Ok, exactly what IS the rule/law?

[RedHedd]

In San Francisco bicycle riders ride on the sidewalk and pedestrians cross on a red light directly into the path of traffic - or at least it seems that those are the new rules/laws. I don't get it - doesn't seem safe to me, but everybody does it

[lizbud]

In San Francisco bicycle riders ride on the sidewalk and pedestrians cross on a red light directly into the path of traffic - or at least it seems that those are the new rules/laws. I don't get it - doesn't seem safe to me, but everybody does it

Both of those habits are unsafe.IMO. Indy has marked bike lanes in the
streets. Bikes ride with traffic. (same rules)

[RedHedd]

Both of those habits are unsafe.IMO. Indy has marked bike lanes in the
streets. Bikes ride with traffic. (same rules)

I KNOW they're unsafe, but pedestrians and bike riders in San Francisco flaunt the laws. I was being facetious, because it's SO prevalent and irks me to no end - they seem to have a death wish.

[Medusa]

There are bike trails here but people ride their bikes on the roads to get to the trails rather than put them on their cars. Whenever I see a bike coming at me rather than going w/the flow of traffic, it's frightening. They are supposed to obey the same laws as for cars. Pedestrians should always walk towards traffic so that they can see what's coming but they seem to be walking w/traffic now and that just isn't safe, especially at night. We have dark roads around here, no street lights and the pedestrians hardly ever wear reflective clothing. It scares me to death.

[K9karen]

Indy has marked bike lanes in the
streets. Bikes ride with traffic. (same rules)

Same around here.

Worse thing is cars not stopping at pedestrian crossings.

[Medusa]

Same around here.

Worse thing is cars not stopping at pedestrian crossings.

Ok, you brought up another point and I'm glad you did. What about crosswalks? We don't have them here except in strip malls or downtown in cities and I hardly if ever have the need to go there. If a car is moving (slowly, I hope) and it's already partially through a cross walk, pedestrians here think we should stop a several ton moving vehicle for them. I stop before the crosswalk but if there are no pedestrians, obviously I keep going but I have had pedestrians run to get through and I've had to slam on my brakes even though I'm driving slowly. A couple of years ago a man, holding his wife's hand, decided to walk through while I was driving. I kept going thinking that he'd realize I had to but he didn't and he stopped right in front of my car. I got out of my car and he and his wife ran inside the store so that tells me that he knew he was wrong. I see mothers doing this w/their toddlers a lot and I just wonder why they feel the necessity to take such a risk w/their childrens' precious lives. What say you?

ETA: I forgot to mention here that the reason I got out of my car is because after he stopped in front of it, he actually punched the hood of my car!

[kokopup]

In every state that i have driven in, And that is all in the contiguous 48, the law says cars are suppose to stop for pedestrians in cross walks. The Laws in California are so strict if you go through a pedestrian or Bike crossing you receive a very hefty fine. Medusa, although he had no right to hit your car he did have the right of way even if it was at Walmart. Stopping
is not optional, it is the law everywhere.

[Medusa]

In every state that i have driven in, And that is all in the contiguous 48, the law says cars are suppose to stop for pedestrians in cross walks. The Laws in California are so strict if you go through a pedestrian or Bike crossing you receive a very hefty fine. Medusa, although he had no right to hit your car he did have the right of way even if it was at Walmart. Stopping
is not an optional, it is the law everywhere.

That's the part I don't get, I guess. Common sense says that when a car is halfway through the cross walk, pedestrians should wait until it goes the rest of the way through, not force the driver to stop his car because the pedestrian couldn't wait 2 or 3 seconds to walk across. Pedestrians challenge drivers and I fear that one is going to get seriously injured because of it. I know pedestrians have the right of way but it should mean that when a car is approaching and pedestrians are there, ready to cross, then the driver should wait. It's just plain foolish to walk in front of a moving vehicle.

[kokopup]

The Main problem I see with Store cross walks is they are so wide that the walk can be clear when you enter the crosswalk and then someone shows up when you are halfway across a 50' cross area. i agree that the approaching people should wait for you since you were already in the walk before they exit the store. I will stop if someone approaches and
they would be in front of me before i could get there. I do not stop if they approach and would be beside me if I continued. Common sense should prevail but it often does not. There are those that will rush to make you stop and then slow down just to show they are in control. These are the same people who would be a pain if they were on a public forum.

[RedHedd]

Ok, you brought up another point and I'm glad you did. What about crosswalks? We don't have them here except in strip malls or downtown in cities

No crosswalks at all? I find that very strange.

In San Francisco they've started painting "limit lines" at cross-walks; whereas in the past drivers were supposed to stop behind the cross-walk lines, now we're supposed to stop behind the limit lines. I had points taking off a driving test when the examiner commented that not even a license plate screw head is to be over the limit line.

Of course, pedestrians in San Francisco seem to be oblivious as to the laws and walk wherever and whenever they please, taunting the cars to hit them.

I also don't understand the standing in the cross-walk off the curb while waiting for a light to change - it impedes drivers from making legal turns and endangers the pedestrian, but they don't seem to care.

[Cataholic]

Ok, you brought up another point and I'm glad you did. What about crosswalks? We don't have them here except in strip malls or downtown in cities and I hardly if ever have the need to go there. If a car is moving (slowly, I hope) and it's already partially through a cross walk, pedestrians here think we should stop a several ton moving vehicle for them. I stop before the crosswalk but if there are no pedestrians, obviously I keep going but I have had pedestrians run to get through and I've had to slam on my brakes even though I'm driving slowly. A couple of years ago a man, holding his wife's hand, decided to walk through while I was driving. I kept going thinking that he'd realize I had to but he didn't and he stopped right in front of my car. I got out of my car and he and his wife ran inside the store so that tells me that he knew he was wrong. I see mothers doing this w/their toddlers a lot and I just wonder why they feel the necessity to take such a risk w/their childrens' precious lives. What say you?

ETA: I forgot to mention here that the reason I got out of my car is because after he stopped in front of it, he actually punched the hood of my car!

Well, in this part of Ohio we have crosswalks. I walk a lot, and I can tell you that 95% of the time people do NOT stop for me at a crosswalk, or in a crosswalk. I can be with my son in a stroller, and people fly by as if I am invisible. The worst offenders? Middle-aged caucasian women- by far.

My friend and I were out walking in March and each had our child in a jogger, and she had two dogs flanking her jogger. We were- no flipping lie- on the corner, AT a crosswalk, in plain view of a police cruiser....not one car stopped. I said something to the cop and he said, "we have no law to enforce that". WHAT? WHAT? You lazy cop....

I cannot understand people in cars that think they have this "right" to ignore others on or about the roadway. You would think they would slow it down, and grant the right of way, especially when in all but the most unusual circumstances they would be found at fault.

[Medusa]

As I said, downtown there are crosswalks but I don't go there at all. I'm talking about crosswalks in strip malls that pedestrians decide to cross when a car is halfway through it. I always give pedestrians the right of way but if they're nowhere near the crosswalk, for ex., walking from their parked cars toward it, I slowly inch my car through. Inevitably, though, a pedestrian will decide to run in front of my car, many times not even in the crosswalk and then decide to do a dead stop and stare at me, challenging me. I still don't understand why a mother holding her toddler's hand or pushing one in a stroller would take such a chance but I see it a lot.