• Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 days ago

    I know how to use a cross walk (the signal lights up and makes announcements here, it’s hard to get confused by it) and have still been almost hit multiple times after I started crossing. I don’t wear urban camo, people truly just don’t even look for anything except other cars. ‘Is something that can fuck me up in the way? No? Time to blindly accelerate!!’

    It’s even worse in parking lots. ‘I’m in my car now, time to go!’ with zero understanding that they just walked through the parking lot and other people might also be walking through it.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      In college I sometimes biked to campus. I lived a few blocks from it (technically less than a block, but there wasn’t an exit on the corner). I remember one day biking back, crossing the road to where I lived, and a car damn near almost ran me over. It was only like a 20mph street, and I wasn’t speeding by, so they had plenty of time to see me. That moment stuck with me to never trust that drivers are doing the right thing. Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean you won’t be hit doing it. Luckily, IIRC, it was a small car though, so even if it had hit me I probably would have been mostly fine.

      • morbidcactus@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        I recall walking home from highschool with my friend on their bike, older person unintentionally let off their brakes while we were in the cross walk. Super low speed, literally couldn’t have been more than a few km/h but was enough to mangle the bike’s wheel, I got clipped in the leg but I was further from the car so was just a light touch.

        That distrust of drivers carries over to driving (people should be driving defensively), people do stupid shit, sometimes without realising (which is scary in of itself).

    • Shortstack@reddthat.com
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      2 days ago

      Boy have I got the solution for you

      Just carry a brick and wave it at traffic as you cross. Make sure they know that you can fuck them up and everyone should play nice.

      I’d wager that a fake and lightweight but realistic looking brick for ease of carrying around would probably work too, since it’s the visual warning you’re after