If you're going to jaywalk....

[Dave1982]

Here's a protip: if you're going to jaywalk across a busy city street, do NOT do it while wearing dark clothing in a poorly lit area at NIGHT!

Last night I was driving a colleague home, and she requested to stop off at a nearby liquor store on the way. I agreed to do so, and after she made a quick purchase, we headed back to her house.

Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot she shrieked for me to watch out. Some dumbass was sprinting across the street to get to the liquor store and had chosen the same moment as I was pulling out to jump into the street, wearing dark clothes, nowhere NEAR a streetlight, at night.

If she hadn't said something I would have hit him for sure.

I guess at 10PM on a Saturday night, the need for booze takes precedence over basic safety when it comes to crossing a busy street.

[Sandman]

We had a case like that out here.. but sadly the person was hit and killed.

Driver was not cited with anything, and was declared not at fault..

Reason... THE PEDESTRIAN WAS TOO DAMN STUPID!! (wearing dark clothes.. at night.. in a poorly lit area.. jaywalking)

[bhskittykatt]

A lot of people here have dark Halloween costumes recently -- dark hoods, capes, etc. You are invisible to cars at night!

Hubby just saw a silhouette passing in front of him, giving him "the wave", as he drove home the other night. If that guy hadn't been backlit by the lights at the crosswalk further down the road (dumbass), Hubby wouldn't have seen him in time!

[Pimento]

That annoys me as much as people who dont put their dogs on leashes and let them run in the road. I do not slow down for either.

[Ironclad Alibi]

That annoys me as much as people who dont put their dogs on leashes and let them run in the road. I do not slow down for either.

You really should slow down for them. If you're going too fast, you could damage your car.

[Andara Bledin]

I almost ran down one of these dipshits last year.

Big-ish street, 40mph limit, sparse lighting... you get the idea.

One night, I'm driving down the street, heading home. It's sometime around 11pm and I see the lane divider dots disappear for a bit of a stretch. That's the only clue I had that some Darwin Award candidate was in the middle of the street, moseying his way along.

If there wasn't so much opposing traffic, I would totally use my brights whenever I'm on that stretch.

^-.-^

[joe hx]

Yeah I almost hit someone once because it was dark out, they were wearing dark clothes. Plus they had their kid with them too, complete with dark clothes!

[Rantsylvania 6-5000]

Bonus points if it's raining.

People do that shit all the time around here! Usually the only reason I see them at all is because of distant headlights of cars coming in the opposite direction!

[Kogarashi]

I know I've mentioned this one on here before. Almost hit one a year or so ago myself. Dark clothes, moseying across the entrance to my complex's parking lot where there are no lights. What made it worse was the fact that they were black. Not even their skin reflected my headlights. The only reason I knew they were there was because they were smoking, and I just barely saw the glowing ember of their cigarette.

[blas]

It's bad enough during the day that I have to play pedestrian obstacle course in the middle of the road.....if this happened at night, I swear I'd roll down the window and start screaming.

[Andara Bledin]

What made it worse was the fact that they were black. Not even their skin reflected my headlights.

I'm in a mostly-black neighborhood, so most of the peds I have to try to not run over are black. I've had the glowing ember tip me off, too, but it's rare that they're smoking an actual cigarette.

^-.-^