I hit a pedestrian pretty hard once, about 12 years ago. It was not in a crosswalk and he came out from a row of stopped cars in a left turn lane like a Squirrel. I didn’t even hit the brakes.
I also j-walk a LOT.
My perspective, if you’re in a crosswalk and protected by a light or stop sign, it’s the driver’s fault. Otherwise, it’s your fault.
Every time I cross the road on foot, I believe my safety is wholly my responsibility. Even if it IS a crosswalk. There is an old safety ad that was popular in the 1960’s. The last line: “Yes, he was right. Dead right.”
BTW. just search pedestrian crash on youtube. Some very geraphic (and stupid) stuff there.
“Every time I cross the road on foot, I believe my safety is wholly my responsibility.”
You could not be more right. Rules of physics trump the rules of the road every time. Whether on a bike or on foot, I always make eye contact with a driver who is stopped or moving before I cross their path. Otherwise, you can never be sure that they’ve seen you.
I came frighteningly close to hitting a grade school child once who darted, on her bike, from between two stopped cars into my path as I was making a left turn onto her street. The dad was standing right there. I knew the family vaguely. She was one of my daughter’s classmates. I stopped and told him that he needed to tell his daughter to look both ways ALWAYS before crossing a street. I guess this offended his parenting abilities and he lamely told me I needed to watch out for kids. I WAS watching, just as I always do, but that child was literally a streak of green on her speeding bike. No driver can stop that fast, especially when you’ve been distracted by watching a line of oncoming traffic, waiting for a break so you can make a left hand turn and the kid comes flying out from behind a stopped car. I just hope that, in spite of his bluster and attempt to assign blame to me, that the incident shook him up enough that he had a talk with her. Sometimes people need danger demonstrated to them. Rules of the road do NOT protect you from getting run over and righteously blaming someone else will not bring your child back.