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I missed the "when they cross the road" part, and fully agreed for a minute. Too damn many drivers staring at their phones all the time
Carbrain making things up again.
If there weren't cars in the cities, the worst thing a person with a phone could cause is bumbing into someone else at non-lethal speed.
If there weren't cars, there'd still be buses, vans, trucks.
There's a big difference between a constant stream of cars with noise from every direction, and the occasional delivery vehicle that you can hear coming.
I don't think most peoples' dreams of a walkable utopia include those things, but you make a good point.
No, it does. The notion that urbanists want to get rid of delivery vehicles is a strawman argument used to attack us.
"If I had a dash cam, I could demonstrate the dozens of obviously distracted teens I've run down while recklessly driving through school zones. If these kids looked up every once in a while, they'd make it home for spring break."
Yes, absolutely, pedestrians have the right of way. But, pedestrians also need situational awareness when they are in the same vicinity as cars and trucks. Right of Way doesn’t do anything if some asshat driver isn’t paying attention and clips the pedestrian and/or kills them.
Edit: I am absolutely not defending the guy in the tweet. Pedestrians aren’t menaces.
I saw a comment the other day that was like "You can be right but you still get the wheelchair".
Also , if you want to murder someone, hit them with your car. Good odds you won't even be charged with a crime.
Yes, defensive driving (and I guess walking now) is a thing. Driver's Ed instructor said that you're just as dead in a fatal crash if you had the right of way as if you didn't.
All that said it is incumbent on the driver, not the walker, to be sure they're not hitting anyone.
Pedestrians don't always have the right of way, but the majority of drivers don't want to kill pedestrians, and so most will still yield... Isn't that why jaywalking is a crime in the US?
Sweden law says that cars are required to stop for people at the zebra crossings (övergångsställe), but at passageways without zebra (gångpassage example) it's the pedestrians who shall yield to cars. Basically, a passageway is to be considered as a part of the roadway (you're not supposed to run out into traffic), whereas a zebra crossing is a legal extension of the sidewalks (cars supposed to yield to people on sidewalks).
However, way too many pedestrians don't understand the difference. In practical terms it shouldn't make a huge difference, because you should always reduce your speed and be alert when nearing any kinds of crossings, and we usually have speed bumps directly before many passages.... but still.
If someone collides with you at a zebra walk, they're almost always losing their license, and maybe a couple years in prison if you got badly injured. But if you walk out into a non-zebra passage and a car doesn't see you in time, you can actually get fined if the police are feeling cheeky, as you didn't yield to the car/your behavior thus caused the accident.
So no, pedestrians are definitely not menaces. But if we want to continue to reduce traffic injuries, it'd be nice if both groups were a bit more concentrated and respectful.
Far from the biggest menace, but there is one nit I have to pick that somewhat aligns with the OP.
Pedestrians who don't look up to notice that the cars aren't stopped because the light is red, but because the light is green and they don't want to block the box.
As a cyclist in the bike lane/cutting between stopped cars, these people are dangerous. Especially when you try to get their attention since they're about to walk into your path, and they suddenly realize they're in the middle of an active intersection and freak out and quickly move in a completely random direction. By all means, keep up with your sudoku while crossing the street, just make sure the light is on your side before you wander into traffic.
I also once saw a guy walk straight through a construction site and nearly bonk his head on a giant concrete pipe hanging from a crane overhead.
And yes, I think a safer city would have no stoplights and everyone would have to be aware of their surroundings and negotiate moving through traffic, but while we have stoplights, you kind of have to play along.
OP should just record it with their phone.
this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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