Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Courteous or not?
This isn't a great national issue of pressing importance, but I've just reached the limit of irritation.
I've lived in Spokane for 15 years, been a pedestrian most of that time, admittedly a fairly aggressive pedestrian. The law on drivers vs pedestrians is simple: Ds are supposed to stop when the P is IN THE STREET. That means BETWEEN THE CURBS. Ds are NOT required to stop when the P is on the sidewalk. Seems logical, right? In these 15 years, I've only seen ONE instance when a driver actually stopped or slowed down for me when I was IN THE STREET. Mostly they increase their speed to make the game more interesting. But at least once a week, a driver will stop when I'm firmly planted on the sidewalk, and motion me to cross the street. I never obey this implied obligation, because it's dangerous. Today, a driver shouted at me, "That's fucking rude, you know it?" Yup, I know it. But I'd rather be rude than dead.
Here's the problem. Say the P obeys the implied obligation and crosses in front of the stopped car. Ds in the other lanes are not part of the 'transaction', so they will just keep going. Worst case is when a driver comes up behind the stopped car and zips around. Crunch! (I've seen that happen, though fortunately avoided the crunch.)
So even though it feels impolite, it's safer and just plain easier to drive predictably and let the P figure out his own time and place to cross.
Same principle applies more generally. Playing 'after you, no after you, no after you' is not genuine courtesy in an urban situation. It doesn't really save any time for the 'target', and it wastes time for the rest of the queue. If the 'target' is elderly or impaired, the sense of obligation may cause her to hurry a bit, with bad results.
The sole exception to this rule is in a grocery checkout line, where it does make sense to let a light load go in front of a heavy load. Saves a meaningful amount of time for the light load, and doesn't make much difference to the people behind.
Overall, it's more polite to just take your own turn when it happens, and get out of the way otherwise. ¶ 1:06 PM
I've lived in Spokane for 15 years, been a pedestrian most of that time, admittedly a fairly aggressive pedestrian. The law on drivers vs pedestrians is simple: Ds are supposed to stop when the P is IN THE STREET. That means BETWEEN THE CURBS. Ds are NOT required to stop when the P is on the sidewalk. Seems logical, right? In these 15 years, I've only seen ONE instance when a driver actually stopped or slowed down for me when I was IN THE STREET. Mostly they increase their speed to make the game more interesting. But at least once a week, a driver will stop when I'm firmly planted on the sidewalk, and motion me to cross the street. I never obey this implied obligation, because it's dangerous. Today, a driver shouted at me, "That's fucking rude, you know it?" Yup, I know it. But I'd rather be rude than dead.
Here's the problem. Say the P obeys the implied obligation and crosses in front of the stopped car. Ds in the other lanes are not part of the 'transaction', so they will just keep going. Worst case is when a driver comes up behind the stopped car and zips around. Crunch! (I've seen that happen, though fortunately avoided the crunch.)
So even though it feels impolite, it's safer and just plain easier to drive predictably and let the P figure out his own time and place to cross.
Same principle applies more generally. Playing 'after you, no after you, no after you' is not genuine courtesy in an urban situation. It doesn't really save any time for the 'target', and it wastes time for the rest of the queue. If the 'target' is elderly or impaired, the sense of obligation may cause her to hurry a bit, with bad results.
The sole exception to this rule is in a grocery checkout line, where it does make sense to let a light load go in front of a heavy load. Saves a meaningful amount of time for the light load, and doesn't make much difference to the people behind.
Overall, it's more polite to just take your own turn when it happens, and get out of the way otherwise. ¶ 1:06 PM
