Hacker News Reader

Comment by mPReDiToR | Hacker News Reader

Is nobody going to say that a lack of education for pedestrians would contribute to this?

As a professional driver for decades I see more people stepping onto the black death strip from the safe kerb without a look or thought year on year.

It's very easy to blame drivers. It's very easy to make rules for them. It's very easy to punish them. It's very hard to swerve into solid metal oncoming vehicles to avoid hitting the soft and yielding organic material which appeared suddenly in the space you're moving into.

Honestly, reinvigorate the steel industry and put any kind of barrier along the sidewalk/pavement to stop this careless attitude towards their own safety.

Second order effects would include stopping delivery drivers from loading anywhere they please, making people courteously give way to other pedestrians (which may introduce a long needed civility to random interactions), and unblocked movement for white cane and wheelchair users.

View on HN

Pedestrian education is an industry sponsored way to put the blame for tragedy caused by bad road design and bad car design onto individuals.

People wouldn’t need to step off the curb if roads were designed to allow them to cross more than once every mile. They would need to step into traffic if roads had frequent under or overpasses rather than just zebra stripes.

There’s a great podcast episode here [0] covering the history of companies shifting the burden of safety from themselves to individuals and convincing regulators to do the same.

> “Listening to music was not associated with higher crash risk.”

> “‘Distracted’ pedestrians were more likely to cross with the light and use the crosswalk.”

> Pedestrian risks were highest in several metropolitan areas of Florida “that are known more for their inhospitable streetscapes than their distracted walkers.”

0:https://citationsneeded.medium.com/the-great-neoliberal-burd...

You have a point here that I have also noticed in a more rural/suburban setting. The number of adults, who presumably have a driver's license (or, at minimum, received some level of driver's ed in their secondary schooling), who don't know which side of the road pedestrians walk on/bicycles ride in is astounding and, in my experience, increasing. Add to this pedestrians who hop on and off the curb without notice, cyclists who swerve all over both lanes or ride at night without lights and reflectors, and people in roads in dark clothing and no lights.

It's gotten to the point that it's been frustrating and frightening to drive anywhere (dependent on how light it is).

“Education for pedestrians” is very difficult, maybe impossible. You’d have to reach and convince 100% of the population, including homeless people who we can’t even convince to stay in free shelters.

Even then, there are still fatalities of completely innocent pedestrians. Near me two kids were killed when someone hit them crossing at the cross walk with their parent. Driver confused the gas and brake.

Fencing in the entire sidewalk seems impossible in most cases as access to street parking and driveways is needed on most roads. I have seen fences put on the median in a few cases to discourage crossing.

If it were taught to the young, as it was when I was a youth, it should become a behaviour aped (consciously or otherwise) by peers.

Putting a token barrier up in city centres wouldn't restrict access, and would help root the distinction even when in other areas.

Yes, of course this isn't a 'magic bullet' to cure fatalities, but it could go a long way to (ready for it ...) curbing them (groan).

Part of a wider plan, and one with many upsides.

> Honestly, reinvigorate the steel industry and put any kind of barrier along the sidewalk/pavement to stop this careless attitude towards their own safety.

You're kidding, right? ...right?

Whenever I observe pedestrians walking on the sidewalks, maybe 30/40% of them do so looking at their screens, walk the dog? Better check your feeds, waiting for the traffic light? Time to see what’s new. I don’t know if i’m just a cranky old man but I see people getting dumber by the minute, I’ve witnessed guys riding bicycles hands-free with the phone on their hands, driving mopeds with the phone on their left hand (mopeds have 2 brake levers on the handlebar, no brake pedals) it’s just that the pedestrians are the softer ones.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com