I lived for a while in a city where pedestrians had the right of way all the time, no matter what. Most people were cool about that, but some felt it was their right to just cross the street wherever and whenever they felt like it. Where I live now, you're obligated to stop for pedestrians at uncontrolled crosswalks, but when there are signals, they determine the right of way.

This video illustrates a problem I've have lately with the uncontrolled crosswalks: I no longer stop for kids anymore unless the driver in the oncoming lane has stopped as well or is obviously aware of the situation. On multiple occasions I've stopped for children, and they took this as an indication that it was safe to cross the street and then rushed right across. This has resulted in some close calls (typically involving the elderly playing the role of the oncoming driver--and these are well marked crosswalks, with flashing yellow lights and big neon signs and everything). Once, some twit behind me in my lane even tried to pull around me as though I were turning or something.

I kind of feel like a dick about it, but no combination of waving or pointing towards the oncoming traffic seems to get the message across. I guess it's their parents job to teach them how it works, and probably the majority of parents do. The bottom line is that I would feel really, really bad if I waved some kid across a crosswalk right into an oncoming powder blue Buick LeSabre.

I figure it's safer if they just wait until there aren't any cars coming at all.

True, but at 20mph (about what I do in tight situations like that, maybe coasting to 15 for crosswalks), I would have had more time to see her between the cars--and I would have been looking for just that sort of thing. This isn't to say I wouldn't have hit her, because she was probably going too fast to see (my closest calls, have been with kids on longboards, facing away from oncoming traffic, wearing headphones).

Oh, I agree that what the woman on the bicycle did was profoundly stupid and she should have waited for the signal or at least recognized the dangerous situation she was in re: oncoming traffic. She put everyone else in a dangerous and easily avoidable situation. At the same time though, were I driving the oncoming car, I would be slowing down and covering my brakes at the crosswalks, anticipating that a pedestrian might dash out from between the cars (happens a lot, though they usually stop short right after freaking me the hell out). In many places, hitting a pedestrian on a crosswalk is your fault regardless of the signals.

I'll certainly also grant you that a collision in the situation was probably unavoidable given how fast bike lady was going, but I also can't approve of the oncoming driver. Of course, speed is hard to gauge in the video, but they seemed to be just driving along at a constant high-ish speed assuming having the right of way means you don't have to watch out for idiots doing foolish thing.

Also, I see it as a reasonable (though stretched in this instance) rule of thumb that in a dense urban environment, if you have to swerve to avoid a pedestrian rather than just braking, you weren't driving carefully enough.

I personally don't follow the love for this guy.

He's fucking over a lot of people over what's really a very minor infraction that doesn't really affect anyone very negatively.

Pedestrians just have to shift their walking path over a few feet. The car isn't parked in the crosswalk, just stopped for the duration of the signal.

It's not really revenge for a guy to completely block a lane full of vehicles who've done no wrong when everyone in the crosswalk was still able to walk around the stopped vehicle.

It would have been a much better for him to stand partially in the way of the offending vehicle so that it could still go, but had to drive around him first. Still wouldn't be something I'd applaud, but it'd be more apt and would make him less of a dickhead to everyone trying to proceed with their life.

That's especially true for the second car which was only into the crosswalk very minimally. That's where the vigilante really proves he's just looking to stir up some shit, not really in the name of charity and good will shepherding the weak through the valley of darkness. (Redacted per @newtboy's comment below.)

Yeah, I'm calling the pedestrian a dick. The driver likely decided at the last second to play it safe by not going through the intersection on a stale amber and so wound up in the crosswalk. Every driver has had that happen to them at some point.
Along comes a douchebag who takes it upon himself to be an asshole. The proof is that he then goes after the white car who is what? a couple of feet into a very wide crossing.
If karma exists this asshat will get mowed down by a driver while jaywalking.

The driver in the crosswalk may have made an honest mistake and misjudged the light. The driver behind the car in the crosswalk could have left room for the car in front to back up. Again, it could have been an honest mistake, but collectively they still inconvenienced or endangered at least a few pedestrians. I'm in the punishment-fits-the-crime camp.

I love this guy a whole lot. I have done similar things at the school crosswalk in my neighborhood and it is very hard to do this even when you know you are in the right and protecting people.

Just wondering which one got pulled over...concrete truck or the vehicles that came through after. They have a tendency to ignore non-commercial vehicles around here and also ignore MULTIPLE and DANGEROUS jay walking people.

By dangerous jay walking I mean crossing at non-cross walks...coming from behind buses and just darting into traffic without even attempting to look or give people a chance to react before they are fully into the lane. And using baby strollers like they are concrete barriers, rolling them into traffic suddenly and making people freak the fuck out to avoid running down a baby. I'm talking they are walking down the side of the road then suddenly change direction and shove the stroller into the street....not waiting like it's obvious they are trying to cross at non-designated zones. This stuff gets ignored all the time, seen cops drive by and do nothing while people nearly pile into each other trying to avoid hitting people. And it's because the people doing the crossing can't afford or simply won't pay the fines, so fining them does nothing but waste time.

Commercial vehicles are going to be higher fines because they can find more 'wrong" with the vehicle once it's pulled over via inspections. And they are most likely to pay and not fight the ticket because they need to stay on the road earning.


I have no issues with them enforcing the laws, but when it favors fining the people most likely to pay and still lets the illegal behavior continue...it's a money making endeavor and not safety related.

Pedestrians probably don't have to yield to traffic at crosswalks, but there's a level of responsibility on their part too. Don't step out into traffic before looking...don't suddenly change your speed crossing to cause the most mayhem. Don't step into traffic when the vehicle is probably too close to stop in time. Make your intentions clear...face the way you want to cross and stop there so it's clear what you're doing....you're not waiting for a bus....or reading a street sign...or whatever.

It'd be pretty horrible as a driver to have to stop at every crosswalk to try to discern what the people on the corner are attempting to do because the police aren't holding the pedestrians up to some level of acceptable behavior.

Little research:

"Davis Square in Somerville at lunch time and very few drivers are stopping for people in the crosswalks. It was right there on June 12th that a 90-year-old woman was struck and killed in a crosswalk by a FedEx delivery truck. Partly for that reason, as a video posted on Facebook shows, Somerville police began cracking down at seven locations across the city. Over two weeks in June they wrote almost $40,000 in tickets"

But yeah, they're ONLY doing this because they obviously just want to hand out tickets, right?

Taken from here:
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/07/08/somerville-police-crosswalk-crackdown-nets-40000/

Is the guy crossing the street a cop? Yep. Is he in plain clothes? yep. Does that mean that just because he's walking back and forth, the law doesn't apply? Not even a little, no.

I'm 100% in favour of these types of stings. Drivers need a kick in the ass reminder to yield for shit, pedestrians especially. I have one particular part of my drive to work, where I need to get on an on-ramp to the highway, I take it every day, 5 times a week. Typically 3 of those days, I was almost getting swiped by cars that were blowing past their yield sign because they either didn't see it, or decided that instead of stopping and letting me go first, they'd just gun it and hope for the best.

It was at the point where I would have to stop and block traffic (coming from a light, no less, so i'm blocking the on-ramp now because some idiot blew the fucking sign, again) until finally they had the O.P.P. set up shop there a few times, and people are just now -FINALLY- obeying the damn law.

And any publicity for this will be good publicity. Weather or not you think it's a good idea, or think it's only for the cops to "make ticket revenue" people who live in Somerville and know about this story will start paying attention at crosswalks and / or not just blow through them because they think they may be getting a ticket.

In either case, the desired effect is going to be achieved, at the end of the day, the people crossing that AREN'T plain clothes cops will hopefully be a bit safer because of this.

How would it be entrapment? The cop is not enticing drivers to fail to yield the right of way, he's just crossing as a normal pedestrian would, if drivers would only obey the f*king law.

I have seen these stings run in my town, also in Mass, and I'm completely in favor -- where the stings happened, drivers actually yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, elsewhere they completely ignore crosswalks.

Good old biased cop-hating video sift users. Yeah, what a money scheme! Nothing at all to do with enforcing traffic laws. Nope. Not at all.. those drivers that don't stop for people in or at crosswalks are totally the innocent ones here. *sigh*

I thought the same thing then read that they are doing it in multiple places around the city.

"Somerville police are using undercover crosswalkers to set up questionable traps at crosswalks throughout the town."
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/fishing-cops-setup-revenue-collection-trap/

That's interfering with/disrupting the flow of traffic, playing in the street like that, doughboy. That's a much bigger fine than not stopping at a cross walk. Can I just walk back and forth in the crosswalk in front of the police station? No? Then someone give that fat cop a ticket....PLEASE!

I bicycle around, and the one thing I note about it is that I put myself in a situation to get run over every day. See, I live in Florida, so that goes without saying. Here, people don't give the right away to shit. Red light on turn, when I have the crosswalk sigh? Well fuck me.

I find this whole thing funny because I pay attention to people walking so freaking close to my car. I mean the guy could have carjacked her because of this inattention. The guy was pretty brass about it since he made sure to flag someone before falling. Lastly, if you're the van, you don't poke your fucking van out in the middle of the street without a view of both ways. It DOES NOT MATTER if traffic is stopped one way, you don't do it. By her constant need to turn this way and that, she could not obviously, or safely, see both ways.

Ironically I thought he fell in front of the Van, but then noticed he fell to the side of it. Bad day that it turned I myself would have noticed the turn signal... But as I said, I would have also noticed someone blatantly waving and approaching my vehicle...

Another point; some would say that identity theft is the fault of most victims. You leave something if your trash with information, don't regularly clear out your mailbox, pay with a debit card, etc...not sure if you have ever done those things but if you have you definitely opened yourself up for the fraud.