What Is a Pedestrian to Do?

[Thaxter]

I work downtown. Every other day I am nearly mown down by assaholic drivers who run lights and can barely see through their tinted windows. I am not kidding -- Friday night it was at the corner of Fifth and Union, and I was merely trying to cross Union, and a lady nearly mowed me down. I yelled at her, of course, but she looked like she was so turned off or shut down she didn't hear me. Today at lunch some moron in a black sedan with tinted windows nearly mowed me down while trying to cross the street at Pike and Fourth. Really amazing, considering how many other people see these things. I had the light! And then following him , hard on the tails, was yet another assaholic driver who was blatently running the light.

What is a pedestrian to do? I am being NEARLY MURDERED every other day downtown. I NEVER see cops on the beat enforcing traffic -- I see them biking around doing other pleasure pursuits, but never traffic enforcement. Traffic enforcement seems limited to those little boxy police cars that simmer around town looking for parking illegalities. They could give a shit about all the potential murders occurring downtown every single fucking day.

If anyone has ANY IDEAS about how I can FIGHT BACK please let me know!!

[Chris Comte]

Ever thought of carrying a hammer?

[Gomezticator]

I'm hoping you're crossing while the light's green and the walk signal's on.

Otherwise, there's not much you can do, short of breaking the law in retaliation. You're gonna see drivers who aren't paying attention and run the light wherever you go, plus downtown's got a lot of stimuli and sometimes impatience combined with the sensory overload (and whatever's going on inside the car) can distract the driver. Not that it's justified, but this shit happens; people probably aren't trying to mow you down.

Just be careful and, before you just wander into the crosswalk, look to see if there are any crazy bastards driving towards your path, i.e. cars that don't appear to be decelerating as they approach the intersection. Like defensive driving, pedestrians have to practice defensive walking as well.

Don't think that just because you have the light means you shed all responsibility for looking all ways and making sure it's safe to cross.

[Molotov]

Get some terminator granny glasses to hide your identity and the risk of someone witnessing the simultaneous feelings of shame and utter joy in your eyes (and it's part of the costume!)...

Dress like a vagrant and push a shopping cart in front of you, loaded with some bricks (put them on the bottom to keep the center of gravity low) and metal poles sticking out of it (about carhood height, preferably sharpened). Wait at the corner, and as soon as the walk light goes on, run out into the intersection with the cart as far ahead of you as possible. Or you can push it several feet in front of you and then walk up to it.

If all goes according to plan, they'll hit your shopping cart and fuck up their car a bit. Or if they miss the cart but buzz by you, you can slam the cart into the back of their car and yell in uncomprehendible rage.

The beauty of the plan is everyone will assume that you're batshit insane (shopping cart full of bricks and poles wtf?, terminator glasses, homeless clothes, odd crossing behavior) and excuse it. But wear some running shoes in case you need to book it into the bus tunnel.


Edit: for extra cover, both costume-wise and "but he should have seen me officer"-wise, add some tall orange flags to the cart like you see on those automatic wheelchairs.

[Molotov]

On a more practical note...

I saw a guy almost get hit by a car once. Thankfully the car stopped in time, but the man turned and slammed both his hands really hard on the hood and kept walking.

I don't know how well it works on car hoods, but you'd be suprised how fucking loud it can be when done on the roof of the car. Well, on my friend's Civic, anyway. Bitch slap that car! Or throw your milkshake at it and run (ala Election).

[Gomezticator]

That actually reminds me, Molotov, of a time I was leaving work in Kirkland a while back (before I got a job downtown), and walked into the crosswalk of Central Way (4 lanes) after a car in the near lane had stopped. As I crossed, a car in the far lane came barreling past the intersection a few hundred yards up the hill and didn't see me until about 30 yards from the crosswalk, slamming on his brakes and coming close enough that I had to literally leap/pirouette into the narrow median to avert getting clipped. He was a kid and he profusely apologized and all, and since I was a little too shocked from coming thisclose to getting plowed and since he appeared genuinely remorseful and as if he realized what he nearly did, I let it go and he drove away.

It's still better than Vegas, where if some drivers saw you crossing an intersection they would SPEED UP AND TRY TO HIT YOU, then laugh about it as they drove away. I'm not kidding.

Watch out, drivers.

[Treefriend]

I work downtown. Every other day I am nearly mown down by assaholic drivers who run lights and can barely see through their tinted windows. I am not kidding -- Friday night it was at the corner of Fifth and Union, and I was merely trying to cross Union, and a lady nearly mowed me down. I yelled at her, of course, but she looked like she was so turned off or shut down she didn't hear me. Today at lunch some moron in a black sedan with tinted windows nearly mowed me down while trying to cross the street at Pike and Fourth. Really amazing, considering how many other people see these things. I had the light! And then following him , hard on the tails, was yet another assaholic driver who was blatently running the light.

What is a pedestrian to do? I am being NEARLY MURDERED every other day downtown. I NEVER see cops on the beat enforcing traffic -- I see them biking around doing other pleasure pursuits, but never traffic enforcement. Traffic enforcement seems limited to those little boxy police cars that simmer around town looking for parking illegalities. They could give a shit about all the potential murders occurring downtown every single fucking day.

If anyone has ANY IDEAS about how I can FIGHT BACK please let me know!!


As a cyclist I experience this every time I am on the road.

Do whatever you want to them...as long as you can get away. As a pedestrian

you have the advantage because the fucking moron would have to abandon

his vehicle to try to catch you. I usually settle for smashing their mirror, but

I also carry a wire cutter to snip their valve stems. Also, a sturdy bike pump

can bash out a window.

One time when they were working on the Fremont Bridge traffic was closed

down to one lane with no bike lane and some dickhead redneck in an

inappropriate pick-up truck, complete with a dog sitting in the passenger seat,

started bellowing obscenities at me because he had to slow down a little before

joining the stop-and-go line of traffic on the bridge. I yelled back "You talk like

that in front of your girlfriend??" (meaning the dog) and he went into fits of rage.

Anyway, we got across the bridge at about the same time and he pulls over

and starts running toward me. I strung him along for a while and then

burned back to his truck. He was running back as fast as he could but I was

at his truck for quite a while. I didn't do anything to his truck...but knowing

he thought I was trashing it while he ran helplessly was reward enough.

[Slade]

Seattle sucks for driving as I have rode the bike and drove the car and in the rain its a nightmare to see anything.

the street lamps are so many feet tall and had a type of bulb that was bright when put in? now they are the same lamp poles but have energy saving bulbs in them?

the white lines on the road you cant see as the white light reflects on a wet road so the white lines and white lane bumps you cant see.

intersections with no stop signs and just a pile of "lets make it up as we go along" bullshit makes it hard driving without crashing?

all I can say is your a total fucktarded idiot if you think your going to ride a bike and not have many problems.

Get some reflective clothes and some bright blinking lights and a good helmet as that one biker had a car run over his head not to long ago and he walked away thanks to his helmet!


Note he decided to walk away! :)

[malachi]

Yeah, see, as a cyclist, if I see you doing this to others? It pisses me off to no end. Mainly because you're acting like a shit to people in order to...what venge yourself on them?

I mean, your behavior in the forums has been full of sweetness and light, so I'm terribly shocked at this violent behavior coming from you, Treefiend.

The thing is, I've nearly been run over - on a bike - by someone just like you, Treefiend. And he was running away from a motorist he pissed off something fierce, taunting him and making threatening gestures. See, I was stopped, waiting for the light, and the cyclist in question charged the light across the street (because of COURSE he was safe, he was on a bike! And so very, very earth-conscious he was, too! Unlike those evil motorists.) And when he whacked me, sending me sprawling, he was getting chased not only by the MOTORIST he clipped and pissed off, but by me as well.

PS: those bike pumps? PERFECT for shoving into the back wheel of an asshole cyclist who's out to fuck the day of anyone who is out on the street riding with him.

A sweet and not-so-subtle reminder that not all bicyclists are flaming cockwads, and having ridden for many years in packs and on rides with jerks who find their high horse best enjoyed from a Shimano gel seat, many do know how to shove the less polite riders into the gravel at the most opportune times.

As a cyclist I experience this every time I am on the road.

Do whatever you want to them...as long as you can get away. As a pedestrian

you have the advantage because the fucking moron would have to abandon

his vehicle to try to catch you. I usually settle for smashing their mirror, but

I also carry a wire cutter to snip their valve stems. Also, a sturdy bike pump

can bash out a window.

One time when they were working on the Fremont Bridge traffic was closed

down to one lane with no bike lane and some dickhead redneck in an

inappropriate pick-up truck, complete with a dog sitting in the passenger seat,

started bellowing obscenities at me because he had to slow down a little before

joining the stop-and-go line of traffic on the bridge. I yelled back "You talk like

that in front of your girlfriend??" (meaning the dog) and he went into fits of rage.

Anyway, we got across the bridge at about the same time and he pulls over

and starts running toward me. I strung him along for a while and then

burned back to his truck. He was running back as fast as he could but I was

at his truck for quite a while. I didn't do anything to his truck...but knowing

he thought I was trashing it while he ran helplessly was reward enough.

[Treefriend]

Yeah, see, as a cyclist, if I see you doing this to others? It pisses me off to no end. Mainly because you're acting like a shit to people in order to...what venge yourself on them?

I mean, your behavior in the forums has been full of sweetness and light, so I'm terribly shocked at this violent behavior coming from you, Treefiend.

The thing is, I've nearly been run over - on a bike - by someone just like you, Treefiend. And he was running away from a motorist he pissed off something fierce, taunting him and making threatening gestures. See, I was stopped, waiting for the light, and the cyclist in question charged the light across the street (because of COURSE he was safe, he was on a bike! And so very, very earth-conscious he was, too! Unlike those evil motorists.) And when he whacked me, sending me sprawling, he was getting chased not only by the MOTORIST he clipped and pissed off, but by me as well.

PS: those bike pumps? PERFECT for shoving into the back wheel of an asshole cyclist who's out to fuck the day of anyone who is out on the street riding with him.

A sweet and not-so-subtle reminder that not all bicyclists are flaming cockwads, and having ridden for many years in packs and on rides with jerks who find their high horse best enjoyed from a Shimano gel seat, many do know how to shove the less polite riders into the gravel at the most opportune times.


Grow a spine, zero. It is victimlesss fun to trash the vehicles of

morons.

[malachi]

Grow a spine, zero. It is victimlesss fun to trash the vehicles of

morons.

One day someone will say, "It's victimless fun to beat the shit out of this fuckhead I caught trashing my car."

Oh well. I suppose another dumbass loser who finds it easier to be a bully than face up to his own inadequacies wouldn't qualify as a victim anyway.

[Abulafia]

One day someone will say, "It's victimless fun to beat the shit out of this fuckhead I caught trashing my car."

Oh well. I suppose another dumbass loser who finds it easier to be a bully than face up to his own inadequacies wouldn't qualify as a victim anyway.

Yeah. Pretty much sounds like much of the thinking in Israel and Palestine these days.

[Treefriend]

One day someone will say, "It's victimless fun to beat the shit out of this fuckhead I caught trashing my car."

Oh well. I suppose another dumbass loser who finds it easier to be a bully than face up to his own inadequacies wouldn't qualify as a victim anyway.

So you agree!!! I knew you'd grow a brain.

[endless_nameless]

I've noticed that Seattle has a deficiency of people who know how to drive... or know how to bike... or even how to cross a damn street for that matter.

When I'm out walking around and go to cross the street, I nearly get run over by some middle aged "oh goshy-gee" lady in a Buick, or some bald-headed skinny guy riding fixed with no protective gear flies past three inches from me like he's in the Tour de France.

When I'm driving, some girl who's busy trying to figure out whether she wants to listen to Cat Power or Kimya Dawson is so transfixed on her iPod that she steps out in front of me against the light with fifteen feet to spare, or some hipster who's never driven a car and doesn't realize that a) it takes more than a few meters to stop and b) stepping out into a street at 10pm when it's raining and you're wearing all black is an excellent way to get punted across the street just walks out into the road all moody and not looking either way.

When I'm on the bus, people yell into their cellphones like they're screaming down a mineshaft. They stretch their feet out in the aisle and make it impossible to get from one end of the bus to another without bumping ino people who are *already sitting down*.

There is no solution. Seattle is full of too many floaty, self-important people regardless of their method of transportation for this to be a fixable problem.