When Pedestrians Have to Rush

Cars Should Respect the Right of Way

I will be the first to admit that it is downright annoying when pedestrians run across multi-lane roads during heavy traffic when they could wait for walk-signals. But frequently, pedestrians have the right of way, either because they are crossing a crosswalk or because they have a walk signal. During these times, many walkers still feel the need to rush across the street and for good reason! Impatient cars may honk or rev at people on foot trying to cross! This is simply wrong.

Yesterday I was driving along and I stopped at a stop sign where there was also a crosswalk. A woman approached and stepped into the crosswalk and I smiled at her. She graciously waved at me for letting her cross and then quickly scurried across the short intersection. I was baffled. The woman, pleasant as she was, seemed to thank me for stopping, which I was legally obligated to do, and then proceeded to hurry anyways so as not to frustrate me. This seems absurd.

Since when have we lived in a world where humans are supposed to try to please impatient cars and their drivers? If you ask me it should be the drivers who thank the walkers for allowing them to drive down the streets. But alas cars are heavier and much more dangerous than pedestrians, so they have aggressively taken over crosswalks an intersections. I believe that we should make changes to our cities so that pedestrians do not feel as though they need to live in fear of cars!