Brittney Gilbert at Eye On Blogs brings our attention to what could be our new favorite blog, The Pedestrianist. More than any driver or cyclist, the delicate pedestrian is the single most maligned minority in the history of the world, ever. (Examples: Where are our energizer stations? Where are our street closures? Where are our coalitions? Where in the hell are our biergartens with porta-potties?) Apparently, jaywalkers make streets safer. We're living speed bumps, if you will. The Pedestrianist says:

Motorists sacrifice the safety of other road users in exchange for speed; bicyclists do too, to a lesser extent; pedestrians do not endanger anyone else by their choice of transportation. When breaking a traffic law further exaggerates these differences it's far worse, IMHO, than when breaking a traffic law results in a more even - and safer - playing field.

Genius in its accuracy and logic, yes? But wait, there's more:

When a driver blows through a red light, he's sacrificing the safety of others for his own speed even more than the already high baseline of driving. That's worse than when a bicyclist blows through a stop sign (assuming no pedestrians are around) not because bicyclists are morally superior, but because the bicyclist's behavior makes everyone slow down, which makes everyone safer.

And when pedestrians jaywalk (assuming they are not oblivious to their surroundings) they make both bikes and cars slow down. And that's a great thing.

It is a great thing, agreed. Except for the whole hit-by-a-truck-and-killed thing, that is.

That said, who wants to start the SF Pedestrian Coalition? Also, check out WalkSF for more on pedestrian issues.