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I love Halifax, I really do. What I don’t love is almost getting killed every time I walk around the city. At least once a day I’m almost struck by cars drifting through stop signs or not looking both ways before turning right into me. I’m a very cautious walker but this continues to happen daily.
Another major frustration with walking around the city is the damn construction blocking half the sidewalks around town. I feel like Frogger jumping from one side of the road to the other, dodging “Sidewalk Closed” signs and cars at the same time. And finally, can we assess the fact that BOTH sides of the road have “Sidewalk Closed” signs on the corner of Gottingen and Rainnie Drive. Where in the heck am I supposed to walk!? —#FrustratedOnFoot
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2015.
I have the same problem downtown, especially when I’m taking my two Yorkies for a stroll. Downtown scares the devil out of those two little mites.
Bang on the hoods of the cars. It gets there attention and relieves stress. I do it when they cut me off on my bike. You can kick door panels too. Screaming helps. They think you’re crazy and roll up their windows and lock the doors. Then you smile and wave and walk/ride on. Don’t think it works? Drive to work with me…
“I love Halifax, I really do.”
There’s your problem right there.
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I’m not sure if banging on cars is such a good idea. I saw a big, really capable looking character get out of his car and go after a cyclist one day. The cyclist had banged on the dude’s car (for cutting him off) and the dude was very angry. If said dude’s girlfriend hadn’t gotten out of the car to calm him down I fear the cyclist would have been chewing on a knuckle sandwich.
I think it’s better to record the offending vehicle’s license plate and phone it in. Vigilante justice can turn out badly.
Not if you’re crazy.
With so many incidents of road rage ending violently, I would no more bang on a car’s hood than I would tease a pack of wild coyotes.
I sometimes wonder if the pedestrian and cyclist bitchers have ever had to drive downtown. No driver can be perfect 100% of the time, and our margin for error is much less forgiving than that of pedestrians & cyclists. Use your fucking heads, lose the sense of entitlement, and take some responsibility for your own safety. Whether or not you had the right of way doesn’t matter much if I was driving with the sun in my eyes and didn’t see you 15′ from the curb, read your mind that you intended to cross, and manage to stop at the crosswalk – all within a span of 5 seconds or less.
This is Bizarro City. Where motorists stop for jaywalkers and blow buy the real peds.
My wife almost got clipped the other day in a parking lot. We were in the crosswalk section (heading into the grocery store) and a car was coming along. If I didn’t yell at my wife (three times) and grabbed her…Pow! Right in the kisser. I knew this was going to happen because as I looked at the vehicle and I knew we were in her blind spot. But at the same time the driver should have been paying attention.