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I pull up to a four-way stop. I signal to turn left. There are two joggers coming along the sidewalk opposite me. They reach the corner just as I come to a stop. I wave them through; they wave back and cross the street I'm about to turn onto.
A truck approaches from my left as the joggers go by, stops, and makes eye-contact with me as if to indicate he knows its my turn next.
So far, so good.
But then there's the other three pedestrians to deal with--two women and a man, having a spirited conversation on the corner where the joggers crossed. The two women are moving toward a parked car, so I don't worry about them. But the man keeps inching toward the crosswalk like he also wants to cross the street I'm about to turn onto.
The driver of the pickup is also watching warily. This guy is not watching traffic at all; he's still looking at the two women and talking and laughing even as he moves away from them.
The moment I determine he's not going to cross and let my foot off the brake pedal, he steps into the crosswalk.
I stop.
He steps back onto the curb.
I start moving again.
He takes a few steps into the crosswalk.
I stop again.
He also stops, directly in my path, still fully engaged in his conversation with the two women.
I reach for my horn.
He suddenly seems to notice he's in the street, glances at me, and backs a few more steps through the crosswalk.
According to Oregon law, I'm not allowed to go through any crosswalk if there is a pedestrian in front of me (obviously) or in an adjacent lane. These are two-lane streets. Meaning I can't finish my turn--even though I'm now smack in the middle of this intersection--until this guy gets all the way across. And he's clearly in no hurry to do that.
One of the women yells something. He takes about three steps toward her to make his response. He's directly in my path again! And other cars are approaching from other directions, probably wondering why I'm stopped in the middle.
The truck driver and I both roll down our windows at the same time and shout at this guy, "Get out of the way!" and "Are you going to cross the street or not?!"
He looks at us in turn, looks at the women, shrugs, yells something like, "Well, I guess I gotta get going," and back-steps across the street while waving and laughing.
I rolled up my window as I finished my turn so my two-year-old daughter didn't have to hear the colorful metaphors the truck driver was blasting at the indecisive crosser.
A truck approaches from my left as the joggers go by, stops, and makes eye-contact with me as if to indicate he knows its my turn next.
So far, so good.
But then there's the other three pedestrians to deal with--two women and a man, having a spirited conversation on the corner where the joggers crossed. The two women are moving toward a parked car, so I don't worry about them. But the man keeps inching toward the crosswalk like he also wants to cross the street I'm about to turn onto.
The driver of the pickup is also watching warily. This guy is not watching traffic at all; he's still looking at the two women and talking and laughing even as he moves away from them.
The moment I determine he's not going to cross and let my foot off the brake pedal, he steps into the crosswalk.
I stop.
He steps back onto the curb.
I start moving again.
He takes a few steps into the crosswalk.
I stop again.
He also stops, directly in my path, still fully engaged in his conversation with the two women.
I reach for my horn.
He suddenly seems to notice he's in the street, glances at me, and backs a few more steps through the crosswalk.
According to Oregon law, I'm not allowed to go through any crosswalk if there is a pedestrian in front of me (obviously) or in an adjacent lane. These are two-lane streets. Meaning I can't finish my turn--even though I'm now smack in the middle of this intersection--until this guy gets all the way across. And he's clearly in no hurry to do that.
One of the women yells something. He takes about three steps toward her to make his response. He's directly in my path again! And other cars are approaching from other directions, probably wondering why I'm stopped in the middle.
The truck driver and I both roll down our windows at the same time and shout at this guy, "Get out of the way!" and "Are you going to cross the street or not?!"
He looks at us in turn, looks at the women, shrugs, yells something like, "Well, I guess I gotta get going," and back-steps across the street while waving and laughing.
I rolled up my window as I finished my turn so my two-year-old daughter didn't have to hear the colorful metaphors the truck driver was blasting at the indecisive crosser.
Might as well be "a large collection of breweries and pot shops." But in a good way, mostly.
It's TWO LANES so if one car stops and another's coming, I can't just assume it will stop. Things get awkward so quickly and I want to scream at them, I DON'T HAVE A LIGHT! Just let me jaywalk in peace...
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