Calsun

Motorists are always legally obligated to stop for pedestrians regardless of where they happen to be in the roadway. Crosswalks only give pedestrians a false sense of security which is why thousands are injured each year in New York city alone. Reason for the injuries is usually cited as driver inattention. With so many people reading phone texts and eating or drinking or putting on makeup while driving there has been a large increase in traffic accidents in recent years. Many places where I used to bicycle I no longer consider safe and avoid them completely.

koala logs

Making drivers avoid you is a good thing right??

njkayaker

That there is never any "free license" to run people over is blatantly obvious (something that everybody knows). (Anybody not clear on this is not qualified to drive.)

It's so obvious, in fact, it doesn't appear to be explicit in the law: it's just taken for granted that everybody knows about it. Indeed, there's a general principle that you can't run into anything (people or whatnot).

And even with this being so obvious, most (if not all) states added "crosswalk" laws (they certainly didn't do so because they were "unnecessary").

=====================================

Anyway, I was talking about "right of way", which isn't the same thing as an "obligation to stop".

"Right of way" isn't a "right": it's actually just a rule that decides priority.

Everybody is supposed to give "right of way" up ("yield") if taking it is likely to lead to a collision.

That is, "right of way" is secondary to taking action to avoid a collision (your "obligation to stop" thing).

=====================================

This is what I was (basically) saying.

The problem with "right of way" in crosswalks is that many pedestrians misunderstand what it means. They seem to think it's a "free license" to do whatever they want (that's why they have a "false sense of security"). That isn't true practically and legally. One big thing is they are legally required only to enter the crosswalk when it's safe to do so.

That is, pedestrians misunderstand "right of way" (as described in the prior section).

======================

Roadway users often don’t quite get the concepts of “collision avoidance” (first thing) and “right of way” / “yielding” (second thing).

The language used in boating for the same concepts is different and more clear (I think). The concepts are also explicitly taught and prospective captains are required to understand them.

rekmeyata

If you are going to be riding in the street with traffic use bright front flasher of at least 400 lumens, and rear flashers at least 250 lumens.

Never ever overtake or pass any type of vehicle on the right, especially large profile vehicles, and with large profile vehicles never ride along side of them even if they're in a middle lane and you're in the right-hand lane, they need a lot of space to turn and they may not or won't see you and make a turn using 2 lanes even, or even using a sidewalk to make the turn, if you are anywhere near them, you will be crushed. Stay at least 8 feet behind a large profile vehicle's rear bumper, and stay in such a position so that you can see their face in a side mirror, also by staying back 8 feet some large vehicles could row back upon starting, if you're too close they will back over you.

Ronwalker

Wear a helmet and look around more often, especially when crossing the street.