YEILD! As in SLOW the **** down!

[BookstoreEscapee]

Ugh, I work at a distribution center, and there's a costco DC on the same road (we're the only things on this road), so there's trucks in and out all the time. They make me nervous.

There was a bad accident a year or two ago near me, between a car and a dump truck loaded down with concrete. I don't know the circumstances or who was at fault, but the paper had pics of the car and it was just crushed and the driver was seriously injured.

On the subject of bright lights: about 5 years ago I was rear ended, and a couple months later was the guy's court date (on my birthday, lol), so my mom and I went to see what would happen to him (over 1000 bucks in fines). There were a number of people ahead of him and I swear at least half of them were there because they had those ultra bright, bluish little round lights, which are illegal (those or extra dark window tinting). I had to laugh--these people spent all this money on fancy lights and dark windows, then got fined and escorted out to the parking lot by the bailiff so he could verify they had removed them. hahaha.

[myswtghst]

We saw plenty of things like that in the hospital parking lots where valeted/drove a shuttle. We generally encouraged the little old men and ladies to use the free valet, so we could park their boats...I mean, cars, for them.

[Rahmota]

About pedestrians: One thign I hate is how out here in the country we dont have sidewalks. SO you'll get people walking down the middle of the road or right on the shoulder and not move over or get into the ditch. Yes sometimes the ditch is deep or muddy but which would you rather get your foot muddy or eat the grill of a passing car? Especially annnoying are those fools who wear all black on a moonless night and then dont get over when they see the headlights coming. I mean I'll go out in a black duster but if I see a car coming, especially from behind, I'll get over into the ditch or at least as far as possible and turn my face to the car. That way at least I'll see my death coming.

[SuperDan]

Day or night, in a busy place or in a quiet place, in a parking lot or on a road, there are simple common sense rules to follow (Ok, not like SCs know what common sense is, but anyway...). Actually, some of these are laws that pedestrians must follow if on a public street.

If you're going to do any extensive walking, particularly at night, either wear white or wear something with reflective striping. I wouldn't expect you to dig out the reflective vest for that midnight run across the parking lot into Taco Bell, but if you know you're walking somewhere at night and there aren't sidewalks, dress visibly.

Walk on sidewalks whenever possible. If you must walk on the street, walk on the LEFT, NOT the right. (I suppose this is reverse for those countries with left side driving.) Walking on the street should only be done when it's the only option, but walking on the street should always be done against the direction of vehicle traffic (one way streets excluded of course, not much you can do with thosse). This way you see the driver approaching you and can react appropriately (for instance move to the far side of the shoulder as to not be hit by a cement truck travelling at 45 mph). I'm not sure if this one is a law or not.

Cross streets (or main access road type areas of parking lots) only at marked cross walks or intersections. I know this one is the law on public streets. Jaywalking isn't exactly seriously enforced, but it's a crime for your protection. If you step out to cross the street next on the down-traffic side of an Escalade with tinted windows, I'm sure as hell not going to see you, and I'll be kind of pissed when I have to take my car to the car wash to get the grill and underbody cleaned. Step out onto the street at a marked crosswalk or an intersection. I'll be looking for people to be crossing at those places, and they tend to have much more visibility as well.

See those signs and lights? They apply to you too. Ok, I suppose I'm guilty of just continuing across a street without so much as a pause while walking, but only when I see no cars in all four directions of the intersection. If you approach an intersection with a stop sign, don't just keep walking in front of the cars. You have to stop too. Go when it seems the drivers have all agreed it's your turn to go, when they've all gone, or if you're quick go when a driver is going straight in either direction on the road you'll be continuing on. Treat stop lights the same as you would in a car, except don't start crossing on a yellow because they're rarely long enough for you to make it in time.

Just a few other things... bicyclists should follow the same rules cars follow, when driving always give big trucks their space, always be alert while driving, and yes traffic signs are still valid and enforceable by law enforcement officers even on private property as long as they conform to the standards your state has set for that type of sign and have been reported properly to the city.

[Becks]

I swear at least half of them were there because they had those ultra bright, bluish little round lights, which are illegal (those or extra dark window tinting). I had to laugh--these people spent all this money on fancy lights and dark windows, then got fined and escorted out to the parking lot by the bailiff so he could verify they had removed them. hahaha.

It's not as if the places that provide these illegal items care, they get the money.

That's funny, though.

[Rahmota]

After going to town today I recalled another issue I have with some people.

Scooting up close to me while I am at a red light. I mean traffic is already not moving, so trying to get right up my rear end is not going to make me move and I am in a pickup how do you know i dont have a stick and will roll back into your nice shiny grill? Of course if I did then it would be MY fault according to the law and they know it. But I am not going to be pushed up close to the person in front of me so back off.

I mean with my last truck I had a 3" lift on it (Yes with the swampers) and I had some punk with a fiero try and scoot me forward to the point where I swear he had to be underneath the back bumper of my truck! What was funny was on the old truck I had these auxilary backup lights mounted on the bumper as the factory ones didnt make enough light for me. They ran through a toggle on the dash. So I flipped the toggle and gunned the engine just before the light changed. The look on his face was priceless. I'm goign to have to do that with this truck I guess.

[BookstoreEscapee]

After going to town today I recalled another issue I have with some people.

Scooting up close to me while I am at a red light. I mean traffic is already not moving, so trying to get right up my rear end is not going to make me move and I am in a pickup how do you know i dont have a stick and will roll back into your nice shiny grill? Of course if I did then it would be MY fault according to the law and they know it. But I am not going to be pushed up close to the person in front of me so back off.
.

But I gotta be somewhere...I need that 3 foot head start at the light! Move, man, move!!!

Speaking of jaywalking pedestrians: A few years ago my brother was driving through the downtown area coming up to a light. As you get up to the light the road opens up a bit into a left turn lane. So there's 2 lanes of traffic plus parking spaces on the side that end right about where the road widens. So my brother was just moving over into the left turn lane when he got hit by a FedEx guy. No, not a truck. The guy. Who was apparently running across the street from checking the drop box there. So he just ran straight across instead of walking the 50 yards or so to the crosswalk. And ran right into the side of my brother's car. He wasn't really hurt but that little scanner thing they carry on their belts dented the edge of the door (so the door didn't open properly) and cracked the windshield. I got home from work and his car was in the driveway; my mom pokes her head out and says "look at his windshield." !! He had to borrow my mom's car for a few days until he got the windshield replaced.

Oh, yeah, and the FedEx guy tried to sue him.

[BookstoreEscapee]

about 5 years ago I was rear ended,

Actually, this story fits here too: My street is off of a fairly busy 2-lane highway. I was stopped, waiting to make a left turn into my street. If you pull over to the middle, there's just enough room for a car to get around you on the shoulder (which is only about 1-2 feet wide). So I'm stopped, and the car behind me, a big white boat, just zooms around me on my right. Pretty stupid cuz there's not a lot of room, and the ground next to the road goes up about a foot and there's a phone pole right there. So when I pass someone like that, I always slow way down. So my theory is he didn't even hit his brakes, so the person in the van behind him didn't realize there was a stopped car, since he didn't see brake lights. And wham. Minivan into Chevy Prizm. 50 miles an hour (at least). And my trunk disappeared.

As it turned out, the driver did not have a license (it came up as suspended, but when we went to court I learned that he was not able to get one in the first place, I think because of his immigration status--he sounded eastern European), and he couldn't find the insurance card for the car he was driving; he was arrested. I got to ride in the ambulance and catch up with my high school classmates (I swear I went to high school with half our first aid sqad).

Anyway, the moral of the story: when you pass someone on the shoulder, SLOW DOWN. And never turn your wheels when you are stopped and waiting to turn. If I had turned my wheels to the left I'd have been pushed into the other lane and into 3 or 4 other cars that were coming. Luckily I went the other way and landed on the shoulder.

-ams-

[Hemily]

Oddly enough, in the UK the law is that pedestrians have the right of way over motorised vehicles on all roads save for motorways. Legally, a car has to yield.

However, cars have the right of weight.

Rapscallion

it's the same here, if we see someone wanting to cross a road, we have to stop.

However, there is a diffrence between right of way and suicide, jumping out infront of a moving car during the winter... is not the right way to cross a road, most the cars here doesen't even have ABS, they will not be able to stop on a penny if you jump infront of the car while giving them a weird look, and most of them loves to stay camoflagued, they dress in black, head out while it's dark, then hide in the bushes until a car comes, then jumps out infront of it, walking as slow they can while the car is sliding on stiff wheels, as it tries to stop on snow...

pedestrians are stupid, want proof? head to a shopping mall, try to avoid the bunch of people on a cellphone swirwing around with shopping carts, or just thinking everyone else have to yeiold to their sorry asses, pushing their shopping cart at full speed into a line of people in a shop... like what happened to me during christmas, before my surgery on my toe, people kept trying to push their carts through the line, instead of going behind the line, wich is a HUGE opening, 5 time.... FIVE!! times, my painfull toe, was run over by people with shopping carts, these same people walk along roads jumping out infront of cars, there should be a walking test to get your walking license...

[protege]

Day or night, in a busy place or in a quiet place, in a parking lot or on a road, there are simple common sense rules to follow (Ok, not like SCs know what common sense is, but anyway...). Actually, some of these are laws that pedestrians must follow if on a public street.

When I had the paper route, I sometimes got caught out at night. Usually, because of weather, or if the truck was late that day. Even so, I tried to be careful. My jacket had reflective tape on the back, and my wagon had reflectors on both ends, and a silver stripe down the side.

Most of the streets here have lights at the corners, but I thought I'd be safe than sorry...

[Arcade Man D]

pedestrians are stupid, want proof? head to a shopping mall, try to avoid the bunch of people on a cellphone swirwing around with shopping carts, or just thinking everyone else have to yeiold to their sorry asses, pushing their shopping cart at full speed into a line of people in a shop... like what happened to me during christmas, before my surgery on my toe, people kept trying to push their carts through the line, instead of going behind the line, wich is a HUGE opening, 5 time.... FIVE!! times, my painfull toe, was run over by people with shopping carts, these same people walk along roads jumping out infront of cars, there should be a walking test to get your walking license...

On the flip side, there is one intersection, the downtown bus transfer station, with, from all four directions, 3-4 clearly visible signs that say "No Turns". This is to expedite bus transfers as you can always cross when you have a green light. I've had horns beeped at me when I was walking across, with the light, and someone was trying to turn. If I weren't always on my way somewhere when I was there, I'd have half a mind to just stand there until the light went yellow.

[Reyneth]

My biggest driving pet peeve hasn't been brought up yet....

For all that you hold holy, PULL OVER when you see/hear the lights and sirens of an emergency vehicle! If you're in the left lane waiting for a red light (like I was the other day) and can't get over, just stop. Don't flick off and try to cut off the people who are following the law. Don't turn left through the intersection when the firetruck is less than 100 feet away from that intersection. There should be no reason an emergency vehicle should be having to slow down for your entitled being - where they are going in a huge hurry is more important and time-sensitive than where you are, I can guarantee that 99.9% of the time.

If you don't know where they are but hear the sirens, by all means keep going but keep an eye out for them from all directions. If you see them though and they are headed your direction or will be crossing your path, PULL OVER.

And of course these drivers would be the first to try and sue the ambulance company for not getting to them fast enough when it was their family member that was having an emergency.

I also think the jockeys on radio stations and commercials played on the radio should be banned from incorporating sirens into anything. Heck, even songs. That is not a sound effect that should be broadcast over a medium that many people listen to while driving.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Thank you thank you thank you. People's cars should just be equiped to automatically explode in a deadly fireball after they turn in front of emergency vehicles.

And I agree that radio stations should never incorporate sirens, horns, screeching tires, or anything like that into what they play. It causes a very bad distraction to drivers, and could cause someone to react to something that they shouldnt.

[Hemily]

i dunno how itæs over in americaland, but here, the emergency vehicles, have to follow the traffic rules, yes, they can break the rules, if they're not endangering the public, so theoretically, you could be an ass, and make a firetruck stop when it usually whould have to yield, you're legally allowed to, but it is, as you demonstrate, highly frowned upon.

(my dad's a firefighter )

[protege]

Part of the problem here at least...is some emergency vehicles use their lights/sirens simply to get ahead of traffic. They'll put their lights on, force traffic to stop or get out of the way...and then turn their lights back off. I've seen it happen more than once--because of this, people think that the "emergency" isn't a big deal and won't move.