blocking the crosswalk is putting all who have to cross in mortal danger of being maimed or killed!... getting your hood thumped by a weak old man doesn't harm you or the car...
First off, unless you were at a light which had a crosswalk signal, crossing while there is traffic in the street is done at the crossers own risk. If you were already pulled a little forward over the cross walk waiting for traffic to make a right turn, and he crossed from the left of where you were, then he is at fault for crossing into traffic. I can't stand people who think parking lots and cross walks automatically give them the right to act like A**Holes. I don't know if anyone else was raised to "look both ways" but I do and I also yield to traffic as a pedestrian whether I am in a crosswalk or a parking lot. I don't just go taking off into a space and then get angry at the cars that are already there...that's just freaking stupid. The man was obviously looking for an outlet to his anger issues and your car was in his way. I can't tell you the amount of foul language that comes out of my mouth when dealing with stupid people. I have a whole slue of words that I normally wouldn't say, but do say when faced with jerks. It's not like we are in NYC where pedestrians rule. We're in the rest of America where they don't. And Cog, Really? That's where the middle finger expression comes from? I thought it was because that was the finger most used in said act which the finger represents.
Psh. Mortal danger? Seriously. First of all, it doesn't sound like she was IN the intersection, just pulled up a little too far. In addition, you usually have 2-3 feet of give in intersections, for that reason. I doubt he almost got "maimed." It was an immature reaction to pound on the top of the car. I would never do that, mainly because 1. I don't really want anyone to do that to me, and 2. you never know who's hood you're pounding on. I mean, seriously, who does that kind of thing?
This is how I felt, thanks for expressing that for me. If he just shook his head at me, called me stupid, mocked my driving, or flipped me off (all of which he already did), I would've freely pleaded guilty. That pound on my car was the one thing that made me snap. Btw... that "crosswalk" wasn't really a crosswalk and I wasn't really in an intersection, I just have no idea how to describe the location properly. I'd go back to take a picture of it, but I don't think I really care enough to do that. Thanks for reassuring me that what I did wasn't (too) out of line, though!
I agree. From what Ferb has said, it doesn't sound like there was anything going on that put the guy in mortal peril. Sounds like he was just a crotchety old man looking for someone to vent his anger on. Not cool.
Incorrect. Stopping on a crosswalk is illegal, but poorly enforced. Also, the person in a crosswalk has the right of way in nearly all jurisdictions. Most intersections with crosswalks have three lines. The two closest to the intersection extend all the way across, and mark the edges of the crosswalk. Another line before the crosswalk extands across the lanes entering the intersection. Thios is tje stop line, and your front bumper is required to be behind that line when you stop. The drivers who ignore these markings ARE endangering pedestrians. An increase in the number of crosswalk injuries and fatalities is leading to a crackdown in my area.
Ferb, I think that the fact that you feel bad about getting upset with the old man just goes to show what kind of person you are. There aren't many people, myself included, who would feel bad about doing something like that, especially on a day that was already going rotten. It goes a long way to buoy up your character. Honestly, the old man sounds like a crank that just wanted someone to pick on. I mean, I could maybe understand his reaction if you had been entirely blocking the crosswalk, but it doesn't sound like you were. What you did was probably out of line as well... but I can't blame you. I probably would have done the same thing in your situation I have a "touch my car and die policy," so I probably would have done you one better and run him over lol
Cog, if a pedestrian is crossing at a crosswalk on a "No crossing" sign, then the traffic has the right of way, and the pedestrian is in the wrong. Pedestrians don't always have the right of way. If you're at a 4 way stop with a light and crosswalks, the light doesn't change green until the crosswalk sign is on "do not cross." So if (though we know now Ferb was not at one of these types of intersections) he had been going north bound turning right onto the east bound, after the crosswalk sign was already off then the pedestrian didn't have the right of way, thus can't be angry at the driver for being on the crosswalk. If the crosswalk was lit go, then yes he would have been in the wrong. If at a 4 way stop sign, where there are no crosswalk lights, then the pedestrian always has the right of way. But then 4 way stops you wouldn't be waiting for traffic to slow down so that you could turn, so the incident wouldn't happen. It really all depends on where the incident took place and how it is situated to know who was wrong or right.
The driver is never permitted to stop with the car blocking the crosswalk. I'm assuming the pedestrian was not pounding on a car that was not partially or comletely blocking the crosswalk. That mauy be an unfounded assumption, because some people ARE just nucking futs. I have seen MANY drivers stopping centered over the crosswalk, front bumper inches from the cross traffic, just so they can squeeze in that "right turn on red" into any gap in the traffic they can possibly fit their car. If the light changes while the pedestrian is still in the crosswalk, the pedestrian has the right of way. Period. If the pedestrian is deliberately remaining in the crosswalk to interfere with traffic, or enters the crosswalk against the light, he or she can be cited, but it is NEVER permissible to endanger a pedestrian. Outside a crosswalk, you still cannot endanger a pedestrian, but the driver is more likely to be judged not at fault in the event of a collision, if the driver may not have been able to see the pedestrian entering the street or road. The pedestrian doesn't have the right of way in that case, but drivers are still required to exercise due caution. There is no open season for pedestrians.
I remember the day clearly, when i was 14 this happened, and this bloke about a foot taller than me got out and said he was going to kill me and my girlfriend. I stood my ground and e hit me and i got up and kicked him in the knee (I was alwys wanting to kick someones knee inwards back then, the way it doesnt bend) didnt happen but he dropped and i ran. I could have had him charged easy, but i was 14, i didnt know crap all, and everyone who saw it never gave a crap either sadly.
And just now on the news, another fatality as a city worker is struck in a marked construction site by a careless driver.
I don't think that being old immediately qualifies someone for respect. But that's a topic for another thread...
Correct. Depending on where you are, of course. In fact, at my college, there is a cop that habitually sits at the top of the hill in his comfy little cruiser, waiting for students to cross against the light, even when there is no traffic coming (crossing the street is the only way to get to the student parking lot). Then he promptly hands out $70 tickets. Not cool. Not cool at all.
Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I've found that if you wait around for someone to show you respect before you reciprocate you will always have experiences like the one the OP described. What if the OP would have shown the respect of keeping her car out of the crosswalk? Perhaps the fellow wouldn't have shown disrespect in turn? Crazy idea, I know.
Ah, but then I'm a Gen Y kid. I was raised by people who believed respecting your elders takes a back seat to minding your own business. What's that old man's excuse? His parents never taught him to keep his hands to himself? Or that, maybe--just maybe--as an elderly he is to set a good example for us kids who obviously don't know any better that God forbid we expect the elderly to show us any respect unless we show them some respect first?
He shouldn't have banged on your car; I agree 100%. We are only getting your side of the story here, though. For all I know he could have been crossing the street already when you pulled up to make a right hand turn. This makes more sense to me given the reaction you got. Your statement that you were trying to "clear your head" by driving around makes this even more likely. Driving around for no other reason than you're mad/tired/upset or need to blow off some steam is always a bad idea. Most likely if you'd shown the man the respect of minding your surroundings, by stopping short and allowing him to cross safely, the incident would have never happened.