Pedestrian Fatalities Up 46% in US

[wheelr]

According to a new report by the Institute for Highway Safety, pedestrian fatalities have increased by 46% since 2009. With 6,000 fatalities in 2016 alone.

http://fortune.com/2018/05/08/pedestrian-deaths-soar-iihs-report/

Be careful out there.

[mezzanine]

If I'd realized how dangerous it is to be on the road with cars before I bought my EUC, there's a good chance I would have reconsidered.  I'm constantly amazed at how dangerous it is to be on the road with drivers who shouldn't have licenses.  If there's one thing I try to mention to newbs, it's to ask whether they have any experience as a cyclist driving among cars.  It can be a shock if you're not conscious of how dangerous it is.  

[WARPed1701D]

Drivers are indeed ignorant of others but I will add that around my area pedestrians seem to conduct themselves with utter disregard for traffic rules. I've watched people walking out into fast moving traffic without a crosswalk with insufficient time to cross on the assumption that everyone will see them and slow for them. I see people cross at intersections when they don't have a walk signal and traffic is flowing. Sometimes they don't even try to look at the cars, just at the sidewalk on the other side. Many are also wearing headphones robbing them off their situational awareness. Most annoying are joggers and walkers who run/walk in the street even when there is a sidewalk to use. Two or three abreast at times taking up most the lane and they make no effort to move for vehicles! The 'it will never happen to me' attitude is alive and well in St Pete. 

Drivers are indeed distracted and disrespectful of other more vulnerable road users but many pedestrians are also to blame for their bad ending. 

[wheelr]

4 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said:

 Most annoying are joggers and walkers who run/walk in the street even when there is a sidewalk to use.

As a jogger/sprinter myself, I use the bike lane because asphalt is softer than concrete and it is easier on my joints. When you jog/sprint on a regular basis, these nuances begin to matter. However, I always yield to cars and even go onto the grass if cars don't give me the courtesy of pulling onto the left lane. A car will always win that match.

[Master Blaster]

34 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said:

Drivers are indeed ignorant of others but I will add that around my area pedestrians seem to conduct themselves with utter disregard for traffic rules. I've watched people walking out into fast moving traffic without a crosswalk with insufficient time to cross on the assumption that everyone will see them and slow for them. I see people cross at intersections when they don't have a walk signal and traffic is flowing. Sometimes they don't even try to look at the cars, just at the sidewalk on the other side. Many are also wearing headphones robbing them off their situational awareness. Most annoying are joggers and walkers who run/walk in the street even when there is a sidewalk to use. Two or three abreast at times taking up most the lane and they make no effort to move for vehicles! The 'it will never happen to me' attitude is alive and well in St Pete. 

Drivers are indeed distracted and disrespectful of other more vulnerable road users but many pedestrians are also to blame for their bad ending. 

Man you hit the nail on the head @WARPed1701D ..........it’s the new culture of someone else will take care of me. I was in front of our local large grocery store and watched as people left the store.......all the older folks stopped and clearly looked both ways before stepping off the curb into the main parking lot traffic lane. All the millennials stepped off the curb without even a glance, I guess they feel entitled, and figure the vehicles will just automatically yield to them.  It was an amazing study in the genational shift in attitudes, I was astounded.

I am glad as a young boy on a bicycle that I learned early to look out for myself, it’s your responsibility to keep yourself out of harm’s way, don’t ever depend on a car driver to yield to you.  The younger generation around here have not learned that lesson and sooner or later it’s gonna bite them in the ass! 

[Hatchet]

I think I speak for all of us when I say "Everyone is an idiot but me!"

 

[Marty Backe]

Here's the pertinent paragraph from the original article:

Quote

The pedestrian deaths occurred mostly when it was dark and mostly on roads designed to funnel urban or suburban traffic onto freeways, the institute says. The crashes generally occur where there are no intersections or poorly designed crosswalks that tempt pedestrians to dash across multiple lanes of swiftly moving vehicles. The crashes often involved SUVs or vehicles with a lot of horsepower, which suggests that many of the crashes also involved excess speed.

So it's not quite so bad, in a generic sense.

[Cannings]

2 hours ago, Hatchet said:

I think I speak for all of us when I say "Everyone is an idiot but me!"

 

You're 99.9999% right...