Wife gets a ticket in a crosswalk trap
#16
Ouch, sorry to hear. What about if the street has an island or a concrete area for pedestrians to stay on if they're too slow to make it to the other side? I know in Cali as long as they aren't on your side of the street, you can still go with no problem.
Its good practice to always stop behind the crosswalk at a red light when making a right turn, never know who is going to cross.
Its good practice to always stop behind the crosswalk at a red light when making a right turn, never know who is going to cross.
#17
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (1)
A slightly different view of this from the perspective of a frequent walk/jogger, who has had several close calls with vehicles, most often driven by chicks while on their cell phones, I support the police taking a proactive approach to protecting pedestrians. Now I do understand that there can be a debate as to where it is to protect pedestrians or provide revenue. Regardless, I am very cautious when walking/running near vehicles because everyone seems to be in a hurry now days and waiting 10 seconds for someone to cross the street is just too great a burden for many drivers.
Let me ask you, after paying the ticket are the two of you a little more aware of pedestrians, or just irritated with the law and fine associated with it? Because the intent of the citation is behavior modification, and if it resulted you and your wife being a little more cautious and courteous in regards to pedestrians then the citation served its purpose.
Let me ask you, after paying the ticket are the two of you a little more aware of pedestrians, or just irritated with the law and fine associated with it? Because the intent of the citation is behavior modification, and if it resulted you and your wife being a little more cautious and courteous in regards to pedestrians then the citation served its purpose.
#18
A slightly different view of this from the perspective of a frequent walk/jogger, who has had several close calls with vehicles, most often driven by chicks while on their cell phones, I support the police taking a proactive approach to protecting pedestrians. Now I do understand that there can be a debate as to where it is to protect pedestrians or provide revenue. Regardless, I am very cautious when walking/running near vehicles because everyone seems to be in a hurry now days and waiting 10 seconds for someone to cross the street is just too great a burden for many drivers.
Let me ask you, after paying the ticket are the two of you a little more aware of pedestrians, or just irritated with the law and fine associated with it? Because the intent of the citation is behavior modification, and if it resulted you and your wife being a little more cautious and courteous in regards to pedestrians then the citation served its purpose.
Let me ask you, after paying the ticket are the two of you a little more aware of pedestrians, or just irritated with the law and fine associated with it? Because the intent of the citation is behavior modification, and if it resulted you and your wife being a little more cautious and courteous in regards to pedestrians then the citation served its purpose.
However,we're irritated on how the ticket was given.A trap where a plain clothes cops puts one foot in the street on the opposite side of the street.
We could accept the ticket if a average person was crossing and a cop saw the wife not stop.
Still comes down to the revenue more than the protection of pedestrians even though we'll be more cautious.
#19
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (1)
Just like when I pass that same area and others that have had radar speed traps set ups,my wife and I will be more cautious at crosswalks when we see people.
However,we're irritated on how the ticket was given.A trap where a plain clothes cops puts one foot in the street on the opposite side of the street.
We could accept the ticket if a average person was crossing and a cop saw the wife not stop.
Still comes down to the revenue more than the protection of pedestrians even though we'll be more cautious.
However,we're irritated on how the ticket was given.A trap where a plain clothes cops puts one foot in the street on the opposite side of the street.
We could accept the ticket if a average person was crossing and a cop saw the wife not stop.
Still comes down to the revenue more than the protection of pedestrians even though we'll be more cautious.
#22
Guest
Posts: n/a
No I was not INVOLVED in the sting nor was I a trick. It was rather interesting and yes being on the outside in my initial thought was "aint this entrapment"
#23
in some cities, there's an experiment taking place where police officers will dress as pedestrians and walking along the pedestrian street walkway, and motorists will see them as just some ordinary person, so they disregard the law somewhat. one foot even on the other side of the street is still the pedestrian's right of way. these civilian-dressed cops relay the information to cops in their patrol vehicles/motorcycles, and they would give the tickets. ive seen it happen three times, all near a high school, movie theater, and a large main street intersection. we don't get the points here in california, i don't think, but the fine would be relatively severe for a lack of patience.
#26
Pole Position
iTrader: (5)
A slightly different view of this from the perspective of a frequent walk/jogger, who has had several close calls with vehicles, most often driven by chicks while on their cell phones, I support the police taking a proactive approach to protecting pedestrians. Now I do understand that there can be a debate as to where it is to protect pedestrians or provide revenue. Regardless, I am very cautious when walking/running near vehicles because everyone seems to be in a hurry now days and waiting 10 seconds for someone to cross the street is just too great a burden for many drivers.
Let me ask you, after paying the ticket are the two of you a little more aware of pedestrians, or just irritated with the law and fine associated with it? Because the intent of the citation is behavior modification, and if it resulted you and your wife being a little more cautious and courteous in regards to pedestrians then the citation served its purpose.
Let me ask you, after paying the ticket are the two of you a little more aware of pedestrians, or just irritated with the law and fine associated with it? Because the intent of the citation is behavior modification, and if it resulted you and your wife being a little more cautious and courteous in regards to pedestrians then the citation served its purpose.
Of course it goes both ways, either the pedestrians don't give a crap and EXPECT cars to stop for them, and the other way around for drivers expecting pedestrians to stop for them.
IMO, pedestrians definitely need to be on the defensive, because driver is behind tons of steel and metal. Whenever I cross the street, I'll either bolt across or speed walk because I don't trust anyone to stop for me. I use to be one of those cocky high school kids that took his dandy time walking across expecting everyone to stop for ME and if I got hit, lawsuit! But if you get a broken spine and are paralyzed for life, is it worth it?
I try to be courteous for them too, but if I'm going 25 already and they start walking, I'm not going to brake hard just for them if I'm already in the middle of the street.
#27
Lexus Fanatic
I'm sorry to hear your wife (who I'm sure is a good, careful driver), got a ticket, Joeb.....especially under those circumstances. But (and no offense)..........welcome to New Jersey. The state didn't get the questionable reputation it has for nothing.
#28
Lexus Fanatic
And in D.C. of course, you never know who will get caught in one of those stings......even Members of Congress.
#29
Pole Position
iTrader: (10)
They do that too around the BC area as I seen news casts and they play footage of the cop pulling drivers failing to stop. In these cases, the ones shown is where the car's on the same side of the pedestrian (undercover cop) fail to stop - in one case (caught by news crew), almost hit a the plain clothed cop (driver definately got a ticket for that).
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In Honk Kong, the intersections have yellow lines marked on them - indicating, there can be no cars there when the light goes to red. Any cars in those areas during the light change, would be caught and ticketed. It comes in handy because of the many cars and volume in the area. If a vehicle is there during the light change, they are pretty much stuck because, they would not be able to like get out of that yellow zone because of the jam. Cops nearby in the area can easily give them a ticket.
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In Honk Kong, the intersections have yellow lines marked on them - indicating, there can be no cars there when the light goes to red. Any cars in those areas during the light change, would be caught and ticketed. It comes in handy because of the many cars and volume in the area. If a vehicle is there during the light change, they are pretty much stuck because, they would not be able to like get out of that yellow zone because of the jam. Cops nearby in the area can easily give them a ticket.
#30
Racer
iTrader: (3)
Of course it goes both ways, either the pedestrians don't give a crap and EXPECT cars to stop for them, and the other way around for drivers expecting pedestrians to stop for them.
IMO, pedestrians definitely need to be on the defensive, because driver is behind tons of steel and metal. Whenever I cross the street, I'll either bolt across or speed walk because I don't trust anyone to stop for me. I use to be one of those cocky high school kids that took his dandy time walking across expecting everyone to stop for ME and if I got hit, lawsuit! But if you get a broken spine and are paralyzed for life, is it worth it?
I try to be courteous for them too, but if I'm going 25 already and they start walking, I'm not going to brake hard just for them if I'm already in the middle of the street.
IMO, pedestrians definitely need to be on the defensive, because driver is behind tons of steel and metal. Whenever I cross the street, I'll either bolt across or speed walk because I don't trust anyone to stop for me. I use to be one of those cocky high school kids that took his dandy time walking across expecting everyone to stop for ME and if I got hit, lawsuit! But if you get a broken spine and are paralyzed for life, is it worth it?
I try to be courteous for them too, but if I'm going 25 already and they start walking, I'm not going to brake hard just for them if I'm already in the middle of the street.
In too many cases, I've seen people take 'right-of-way' laws to an extreme, where they consciously place themselves in danger, stepping out in front of moving traffic, many times nowhere near a crosswalk (usually the high school kids, as you mention). This compounds at at night, where many pedestrians wear dark clothing and persist with this behavior. The city has gone so far as to erect barriers/fences to force pedestrians into the crosswalks, instead of various points in the middle of the street.
I'm all for sharing the roads, but I'll yield 100% of the time to that multi-ton vehicle traveling at 25+ mph, before crossing-- I can spare the time.