I frequently feel pedestrian rage. I have a low tolerance for people threatening me with their car. People use their cars to threaten pedestrians surprisingly often. Where I live there are two intersections where it is most likely to happen. One is a controlled intersection with a traffic light. The traffic light is the standard red, yellow, green light with no fourth light for controlled left turns. So when a pedestrian is crossing while the walk light is lit, drivers turning left will frequently bully pedestrians with their cars. It really pisses me off. There's something about this intersection that seems to make drivers think that they have the right of way over pedestrians who are crossing while the walk light is lit. These drivers will sometimes do dangerous things to force a lone pedestrian out of their way. And I'm not talking about pedestrians who are dawdling in the crosswalk. I'm talking about pedestrians who are making reasonable efforts to get the hell across the street. If I had it my way, we would be photographing every one of these drivers who menace the pedestrians, and we would charge them with menacing with a deadly weapons-- because that is exactly what they are doing.
The other crosswalk is an unregulated crosswalk. There is not even a stop sign or yield sign. I have told the local police that I think that there is supposed to be a Yield sign there, because there is a very clearly painted crosswalk. The clearly painted crosswalk is an indication for drivers to yield to pedestrians, but they frequently won't. They'll drive right up on a pedestrian and rev their engine and honk and yell. They literally believe that since there is no sign there, then they don't have to yield for pedestrians in the crosswalk and have a right to threaten them with their cars. They approach pedestrians at too high of a speed, basically telling the pedestrian that if they don't hurry up and get the hell out of the way, they are going to run them down.
Cars make people feel powerful, and they are constantly stupid with them. We use them to bully people, and the body count is actually pretty high. Next to drugs and alcohol, my guess is that the next biggest cause of traffic fatalities is idiots trying to push each other around with their cars.
The other crosswalk is an unregulated crosswalk. There is not even a stop sign or yield sign. I have told the local police that I think that there is supposed to be a Yield sign there, because there is a very clearly painted crosswalk. The clearly painted crosswalk is an indication for drivers to yield to pedestrians, but they frequently won't. They'll drive right up on a pedestrian and rev their engine and honk and yell. They literally believe that since there is no sign there, then they don't have to yield for pedestrians in the crosswalk and have a right to threaten them with their cars. They approach pedestrians at too high of a speed, basically telling the pedestrian that if they don't hurry up and get the hell out of the way, they are going to run them down.
Cars make people feel powerful, and they are constantly stupid with them. We use them to bully people, and the body count is actually pretty high. Next to drugs and alcohol, my guess is that the next biggest cause of traffic fatalities is idiots trying to push each other around with their cars.
We do not inherit the world from our parents. We borrow it from our children.
