortality apply.

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                • #9
                  Just had a good one earlier this week. I was getting onto a very large freeway (101 south) from a large surface street, and was accelerating up to freeway speed so I could merge in safely. In doing so, I passed a large sign (they are on basically every on-ramp in the state!) that says "NO PEDESTRIANS/NO BICYCLES/NO MOPEDS" and such.

                  I come around the bend of the on-ramp, and see a GUY ON A BICYCLE who was riding on the shoulder of the freeway, and was tootling across the on-ramp so he could continue on his merry way. At a nice leisurely pace, probably 10 MPH. Which left me at least 40 MPH closing speed, probably more because of the angles. Happily, my brakes work quite well and I was left with nothing more problematic than an elevated heart rate and a whole lot of swearing on my part.

                  He never even turned his head.
                  “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                  One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                  The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

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                  • #10
                    I hate the ones who never even look. If they're going to put wear on my tyres and adrenaline in my bloodstream, they should at least get a little bit of panic to pay for my stress!

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                    • #11
                      Quoth EricKei View Post
                      I mean, what are drivers supposed to do, YIELD to a mere human? Pff! For shame
                      There is a set of rules that should be more applicable. The rules of right of way at sea. They work like this -

                      You give way to any vessel from your starboard (right) side and expect any vessel on your port (left) side to give way to you, except power gives way to sail, and small gives way to might and lack of maneuverability gives way to no one.

                      So a large oil tanker in a narrow passage has to maintain way to keep its rudder working. It will run aground if it stops. The small sailboat zipping along in the water too shallow for the tanker gives way no matter the direction.

                      It is more common sense than a hard set of rules. A large sailboat on a tack close to shore cannot give way without running aground will not give way. A ski boat towing a person or two (in a designated ski area) will not give way. And so on an so forth.

                      So, on the road there is 2 tons of metal going 50 MPH with cars close in other lanes. It has nowhere to go. It cannot give way to a jaywalker. A person on a pedestrian crossing has right of way but would be foolish to step in front of a car doing 50 MPH.

                      I'm sure the jaywalker and the driver of the 50 MPH car are both in the wrong, but I'd rather be alive.

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                      • #12
                        True, true -- But I should clarify that these laws came about in residential and downtown areas where it had once been normal for people to all use the street to walk. Once those 20mph death machines got more popular and started killing people who were already in the street and just didn't think to move, these laws became more and more popular.
                        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth gerund View Post
                          ... and small gives way to might and lack of maneuverability gives way to no one.
                          "This is a lighthouse. Your call."
                          “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                          One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                          The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth Nunavut Pants View Post
                            "This is a lighthouse. Your call."
                            "This is a bridge. Your call."

                            (In this case, the Captain decided to keep going straight (well couldn't stop going straight; the ship was reversing by the time impact happened. )

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                            • #15
                              I was driving home after dark tonight when I noticed a faint movement near the curb.

                              A cyclist ... in dark clothes, with absolutely NOTHING on his/her bicycle or clothing that was reflective or "lightable." Oh, and the bike itself appeared to be dark-coloured.

                              Basically invisible UNLESS you happened to catch that faint flutter of movement near the curb ... the movement of the pedals and the overall movement of the bicycle. There was, of course, an excellent chance that some driver who was even momentarily distracted would mow this idiot down, possibly without even knowing what had happened.

                              Then after I got home, I was waiting by the elevator when the elevator door opened and out came ... a guy with his bicycle. He's in dark clothes. The bicycle is dark-coloured. And as far as I could see, it had nothing reflective or "lightable" on it.

                              It's an epidemic of stupid, I swear.
                              Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                              ~ Mr Hero

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