Note to Pedestrians: The Car Always Wins
We here at Boston Daily like to solve problems. Oftentimes we use nuanced debate to accomplish this goal. Other times, there is no easy consensus. Therefore, we deploy the beloved playground impasse breaker of rock, paper, scissors.
After all the accidents involving pedestrians this morning, perhaps we should rename the game: car, cab, pedestrian.
Not only did a car accident tie up traffic and send a pedestrian to the hospital in our neck of the woods, but Boston.com reports that a pedestrian was struck by a cab in Back Bay.
Here’s how our game works: Car beats pedestrian, cab beats car (by driving erratically and damaging car first), and cab beats pedestrian. Note the important part: The automobile always wins.
Back in August, Boston Daily contributor and lover of bovine coital relations Joe Keohane, wrote about the dismal relationship between pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers in our fair city. He suggests that perhaps we like taking our life in our hands as we navigate these cow paths we call streets.
Now, we’re not saying that pedestrians don’t have the right of way (in crosswalks). Nor are we saying that cars have a right to smack said pedestrians any old time they feel like it. But maybe, just maybe, pedestrians should stop walking across the street as if they are protected by some invisible force field, blithely unaware of the killing machines recklessly barreling toward them, particularly while gabbing on a cell phone or engrossed in their iPods. Just a thought.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Always struck me as odd that in a city so strapped for money, the cops don’t ticket for jaywalking. My first trips to LA and NYC were eye-opening. We are walking away from a lot of money (not to mention a chance to make the streets a bit more civil).
February 29th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Jaywalking was covered in the Globe some time back. The fine for jaywalking was set at $1 by the legislature some time back (100 years? 200?) and it can’t be raised without a new law.
I walk to work every day, and generally do not jaywalk. But I will if it’s the safest way to cross the street. The last time I was almost hit by a car I had made three wrong assumptions:
1. The walk light indicated that it was safe to walk
2. The crosswalk is the right place to be
3. A big red light will cause the cars to stop
I was wrong with those assumptions, but luckily I did notice that car that actually stopped for the red then raced through the intersection after the walk light lit. With the drivers the way they are, not getting killed requires constant attention.
What would help is better enforcement of the basics of driving - stopping at red lights would be a place to start.