December 19, 2007
Jaywalking-- Smart or Darwinism?
You know on Market Street how there's that left-hand turn lane if you want to go on Valencia? And you know how everyone likes to rush through when the light turns green to make sure they can get onto Valencia without having to wait through another cycle of traffic signals? We know what you're thinking everytime you make that turn-- hey, what an awesome place to jaywalk! Which is what some woman, latte in hand, did right in front of us as we tried to make that turn in rush hour.
How many ways does this piss us off? Like the fact if she just crossed Valencia Street, there's an actual crosswalk there. Or the fact that she still has to jaywalk Market Street even after jaywalking the lane, making it not a very smart place to jaywalk to begin with. Or just the sheer fact that she thought it was cool to jaywalk in the middle of incoming traffic.
Look, we jaywalk too. A lot. But we consider ourselves good jaywalkers. We don't mind jaywalkers who are smart, but we hate jaywalkers who are stupid-- they give jaywalking a bad name (bad name). See, us good jaywalkers know that there's two basic rules to jaywalking:
-Don't jaywalk in the middle of traffic
-If you're jaywalking with traffic headed your way, don't saunter across the street with a latte in your had and an attitude that there's nothing wrong with asking a bunch of cars to slow down just for you-- move your ass.
See, this way you don't piss off drivers. Not to mention get friggin hit by a car.
Anyways, to you, Jaywalking Lady, since we didn't do this while driving yesterday, we'll do this now:
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Nothing beats Oakland Telegraph Avenue jaywalking:
Brazen. Slow. Entitled. Suicidal.
It's a perpetual game of socio-economic chicken.
Jaywalking doesn't kill people ... people kill people.
I find a revving engine and a blase stare to be quite effective at shaking the self-absorbed out of their stupor.
The regular street people denizens of the 5th and Market area make a sport of walking out into the heavy traffic, daring to be hit.
One day several years ago I saw one of them walk out into the street in heavy traffic without a pause and get nailed. They flew 50 feet or so and one of their shoes actually went over my head where I was standing on the far side of the intersection. He did not survive.
As aweful as this was, it was also a powerful demonstration of evolution in action. Eventually the utterly stupid do not prevail.
Er, the Beatles are not jaywalking. That's a zebra crossing.
Sixth Street too.
If it were NYC, these yahoos would get tickets and actually have to *pay* them. Just saying.
Maybe there should be an extra fine for Failing To Move Your Ass While Jaywalking?
Jaywalking $50
Failure to move your ass $150
Can we just agree to do things the New York way? Pedestrians yield to automobiles. Say it with me, folks. Pedestrians yield to automobiles. Is it so hard to imagine?
I prefer jaywalkers to car drivers. Any day. Any time. Any where.
if you find this so irritating, consider that perhaps you really shouldnt be behind the wheel of a car.
i was going to also say something about how cars suck, but you guys did my work for me.
Ground zero for Bay Area jaywalking has to be Bancroft Way between Telegraph and College on the south edge of the UC-Berkeley campus. On these two blocks, you'll constantly see the worst kind of jaywalking, i.e. people stepping out right in front of moving cars, usually without looking, usually distracted by cell phones or conversations, with absolutely no expectation that they'll be hit.
They get away with it because bus drivers and motorists on that stretch are willing to drive 5 mph and stop at any time. If you don't leave campus much, you could conceivably not learn that jaywalking is bad until age 22.
In the words of Kanye West: "I believe the children are our future, but f*** that."
Unfortunately, our streets were not designed for pedestrians, cyclists, and autos to all use at once. The result of that lack of planning can be seen every day.
In the Mission we refer to the swarthy jaywalkers Generic describes as "Matadors."
Jaywalkers bothering you? Don't like driving in the City?
Then don't drive.
You anti-car folks are really bugging the s**t out of me. You can't even see the argument that stupid jaywalking is stupid because you are so blinded to anyone's preference to even occasionally get behind the wheel of an automobile.
This reminds me of the day a few weeks ago when at 16th/S Van Ness I saw a woman start crossing the street against the light that had just turned green across her. I was going the opposite way, two cars back from the line, so I could watch as she apparently decided that the light that just turned red in her preferred direction didn't apply to her and figured that it was a good time to jaywalk. She stepped off the curb into the crosswalk in front of a bus (who graciously refrained from running her straight over), but not a half-step past the front of the bus a motorcycle in the inside lane straight up creamed her. She was instantly on the ground and unconscious. Duh. This was a normal looking 30-40 something woman who did not appear to be homeless or on drugs. I was amazed.
Don't like people driving cars? Don't like walking in the City?
Then don't walk.
It goes both ways. It's sad that most people can't see through thier own clouded BS opinion in SF.
I hate the walkers, bicyclists and car drivers equally. They all suck!
This isn't a car versus pedestrian thing. It is an idiot versus the rest of us thing. As I said in my post, I saw a person die because of this in Market Street.
I myself do not own a car, so in response to your comment, I do not drive in the City.
I am complaining about the jaywalkers because I am waiting patiently at the curb for the light to change while .
Jon. Thank you (not) for the Bon Jovi earworm. Bah.
Rageahol, WL & SanFranCitizen, I don't own a car myself, so I feel your pain. I really do. But rather than bemoan the situation, you should take action!
Find some way to reconcile the needs of both pedestrians and drivers. Maybe you could come up with some kind of system whereby cars drive in this area and pedestrians walk in that area.
I'm thinking maybe some bright lines or perhaps a sequence of lights.
Yeah? I think it could work, especially in the city. See, if the car people crossed over into the pedestrian area, we could make them pay a fine. And vice versa.
So, um, yeah. Mull it over for a while and then we'll chat about the specs.
Remember that in the city, all drivers eventually become peds. You can't pull you car up into your 1000sqft garage like out in the 'burbs and pretend peds don't exist.
- Lookout for people crossing the street and be considerate even if the other person is not.
- Write your district police station and request that jay walking is enforced over car traffic laws.
"Reconcile the needs of both pedestrians and drivers"
Pedestrians: Don't walk out in front of cars.
Drivers: Stay the hell off the sidewalks.
There. Problem solved.
I'm not bemoaning this particular situation and I'm not being anti-car. I drive occasionally in the City. But driving a vehicle is a privilege. A fact that seems to be forgotten when privileged folks start whining about such insignificant things such as jaywalkers and having to wait an extra couple minutes to get somewhere. Perhaps stopping for a jaywalker is a good time to pause and reflect on one's privilege... and the impacts that one's decision to drive are having on all those jaywalkers out there.
So if jaywalkers are bothering you... perhaps your mental condition isn't the best for driving... and maybe you shouldn't be driving... no one likes a distraught driver.
Spot on, Jon ... there's jaywalking that's good/smart and there's jaywalking that's bad/dumb and oblivious. Also the kind that's bad/dumb and arrogant. The worst for a deadly combo of both is Valencia between 16th and 17th when Wannabe Victims pop out from behind parked-in-the-median vehicles.
Absolutely SanFranCitizen, your point is well taken.
Also, the next time I'm held hostage in a heist, I'll consider: perhaps stopping for a bank robber is a good time to pause and reflect on one's privilege ... and the impacts that one's decision to use a bank are having on all those thieves out there.
So if thieves are bothering you... perhaps your mental condition isn't the best for a bank ... and maybe you shouldn't be banking ... no one likes a distraught customer.
See? Logical fallacies can be fun!
"having to wait an extra couple minutes to get somewhere"
Really? Because I would think it's more the possibility of killing a fellow human and the also possible manslaughter charge that gets most of these people's panties in a knot, not the time crunch.
Driving is a complex activity. You are looking out for many things, including bicyclists, traffic lights, traffic signs, traffic in front of you, traffic behind you, traffic coming in and out of your lane, buses swerving in front of you, one-way streets, and so forth. Add to this an arrogant or chemically bedevilled citizen who is either unaware or apathetic to being hit by a large motorized vehicle, and it's bound to end in bloodshed.
And you know what? The car never loses.
+1 to the people who touched on smart/good jaywalking.
It's easy to do it right.
Nothing wrong with walking across a street when no cars are coming, or jogging across when you have enough leeway so the oncoming cars wont have to slow down at all. Do it all the time.
Same with crosswalking against a red, if there are no cars or you have 99% chance of not impacting the flow/speed of traffic. I say go for it.
It's all about having enough respect not to inconvenience other humans just to conveniences yourself.
I doubt people who jaywalk dangerously do so because they're part of that crowd in SF that believes in their hearts that cars are the Great Satan. They just do it because they're idiots.
I wouldn't be suprised if most of them drive, and if some of them honk at other jaywalkers for doing the same thing.
Can we just agree to do things the New York way? Pedestrians yield to automobiles.Say it with me, folks. Pedestrians yield to automobiles. Is it so hard to imagine?
One of the best differences about transportation in San Francisco compared to Chicago or New York are the zebrawalks and the fact that drivers here actually honor them (including myself, on those occasions I drive for whatever reason). I don't think it's so hard for it to go both ways.
[i]"One of the best differences about transportation in San Francisco compared to Chicago or New York are the zebrawalks and the fact that drivers here actually honor them (including myself, on those occasions I drive for whatever reason). I don't think it's so hard for it to go both ways."[/i]
Maybe. Probably not if the zebrawalk is in front of the City Hall front door, the driver has a green minivan, or the pedestrian has a political target on her back. Or all three.