Classic I.A throwback style. No notes. A- grade.

I love that I've been on both sides of this equation:
1. a Pedestrian nearly getting run over by a red-light runner.
2. a driver stopping short for an utterly clueless pedestrian - particularly at the all-ways crosswalks on 1st Ave. Or a shambling homeless person suicidally wandering into traffic.

Always walk as if cars are trying to kill you, and always drive as if pedestrians have the proprioception of toddlers.

@2, I find that people riding bikes have to keep both perspectives 1 and 2 in mind (because they switch from pedestrian-dominated to car-dominated spaces frequently) and are typically the most aware people on the roads (though still human, and still capable of fucking up). Pedestrians are frequently utterly clueless but cities and human development in general are made for people, so we need to defer to people. It should be possible to be a complete space case while walking around and not get hit by a bike or car. And people operating vehicles need to accept that and get over themselves. Drivers are nearly as bad as pedestrians in terms of awareness but their cars are deadly weapons. So we need to build cities that work around the known cluelessness of drivers to save the rest of us from them.

I don't remember writing this.

You are a hothouse flower: Seattle drivers are among the most pedestrian-sensitive drivers in any moderately-sized (or larger) city in the world. Overly deferential, much of the time, causing headaches for other traffic, by, say, not seizing opportunities for things like unprotected left turns, due to a pedestrian that is still on the sidewalk who might cross the street, opportunities where three or four cars would go through in New York or Boston.

Pedestrians in Seattle are lucky to have it so good.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Seattle has the worst drivers, the most entitled cyclists, and the dumbest pedestrians. The only way to attain "Vision Zero" is to replace all of our pedestrians with new people.

Just today, I saw some moron wander into traffic on Beacon Ave, despite there being a crosswalk with one of those instant flashing buttons just ten feet away.

No kidding. Try walking in LA sometime. Or any city in Asia. Seattle’s an epicenter of caution.

"The only way to attain
"Vision Zero" is to replace all
of our pedestrians with new people."
--@Catalina

do you really think
that's Practical?

mightn't it be
Cheaper to
give them
all Tutors?

Gotta love those drivers that stop in the middle of the intersection (blocking cross traffic) to "allow" me to cross even though I have stepped back a few feet from the curb indicating I am not interested in crossing yet. I get that some of them are super scared of hitting a pedestrian, but don't force me to cross with all your waving when I don't want to.

Try looking up from your phone BEFORE you step into the street.

@12 Seattle is the only place where I've had drivers stop at a GREEN light and try to wave me across the street in front of them, against both the red light and the don't-walk signal. Politeness to the point of passive aggression.

I've been hit twice since I moved here. Both times by people craning their necks to find their chance to charge onto a busy road and not looking in front of them when they took the plunge. Many more times have I been cut off at a crosswalk by someone trying to make a turn and risking killing someone to save an ultimately imperceptible amount of time on their drive. Stick to the speed limit and double check your surroundings at intersections. No amount of time saved is worth risking being a killer IMO.

@12: "even though I have stepped back a few feet from the curb indicating I am not interested in crossing yet"

Step up to the curb, then step back. Not sure if you are trying to cross or just doing the Seattle junkie dance.

I try to drive as though killing a pedestrian (be it their fault or mine) would severely damage my mental health and my life. Because it would haunt me forever. Stupidity doesn't warrant death, and no trip I've ever been on is worth some idiot's life. That said, the callously guy strutting across the street twenty feet from a well-painted/lit crosswalk, flaunting the one tiny bit of power he feels he has left in his little world ... is going to die very soon. Hopefully not by my hand. But what a pathetic way to go, fading out on a dark wet street a few steps away from where life would've gone on, just to get some stranger's attention.

"... like Naples
or London or Mexico
City and try to walk a few blocks
without ending up as a hood ornament."

you've graced your share?
why do you think they
find you so At-
tractive?

you're not a
bullfighter
are you?

"Even if I have the crosswalk. I make eye contact with every driver before I walk and make sure they don't have crazy eyes." --@^Above^

how 'bout in the Daytime
when they have Shades
on? do ya just Chance
it & hope for the best?

how 'bout if they're wearing
those 'crazy-eyed' glasses.
what then?

@16 -- how 'bout a little lite knock on
the fender -- 'Here I am!' with a
friendly little wave

Try walking in Philadelphia or Phoenix. In Philly the right-on-red car will happily plow over the pedestrian crossing with a "WALK" sign. In Phoenix I swear the oncoming traffic will speed up to make the pedestrian crossing at an intersection under a huge yellow and black "CROSSWALK" sign sprint the remaining distance across the very wide arterial street to avoid certain death, while carrying a child. Yes, there are shithead, testerone poisoned, semi-sentient drivers here, and stoned / drunk pedestrians in all dark clothing with hoodies up and headphones on blithely wandering across the unlit street mid-block in driving rain. I walk a lot, and have done so in many cities across the planet. All-in-all, Seattle is a pretty safe city for walking. It is no Venice, but it is not bad. Travel is good for enlightenment. Try it!

Motorist: makes eye contact with pedestrian, waves at them to indicate they are yielding
IA: [stops and glares] I TRULY DESPISE YOU

So true. I was sent to the ER by a Seattle driver. Doctor said I was lucky to be alive. A lot of rich Amazon / Microsoft workers believe their time is more valuable than another person’s life.

Wow, of ALL the places you've lived, Seattle is the worst? You need to travel more. Or, actually, don't, you'll surely get run over by a car if you do.