Advocacy & Safety - Try being a ped

If you think you have problems with cars while on your bike, try being a ped. Per mile traveled, I believe walking is much more dangerous due to utter disrespect, bullying, and intentional assault from cagers than riding a bike.

I walked for years before I rode a bike, and I have to agree with you. when you walk on the sidewalk, you are frequently almost hit by motorists crossing your path whenever you cross a side street or driveway. To be safe, you must look over both shoulders whenever you cross a street or driveway. Incidentally, I think this is the same reason that cycling on the sidewalk is also dangerous.

Unfortunately, another danger for pedestrians comes from careless cyclists--especially those riding fast on the sidewalk.

I've walked in heavy city traffic a lot more than I've biked there, and I find that the same kinds of attitudes and actions that are advocated for VC cyclists also work as a ped. Be assertive yet predictable; make eye contact; know what's in front of as well as behind you. The laws on pedestrian right-of-way are even clearer than they are for cyclists. I've stared down plenty of cagers who were thinking about making a right-on-red across a crosswalk that I was crossing. (Too many crosses in that sentence?)

So I guess I disagree with your premise that walking is more dangerous. I think it's less dangerous due to stricter laws & greater understanding on the part of motorists; greater maneuverability/stability on the part of pedestrians than cyclists; and a more general separation of cars and pedestrians through sidewalks and crosswalks.

man, those intersections are crazy. especially when pedestrians are supposed to cross at the same time as left turning traffic. makes my heart race everytime. i hate, absolutely hate, the feeling of a car idling behind me just waiting to transport it's fat driver to the donut house.

I agree, being a ped is not more dangerous but the level of contempt & (at intersections) menacing driving can be the same. Here there are not the insults & thrown objects as in Eastern Conn. (Many drivers there also like to speed up when they see someone crossing the street - the young male syndrome again. Not all of course, but it only takes a few to create an atmosphere.)

Vehicles are supposed to stop at crosswalks here but i prefer not to put myself in the path of a hurtling deathmobile except downtown where multiple people are crossing at any given time. I just wait for the car to go by before i cross. Normally they will stop but some will come awfully close. I don't need the stress. I don't want to find out if they're going to stop or not.

I challenge anyone who thinks walking is less dangerous to spend a day walking in Ft Lauderdale or any other place in So. Florida. Ped crossing lites mean abso nothing here and it is why so many cross streets between corners when cars are stopped for lites, and dart thru cars to the other side. The two worse places are Sunrise Bl, any place from the beach west, and the Broward Bl and US I intersection downtown. You step of a curb WITH the crossing light in the peds favor and you better have your HMO phone # handy for the EMTs to call on the way to hospital. And forget the police, budget cuts have decimated the force

The few places I have felt safe crossing is in Calif. , yeh, laff if you will but they seem to stop there for peds, and in most European cities.

Being on a bike sure isn't any protection either

I agree, being a ped is not more dangerous but the level of contempt & (at intersections) menacing driving can be the same. Here there are not the insults & thrown objects as in Eastern Conn.

I was going to agree with what you stated but you have been to Downtown Los Angeles? I never felt safe with cars going down the main streets (including side streets) at 40 mph! This is why the streets were deserted because it was like walking on slow highway.

The other day someone yelled at me while I was walking down the street with my bicycle (flat tire) in the direction of the train station. There's a lot of pathological behavior by the motorist today in the direction of peds. It's like we don't exist but are rather irrelevant beings on TV.

I challenge anyone who thinks walking is less dangerous to spend a day walking in Ft Lauderdale or any other place in So. Florida. Ped crossing lites mean abso nothing here and it is why so many cross streets between corners when cars are stopped for lites, and dart thru cars to the other side. The two worse places are Sunrise Bl, any place from the beach west, and the Broward Bl and US I intersection downtown. You step of a curb WITH the crossing light in the peds favor and you better have your HMO phone # handy for the EMTs to call on the way to hospital. And forget the police, budget cuts have decimated the force


Good one.

I was in the burbs (New Jersey) and could not believe the crossing lights for peds in one place. The light for Peds NEVER turned white but was blinking red warning you if to run to the corner or else! Seriously. I could not believe the light was never in my favor and in fact was working against me!

I was in another situation where I had to cross a highway and the light never turned red for me to cross. I was actually waiting for close to 5 minutes and the light just would not turn even though I pressed the crossing button on the street lamp. Unbelivable.

Around my way they just built up a new mall but you have to cross a four lane highway to get there. The crossing light is never in favor of the ped and when it is your turn to cross the cars on the opposite side ALSO have the green. As a result, the city has to pay a policeman to wait at the corner and help peds to cross the street.