I had a mother and her child step out in front of me at a corner just as my light turned green. All kinds of danger there.

No, I didn't run them over. But someone coming up behind me sees the green light and doesn't brake as hard as they should (or doesn't realize that I'm not moving) and plows into me and then me over them? I could see that happening.

The difference between her and the junkie/drunk who slowly shuffles across the street, daring the traffic to run him over, is the junkie isn't texting.

Otherwise they're both letting us know that their only power in life is to impede others.

And that's just sad.

One of my moments of terror occurs when I prepare to turn right on a red light and there is a pedestrian waiting for the light to turn green. Experience tells me that if the light changes as I make the turn, the dimwit will step right into the path of the car. That, or just walk into the car. There seems to be no end to the number of people seeking a Darwin Award.

oh man, i've been driven nuts lately by texting/ipod tuned out pedestrians trying their best to kill themselves under the wheels of my car.

* tuned out ipod wearers walking into crosswalks on the red without realizing.

* texting idiots waiting for the walking green who don't notice when the light changes then look up at the last moment and sprint out into the intersection into the path of the cars making their legal turns.

i have the burden to try to second-guess what idiot move they're gonna pull, they act as if they have not one ounce of responsibility for their actions.

Pedestrians have the right of way, but a tie goes to the car.

I totally agree with Bar Sinister and the same thing with bicycles. It has comes to the point that there are certain intersections where I try to avoid making a right turn just in case I get caught where I should make a free right turn (if I don't I am getting honked at and backing up traffic more than necessary).

Around me it isn't usually people texting or waiting for green, it's people crossing in the middle of a block and not looking.

"and the same thing with bicycles."

Excerpt from my new book, "Damn, Dude, You Stupid" -- "Share the road" the bicyclist screamed as I rounded a blind corner on a mountain road, nearly creaming three Lance Armstrong wanna-be's riding three abreast across two lanes ...

But why should they bother to give a damn?

Bicyclist runs light, kills aged pedestrian, goes free.

Yes, this problem is getting worse. I once saw a girl do a kitty corner (diagonal) street crossing at night on a low moderate busy street on a red light. Not once did she look up to check the road.
This is in a country (ROK) where buses and taxi run red lights a good chunk of the time.

Th next worse one was a guy texting and riding a bike on a roughish narrowing sidewalk, then trying to cross a street, all the while trying to dodge other pedestrians!

I really expect to see someone get killed just crossing the street. Just one day - bahm! As a middle school girl gets splattered crossing the street and texting.

It's actually so bad up here, we have signs posted everywhere saying don't text and walk/drive.

If you need a sign to tell you that, don't be surprised is some other ill fate befalls you.

Like getting electrocuted using a hair dry in the bathtub.

I forget who said...

"I'm not saying we should kill all the stupid people, I'm just saying we should remove all warning labels and let the problem sort itself out."

HA!

I say it, everyday. But only becuase they wont let me kill the stupid people outright.