This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
Land of the walking idiots
I applaud walking, really i do. however, when someone is in a car at an intersection, why must the vast majority of the walking population insist on crossing the street in front of the car, and not behind it ? is it that difficult to comprehend that you
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Pedestrians have the right of way, and when pedestrians use that privilege sensibly, drivers have a responsibility to concede that pedestrians have the right of way and to handle their vehicles accordingly. This is the law governing drivers in N.S. Now, why would a pedestrian deliberately make themselves less visible to a driver by walking behind their car? Am I going to trust my safety to a driver who would rather see me risk injury or death to save you a few seconds at a stop sign? Drivers with this attitude demonstrate why being a pedestrian can be so dangerous in Halifax. Pray that you don’t encounter a driver like yourself when you are without your vehicle.
Are you kidding me? What are you one of these idiots that scoots out to race the light then gets stuck in a crosswalk – no way am I going to walk around to the back of your car to save YOU precious time!! You’re the one in the fucking heated car sitting on your ass – and you are bitching about 5 extra seconds – is life that boring for you that this is what you have come up with to bitch about? Not even an issue – that’s sad…
Please go immediately to DMV and hand in your license. You don’t understand the very basic responsibilities you have under your priviledge to drive – YOU must be in control of your vehicle at all times without exception.
I think Driving Me Mad is referring to certain spots of the city where it is IMPOSSIBLE to pull out. I purposely avoid certain streets now because I know at the upcoming stop sign, there will be a constant flow of pedestrians on the crosswalk which just never ends, therefore never allowing me out. I swear I have waited at the corner of Brunswick trying to turn onto Spring Garden a few times that were so long I couldn’t believe it, because the small break in pedestrians just doesn’t happen. So I stop going that way if I can help it, for my sanity. Ideally, lights would in place to allow me my eventual time to go, however SGR has way too many intersections as it is, so I’m not surprised the city hasn’t added another.
Hey clueless wonders…if a car’s blocking your way, walk behind it. Why would you walk in front of it? When I’m walking, I will walk behind a car in case the go FORWARD and run me over. Last time I checked, pedestrians were hit while the car was going forward, not backwards. So get off your high horses and use your common sense. That and look before you cross, regardless of whether you’re in a crosswalk or not.
Hey clueless wonders…if a car’s blocking your way, walk behind it. Why would you walk in front of it? When I’m walking, I will walk behind a car in case the go FORWARD and run me over. Last time I checked, pedestrians were hit while the car was going forward, not backwards. So get off your high horses and use your common sense. That and look before you cross, regardless of whether you’re in a crosswalk or not.
If you wouldn’t stop so fucking close to the road maybe it wouldn’t be a problem. Learn some road ettiquette.
Walking behind a car puts the pedestrian in just as much danger. You can be squashed between cars if an approaching vehicle fails to stop. By the way Driving Me Mad, I bet you park your car so you block the sidewalk too. I love keying the trunks of those cars. Its a sidewalk not a parking lot.
I agree with the last post. I drive and I walk. If a car is nudged out into the intersection, waiting for a break, I walk behind it. That is a LOT safer than walking in front of it. ‘Nuff said.
Ya. I tried that once – walking behind a car. He aparently couldn’t really decide whether to stay put or go, so instead he backed up….yup ran right into me he did – knocked me clean off my feet…too bad I didn;t sue, but then again, I wasn’t in the crosswalk (my bad? methinks not – his car was already halfway through it before he changed his mind!)
I am an avid walker and a biker as well. I refuse to get a car because for one, it promotes laziness and 2, it pollutes the atmosphere. There is too much technological convenience in this world today. Why don’t you get up off your ass and actually try walking someplace further than the distance from the bathoor to the living room. See how pedestrians and bikers feel when almost being run over in the fucking sidewalk by drivers that are so impatient to wait for us to cross that they either yell “HURRY THE FUCK UP”, rev the engine, hit us or come within 5 seconds of hitting our young ones (7 years old or younger) before hitting the breaks. I key and pund the shit out of the cars of people like that. Get a fucking life.
ya know, driving is a fucking pirveldge, not a right. So, whe it occurs that a car blocks MY path to the toher side, all apologies, but I’m going to fuckin’ cros in it’s path. Why? Because I used personal effort to cross that road and beyond, not my priveledges and fossil fuels. Fukcin’ deal with your 4 second wait you non-carpooling, gas-sucking wankers
YES – Somewhat impatient driver, you’re right….its THOSE spots that are ugly and being both a driver and pedestrian I understand. I always walk behind cars at that intersection and the sackville/queen street one. Those intersections are brutal for drivers to pull out of. It would be nice if we could all just get along and notice that a driver needs to pull into traffic or a pedestrian needs a safe place to cross. People just need to open their eyes and be a little less self consumed and a little more aware of their surroundings.While we’re on the topic — DRIVERS – DON’T PULL INTO AN INTERSECTION IF IT MEANS YOU’LL BE STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF IT – IT CAUSES GRIDLOCK YOU IDIOTS!
Thank you for applauding walking. I have been doing it since I was 13 months old, and I think I am finally getting the hang of it. But thanks, it means a lot to me, and trying to avoid being the meat in a car sandwich is quite a challenge as well. Sometimes, when pedestrians walk in front of you and your metal contraption, they are actually avoiding having to walk in front of the other car person behind you.I applaud driving, too. Just think that the walking thing comes first. Yes, you have to yield to the walkers. Tough shite.
stop sign means stop. nuff said.
I also ALWAYS walk in FRONT of a car that is sitting on a crosswalk. Keep your car on the other side of the line like you’re supposed to, you lazy fucktard, and you’ll have no problem.
There’s a lot of car haters downtown and in the core city area. Biiiig surprise because = you don’t need to drive much if at all!WIthout addressing the OP really, this stupid “drivers are bad” scenario is just ridiculous. Tell you what. Open a map of this or any other city, take a look at where people live vs. where they need to go, where “reliable” transit options are, density of residential and commercial areas, etc and tell me again how we should all just start riding bikes/walking and that people driving are somehow evil.Get you head out of your ass. I’m not saying driving is the only option for the future but it’s sure as hell the most viable for almost everyone now because if it wasn’t this would be manhatten and no one would own a damm car!Try to picture a 50 year old lawyer in a three piece suit riding a bike into the office from Hammonds Plains in August or January and you’ll see how life’s far from black and white on the issue.Until you realise that, these rants are just childish whining.
to the person who wrote walking idiots, the only time i’ll every walk behind a car is when the jerk is blocking the crosswalk other than that the cross walk is there to cross at. u cant be so impatient that you expect pedestrians to walk behind your car. if you havent noticed walking is more time consuming than driving so if you cant take 2 second to let someone safley cross the road without writing a bitch about it you idiot
Thank you 007 for shedding some common sense to this post! Maybe some of us have jobs that would take 2 hours to walk to, and somehow a 15-minute drive sounds a little more tempting and practical. Maybe we have kids to drive somewhere on the way, so cycling kind of becomes difficult. Maybe we don’t all live on a bus route. Maybe I don’t like lugging home a dozen bags of groceries by foot on a freezing winter day. Must be nice to never EVER have to drive anywhere. Yeah, that’ll be the day.
go with the flow, ego is killing us
i don’t even have a car & im with the bitcher on this 1we live in a society people, let’s flow together, paitence, tolerance, compassion2 the people who ‘walk in front on purpose’ and ‘key’ trunks, & some other’s here with rotten attitudes, your ego is torturing u, gooz fraba, zen, live your life, let it golastly id like 2 quote a previous comment which i agree with word 4 word ‘It would be nice if we could all just get along and notice that a driver needs to pull into traffic or a pedestrian needs a safe place to cross. People just need to open their eyes and be a little less self consumed and a little more aware of their surroundings.’
pedestrians have the right of way you dumb fuck
Pedstrians do have the “right” of way; however, not always. Too many people believe they have the right of way, but please remember that it takes a car travelling at 50 km/hr a lot longer to stop than 2 feet and when people believe they have the right to cross the road and all traffic needs to cease flowing and let that person go, accidents happen.Now I am not on either side, I have been the victim of almost being hit, in a crosswalk with the lights flashing. As well I have been a driver when someone crosses the road when the Don’t Walk sign is flashing; yet the pedestrian still tells me off.Everyone needs to make sacrifices and sometimes cars need to pull a little farther out into the road they are turning onto to see past the parked cars, street signs, people, etc. Just because someone is trying to do their best to see and avoid having an accident, there are some people above who will key the driver’s car. For one if that was me I waould get out of my car, leaving it on the street and kick the ever living shit out of them.To JL, please read a driver’s handbook and realize life is not as black and white as pedestrians have the right of way.