Panhandlers / Squeegee Kids

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Obviously pedestrians should look the hell out, but drivers who can't stop, don't stop or are too goddamn dumb (essentially the only reason) to stop for a pedestrian don't have any excuses.

I'd say if a driver can't stop, it's probably not his fault. The rest of it I agree with.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

I'd say if a driver can't stop, it's probably not his fault. The rest of it I agree with.

Ah, good point.

What I guess I meant is "I can't stop, I'm in a hurry" kind of thing, which I know happens in this town. It's up to the pedestrian to figure out if someone is going to be physically able to stop or not.

[Philly06Cup]

I'm not sure if this thread is about panhandlers or bad drivers, but I will offer my opinion the former.

On Panhandlers:

Squeegee artists are my most hated type of panhandler. I don't mind so much the ones standing on corners holding newspapers, or the ones who follow me around telling me how hungry they are. But the ones who squeegee my car are way too intrusive for my liking.

They're invading my personal space, and providing a service I didn't ask for, that I don't particularly want. It would be like a stranger walking up to you and giving you a back rub, then asking for money. It's just not a very effective strategy.

Giving to panhandlers only encourages them to beg for more free handouts. It's very regressive.

But, I have one exception: I like the panhandlers that ask me how my day is. The ones that at least fake an interest in my life. I don't appreciate being treated like some sort of spare change machine. If they will treat me like a human being, then I'll gladly return the sentiment.

[GoinAllTheWay]

In total agreement with those saying pedestrians need to watch out more as well. It can be freakin rediculous. Your driving down the road approaching someone who is walking in the same direction, they then just turn and step out into the crosswalk without even looking!! All because they are a pedestrian and have right of way. I think to many people play that card.

Not really on the immediate topic but the following pedestrian activity also annoys the crap out of me.

1) Pedestrian who are painfully slow crossing the road. Traffic downtown is bad enough as is but people passing through crosswalks at a nice, leisurely pace drive me crazy. Get the *^&% out of the way and let traffic get going!! Elderly or disabled, fine, take your time. Able body people don't really have an excuse.

2) Your waiting to make a left hand turn (or right but left hand moreso), you finnaly get an oppurtunity to proceed and someone begins to walk through the crosswalk but has to walk in FRONT of you thus cancelling out your chance to make your turn. Is it to much to ask to walk BEHIND a car? Safer that way too.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

In total agreement with those saying pedestrians need to watch out more as well. It can be freakin rediculous. Your driving down the road approaching someone who is walking in the same direction, they then just turn and step out into the crosswalk without even looking!! All because they are a pedestrian and have right of way. I think to many people play that card.

Not really on the immediate topic but the following pedestrian activity also annoys the crap out of me.

1) Pedestrian who are painfully slow crossing the road. Traffic downtown is bad enough as is but people passing through crosswalks at a nice, leisurely pace drive me crazy. Get the *^&% out of the way and let traffic get going!! Elderly or disabled, fine, take your time. Able body people don't really have an excuse.

2) Your waiting to make a left hand turn (or right but left hand moreso), you finnaly get an oppurtunity to proceed and someone begins to walk through the crosswalk but has to walk in FRONT of you thus cancelling out your chance to make your turn. Is it to much to ask to walk BEHIND a car? Safer that way too.

Hmm. So pedestrians should A) watch out and B) walk faster and C) wait for you to turn even though they have a walk signal.

Why not just outlaw walking? Obviously the people doing it are nothing but an inconvenience for you, and we can't have that.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Hmm. So pedestrians should A) watch out and B) walk faster and C) wait for you to turn even though they have a walk signal.

Why not just outlaw walking? Obviously the people doing it are nothing but an inconvenience for you, and we can't have that.

Ok, Captain Sarcasm, that was very clever. 2 thumbs up from me on that one.

A) Pedestrians watching out, what a novel idea.
b) Yes, walk faster, when you have a line up of cars behind you waiting on nothing but some guy who is dragging his a$$ through the crosswalk, pretty sure I'm not the only one who gets annoyed by this. But we can certainly rule you out though.
C) I'm not arguing their right to use a crosswalk, I'm questioning the speed in which some do it.

Your last line gets nothing but an ""

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Ok, Captain Sarcasm, that was very clever. 2 thumbs up from me on that one.

A) Pedestrians watching out, what a novel idea.
b) Yes, walk faster, when you have a line up of cars behind you waiting on nothing but some guy who is dragging his a$$ through the crosswalk, pretty sure I'm not the only one who gets annoyed by this. But we can certainly rule you out though.
C) I'm not arguing their right to use a crosswalk, I'm questioning the speed in which some do it.

Your last line gets nothing but an ""

Ha! I've never been called a Captain before so thanks for that.

Of course pedestrians should watch out. As for "walk faster", I walk like a normal person. I'm not going run across the street in an effort to save you 2 extra seconds.

You kind of were arguing about their right to use the crosswalk, or at least use it when it's an inconvenience to you. You said people should wait for you to go through even when it's their turn.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

You said people should wait for you to go through even when it's their turn.

I did? Can you point that line out for me? I'll continue on while you look as your going to be a while.

2 seconds? Cmon man, that's just getting silly. I'm talking about waiting through a couple of light changes.

[RougeUnderoos]

2) Your waiting to make a left hand turn (or right but left hand moreso), you finnaly get an oppurtunity to proceed and someone begins to walk through the crosswalk but has to walk in FRONT of you thus cancelling out your chance to make your turn. Is it to much to ask to walk BEHIND a car? Safer that way too.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Ummmmmmm, notice the word WALK in there? Not sure how you translated that as waiting for me.

[Vulcan]

Pedestrians don't always have the right of way in a crosswalk. If they are crossing against the light, they're breaking the law and can be said to be fair game. Not that I'd ever want to hit someone. If it says don't walk, well then, you've got to wait for the next light. This drove me crazy in downtown Calgary as cars had no chance to make their turn.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

1) Pedestrian who are painfully slow crossing the road. Traffic downtown is bad enough as is but people passing through crosswalks at a nice, leisurely pace drive me crazy. Get the *^&% out of the way and let traffic get going!! Elderly or disabled, fine, take your time. Able body people don't really have an excuse.

2) Your waiting to make a left hand turn (or right but left hand moreso), you finnaly get an oppurtunity to proceed and someone begins to walk through the crosswalk but has to walk in FRONT of you thus cancelling out your chance to make your turn. Is it to much to ask to walk BEHIND a car? Safer that way too.

I'm sorry, I don't get this.

#1 - in the dead of winter, you have heat in your car. Pedestrians, do not. Hence, it will not "hurt" to wait an extra couple of seconds or minutes (since you didn't like Rouge's qualifier of 2 seconds).

Also, you have places to go, so do walkers. So the "in a hurry/time thing" is thrown out, as it applies to both drivers and non-drivers. I

#2 - This one I don't understand. You are grumpy at the pedestrian making you wait, while using the legal crosswalk (you know, that is advocated for in traffic safety education campaigns and the such)? And instead, you would rather have them walk behind your car, so that you don't have to wait? Did it occur to you that this could put the pedestrian at risk (depends on what the vehicles behind you are doing), the pedestrian is expected to be in the actual crosswalk (that's what they are there for) and it might only be a second or 2, but it can mean a delay in wherever the pedestrian is going to (e.g. having to finagle behind your car and inbetween the one behind it). All this just to save you some time?

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by sec304

It's tough to notice those small squishy people trying to cross the road when you're driving 60km/h talking on your cell phone, changing your CD and eating fries at the same time while steering with your knees!

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

All the more reason for pedestrians to look the hell out.

Or for the driver to take responsibility for their actions, and pay attention....

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Ummmmmmm, notice the word WALK in there? Not sure how you translated that as waiting for me.

I translated it to "waiting for you" because you appear to be suggesting that you should go through and they should walk "BEHIND a car", that car being, I assumed, yours.

In other words, wait for you to go, then walk BEHIND your car.

Is that not what you meant? If not, which car should they safely walk BEHIND?

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I translated it to "waiting for you" because you appear to be suggesting that you should go through and they should walk "BEHIND a car", that car being, I assumed, yours.

In other words, wait for you to go, then walk BEHIND your car.

Is that not what you meant? If not, which car should they safely walk BEHIND?

Yes, this is how I interpretted it as well. It appears that the pedestrian should, when crossing, go behind the car that is first in line (so inbetween the first and 2nd car in line), so that the first car can go without waiting.

I apologize if that is not what you are meaning, but it doesn;t really come across any other way....

[GoinAllTheWay]

#1 - Don't recall saying anything about what season it is and if it's that cold, would that not make them hurry across the road faster? To a warmer destination perhaps?

2nd line I'm not sure what your getting at.

3) Ok, your being just as silly as your figure I'm being. How is being behind a car any more/less dangerous then the front? We're not walking through a mine field here.

OK, you guys are apparently mis-interpreting what I meant. I'm sitting at, say, a T-intersection waiting to turn left. A pedestrian approaches from my left, instead of walking in front of me, take a few steps to the right and go behind me. I see he is going behind me and proceed to make my turn. I have done this numerous times and have not even had a sniff of any danger as a result of doing so. I have even had a number of appreciative waves from people seeing me do this when I'm a pedestrian for them as they have managed get into the opening they would have missed if I had walked in front of them.

And yes, in the event of you making a right hand turn, it very well could be safer to walk behind the car turning and I will give you an example.

Outside my office last week, a pedestrian walked in front of a car waiting to turn right, driver had his head turned left, soon as the opening came, he proceeded but did not see the pedestrain approaching from the left and wound up hitting him pretty good. Would have been avoided had he walked behind instead of in front.

Not saying the driver wasn't a bonehead but that's my example.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

#1 - Don't recall saying anything about what season it is and if it's that cold, would that not make them hurry across the road faster? To a warmer destination perhaps?

2nd line I'm not sure what your getting at.

3) Ok, your being just as silly as your figure I'm being. How is being behind a car any more/less dangerous then the front?

#1 - Yes I know you didn't say anything about that, and thats my point. In general, it appears that you don't want to wait. Period. There are a lot of other factors to consider. Maybe in the cold someone takes longer because its icy/snowy on the street? Point being that you, in the car, can wait the couple of extra seconds for pedestrians to cross because you have the comfort (heat, potentially air conditioning, radio, etc etc).

My 2nd point in #1 relates to that. Pedestrians can be in a hurry or be taking a leisurely Sunday walk. Drivers can be in a hurry or taking a lesiurely Sunday drive. It works both ways, so the safest way in my mind is to obey the law.

#2 - You don't walk (as a pedestrian) much, do you? I have been a driver and a pedestrian for a fair bit of time. Do you want to know how many times I have done what you suggested, and almost been hit by the vehicle behind you, had the vehicle I am walking behind suddenly back up for no apparent reason, or slipped on a chunk of ice that I can't see because I am sandwhiched between 2 cars.

Perhaps also, have you considered that it is often harder for the next lane of vehicles to see me crossing when I am emerging, hidden, from being inbetween 2 vehicles?

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

OK, you guys are apparently mis-interpreting what I meant. I'm sitting at, say, a T-intersection waiting to turn left. A pedestrian approaches from my left, instead of walking in front of me, take a few steps to the right and go behind me. I see he is going behind me and proceed to make my turn. I have done this numerous times and have not even had a sniff of any danger as a result of doing so. I have even had a number of appreciative waves from people seeing me do this when I'm a pedestrian for them as they have managed get into the opening they would have missed if I had walked in front of them.

What about this, especially my 2nd point? (i.e. harder for other vehicles to see).

Anyways, I gotta run and pick up the wife.

Originally Posted by RedHot25

#2 - You don't walk (as a pedestrian) much, do you? I have been a driver and a pedestrian for a fair bit of time. Do you want to know how many times I have done what you suggested, and almost been hit by the vehicle behind you, had the vehicle I am walking behind suddenly back up for no apparent reason, or slipped on a chunk of ice that I can't see because I am sandwhiched between 2 cars.

Perhaps also, have you considered that it is often harder for the next lane of vehicles to see me crossing when I am emerging, hidden, from being inbetween 2 vehicles?

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Uhhh not sure what rules you are following on the road, or what country you live in, but here you have to yeild to pedestrians. A car never has the right to hit a pedestrian if he/she is not crossing at the right time.

I believe the fine for not yielding to a pedestrian at a crosswalk is $500.

There is no "have to" in this country, if that idiot in the Saturn runs over Tron he'd only get a couple hundred hours of community service and maybe 2 years on probation. Poor Tron on the otherhand would be spending Christmas in a wheelchair. Don't risk your own life on a matter of principles. Even if you're right take the time to wait til these people who're in a hurry pass by before you cross. The idiots will get theirs, just don't risk your life to make sure that it happens, it ain't worth it.

And Tron if you're ever in China don't even THINK about crossing the street on foot until you've learned how to dodge & jump like Super Mario on Nintendo.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

I drive through that intersection on my daily commute. Those guys have been there for years, and routinely are oblivious to the traffic lights (not sure if they're stoned or what).

Sad to hear this accident happened, of course.

Usually the ones I encounter are pretty smart about it and only walk around the cars holding their bum sign up when everyone's stopped at a red. They quickly move back to the sidewalk as soon as the light's about to change so not sure what was going on with this particular incident here, sucks to be him I guess, RIP.