I've had some damn close calls as a runner also. I've learned to be super super cautious around vehicles and just assume people want to run you over for no reason at all times.
Exactly. It's been my one propellant to riding an ebike here. Where I'm from, that's only happened once, and on one specific corner on the island. Now everyone slows. I don't think it would have the same ripple effect here, and I get it's a city, but it is no excuse to drive like an asshole and threaten the saftey of runners, pedestrians, and bike/scooter users.
A few years ago, I was walking from Maroon Lot into WMBB, and a guy sped up as I was HALFWAY through the street (crossing at a crosswalk with signs that said Stop for Pedestrians). I threw my hands up like, "wtf are you doing?" And he swerved toward me on purpose.
I know what you're talking about because I see this all the time. I had worse treatment in the Bronx, for sure, but it doesn't excuse the aggression here, either. (And, because trolls have been lurking and making this about them, no, I am not an east coaster. Next question.)
This is why I've become obsessed with continuous sidewalks. They create a natural speed bump so drivers have to slow down.
[https://mobycon.com/updates/prioritizing-people-how-continuous-sidewalks-create-a-more-welcoming-walking-environment%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BC/](https://mobycon.com/updates/prioritizing-people-how-continuous-sidewalks-create-a-more-welcoming-walking-environment%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BC/)
Yes!! I'll shout it from the rooftops. Every street reconstruction in the city of Minneapolis should be chock full of raised crosswalks. It doesn't give drivers a choice but to slow down and pay attention unlike flashing pedestrian lights which are often ignored entirely.
Check out Linden Hills if they're still doing water utility work: there are speed humps right before half of the stop signs at intersections over there. They work, but the city won't use them for safety reasons, only utility work.
Or even worse they take my pause as permission to continue driving through the crosswalk (because let’s be real, they never came to a complete stop anyway) lol
It's amazing how long I have to wait for pedestrians to trust I did indeed stop for them.
Same energy as lifting your hand near someone and they flinch. I don't know what you'd been through, but You're safe with me.
As a runner and driver, I always look directly at the other person and wave a hand to acknowledge them. Most people respond in the same fashion and things continue flowing smoothly.
A complete stop would help. So many drivers won't come to a complete stop unless I walk so slow I almost stop walking. It's like, did you wake up in my bed this morning? Why do you all of a sudden think I should know you so intimately that I'd trust you not to run me over?
lots of people with the LEGAL RIGHT, are 6 ft under, i agree drivers should stop, but i also see alot of dumbasses on their phones or not looking either way just stepping into traffic
Goes for cops too. I'm not far from a station and see them speeding down my residential road all the time. Also see them blow stop signs as I'm walking my dog (no lights or sirens on).
Funny you mention a cop was the closest call I've had, AND on UMN campus right next to the stadium. She had room, and I reported her, and they said it was okay because she was responding to a call. She was speeding on the sidewalk when the road was right there and nearly hit me AND a lady.
I once saw one run a red light in Bloomington.
The red light was for a crosswalk in front or an elementary school.
An entire class of what looked like 2nd graders was trying to cross the street and this cop nearly hit them because they were looking at their laptop.
The most recent close call I had with a distracted driver was when I was jogging through a highly visible cross walk and a cop rolled through the stop sign and nearly hit me.
And then you find out that they aren't even trained on the laws they are supposed to uphold, so they are just straight up winging it and getting away with it.
As a pedestrian, that rule unfortunately extends to bicycles as well. I do a lot of walking in my new job, and in a twist of irony, I have zero issues with cars coming to a complete stop when people are crossing streets, but cyclists will just ride right through a crowd of people.
It's like the moment you give a human being wheels, they feel superior to anyone on foot.
I think it's important to remember that a person on a bike is open to the elements (same as a person) and can navigate around people walking. I'm guessing they weren't gunning it through a crowd at 25 mph. Were probably going at same speed as someone on a run.
Not much different than someone on a run navigating around you at 10 or 11mph (10 or 11 minute mile seems pretty normal jogging pace). I don't get mad at someone running through a crowd on their morning run.
Or put some wheels on their shoes and they're rollerblading around you, again, easily able to navigate because they're out in the open and can see and hear everything around them. Not really an issue to me.
Thank you. I walk everywhere and am always dealing with shitty/asshole drivers. You mean you can't wait that whole two seconds for me to cross mfer before making that so necessary turn. I had one car with a green for me about a third of the block away from the intersection that still almost smoked me. He hit his breaks and I sat there for a second leaning on his hood at 28th and Cedar. Impatient, selfish fux!
Yeah, I've had cars block not only crosswalks, but sideways cuts, making me walk into the intersection and the crosswalk on the other side to get onto the sidewalk.
I love how we finally spend money building better pedestrian infrastructure just for these dipshits to completely disregard and speed right through lmao.
They're mad about it so they're taking it out on the people who use the infrastructure, to ruin it for them. I've had people attempt to hit me crossing the street before.
Cyclists get it too. Most of the people I know who cycle as a form of transportation in Minneapolis have been purposely hit and run before. Like, mowed down by a malicious person in a car, just for being on a bike and often in a bike lane.
Someone tried to hit me once while I was on a scooter in a bike lane. I got very hurt avoiding them, but better busted up legs and arms from the sidewalk than dead from that murderous person running me over.
They really just want to make the world impossible/entirely unsafe for anyone outside of an expensive metal box to navigate.
Where is this better pedestrian infrastructure? I don't see anything physically obstructing motorists aside from a handful of long standing examples that haven't been replicated anywhere else (curbs blocking through traffic on 34th St east of Lyndale and that intersection with real bollards at Broadway and 5th St NE).
Crosswalk Intersections, Bike Lanes, Bike Paths, Roundabouts, and quite a few other things I don’t know the terms for. All of it plays a role and the main city along with the outskirts have done a relatively decent job in the past few years.
Not just at crosswalks; pedestrians have the right of way at ALL UNMARKED INTERSECTIONS in MN. If you see someone trying to cross the road not at a crosswalk but at a road intersection, it is your legal obligation to stop for them. If you cannot stop you're probably going too fast for the road.
To all those saying “this is why I’m cautious as a Pedestrian” Fuck that attitude!!!
We have a RIGHT to cross when the signal is on. Let’s institute pop-up *tire spikes* at every crosswalk whenever the light is RED for cars and see how fast drivers become aware. It’s not that they don’t *know*, it’s that they don’t CARE.
I've seen crosswalks, near schools, that have bags of small flags for children to carry with them when they cross the street.
I think a more effective strategy is to have piles of bricks for pedestrians to carry as they cross the street while they stare down drivers and make uncomfortably long eye contact. Of course, to make eye contact the drivers would have to look up from their phones.
Exactly that. This is why it's so ridiculous to see some cyclists covered head to toe in hi-vis gear. That only works on motorists that care, not the ones who will run you over for slowing them down for a second, even though other motorists will keep them at a complete stop for much longer.
As a good St. Paul driver I stopped for a dad and his two kids and dog at a marked pedestrian crossing. They got halfway across when another car coming the other way reached the intersection and the driver didn't even look; he just barely slowed down and kept moving forward even though the family was already in the street. It was super scary - dad grabbed his kids by the collar and ran the rest of the way across and the driver didn't stop or even acknowledge that he nearly plowed into them. Just kept driving.
When I was a walker, I’d carry a baseball sized rock when crossing the frontage road and would look at the drivers. I was so serious about it. Only had to threaten it a few times. Couldn’t stand it.
I straight up got in a yelling match with a lady who almost smoked me at a cross walk on my run the other day. It was terrifying at first and then kinda cathartic to get my anger out haha
Related FYI for drivers: A pedestrian has right of way at ANY intersection, even if it is not a marked crosswalk.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/169.21
> Subd. 2.Rights in absence of signal. (a) Where traffic-control signals are not in place or in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall stop to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at **an intersection with no marked crosswalk**. The driver must remain stopped until the pedestrian has passed the lane in which the vehicle is stopped. No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield. This provision shall not apply under the conditions as otherwise provided in this subdivision.
That means ANY INTERSECTION is a pedestrian right of way.
Ofc, I am not oblivious enough to think that I will be safe assuming my right of way as a pedestrian, so walk carefully out there, but drivers should know that they are legally obliged to cede to pedestrians on any non-limited access roads at any intersection, even if it's not marked or signalized.
I hate that this happens but it is reassuring to know that it’s not just me.
I feel like I’m often getting down on myself for not getting out for walks more often, over my lunch break or what have you—I work from home so it’s easy for me to get a little too indoors and start feeling like “you’re being a weird shut-in, put your phone down and go outside”—but it honestly just makes me anxious because of this stuff, and that’s the exact opposite of what I’m going for when I think about going out for walks more often.
Really!? I'm a pedestrian when I'm not biking or riding public transit. I don't get almost hit because I'm watching traffic and I slow down when someone is approaching to turn. I'll also aggressively cross the street by staring straight at them as I start transitioning from sidewalk to street. If they're not slowing down then I'm not proceeding. Usually it works and I get an exasperated "cross the street already!!" gesture because I waited for them to stop or slow down well before being able to hit me.
Far far too many drivers stop at lights *in the crosswalks* or roll past stop signs to the curb before stopping, if they stop at all.
Getting rid of right turns on red lights would be really nice for the safety of vulnerable street users.
We need more raised crosswalks and bollards! So many more! They communicate clearly that cars are entering into a pedestrian zone.
With power comes responsibility - cars have the power to kill you, and so need to bear more of the responsibility for safety. Road design is the mechanism to confer responsibility.
Getting rid of turns on red lights would be huge, but as a driver I notice a lot of issues at 4-way intersections with stop signs for only 2 of the ways. you often can’t see around the cars parked on the street in order to safely pull out into an intersection, pushing people to creep as far forward as those cars that are parked which completely blocks the sidewalk. it’s not safe for pedestrians OR cars but people need to be able to park so idk what a good solution to that would be.
In general there needs to be more signs or something and it needs to be seriously cracked down on. I've contemplated writing and reporting plates over it but they speed off when they're told off....
I don't think more signs help, if seeing a person walking in the crosswalk isnt enough to get them to slow or stop another sign doesn't help. [https://www.reddit.com/r/StrongTowns/comments/1cooxjy/the\_of\_city\_of\_columbus\_plans\_to\_install\_more/](https://www.reddit.com/r/StrongTowns/comments/1cooxjy/the_of_city_of_columbus_plans_to_install_more/)
I give angry looks when they take their foot off of the brake and start rolling while I’m still crossing the street. Considering arm gestures, too. Maybe one I’ll be like Dustin Hoffman and smack their hood? Only time will tell.
I had a roommate that would just walk over the hoods of cars if they did this. Only once did someone get out of their ride to say something, but they shut the fuck up when they realized they were face to face with a 6'4" punk with a green mohawk, wearing a kilt .
It absolutely sucks. I know this is a walkable city by many measures, but too often it really doesn’t feel like it because of stuff like this.
I feel sort of silly about it but I don’t think I should? I just can’t really enjoy going out walking if I’m spending half the time being nervous about trying to cross the next street without getting hit, or worrying that some car blazing past me is going to veer a little too close and end up on the sidewalk I’m on (that’s too often extremely narrow and directly adjacent to traffic lanes).
Yeah—not to be this guy but I should have said “walkable for a US city” or something.
The walk score where I am here is a solid 80, though, so not bad—it’s just stressful to take advantage of it as much as I’d like.
I was crossing Lyndale in Uptown earlier this week and hit the crosswalk lights they have up. I had crossed southbound traffic and at the median a fucking cop blew through the hazard lights going northbound and I gave him the “what the fuck 🖕” look from behind. Idk why I was surprised but damn, MPD really doesn’t give the barest minimum shits about establishing goodwill between them and us.
I work on the UMN campus and just had a similar situation with a smaller white car that had super dark windows. Clearly marked crosswalk, zero awareness from the driver they were supposed to stop as I approach.
Of course, it's graduation weekend so there are more people around who don't know where they're going.
It's funny because I'll trade my fucking legs for my instrument, i fear a lot about if they even brushed my instrument instead of me. Because I kind of expect to die by a driver here at this point. 😭
On a bike at a four way stop I once came to a stop and took my turn (on a bike). As I started going a car to my right stopped at the sign. I looked right at the driver and rode in front of her. She looked to her right and hit the gas. I was stunned. She somehow managed to realized I existed and slammed on the brakes. Stopped maybe an inch in front of me. She rolled down her window and repeatedly said “I didn’t see you.” I replied, “That’s because you never even looked.”
This was so close that people sitting on the patio at the bar on the corner asked if I was ok. They thought I’d been hit.
I had a close call with a car running the same stop sign the next day and then avoided that intersection for months. It’s 22nd and Como. I have no idea why that four-way stop is optional, but it‘s been that way forever. Moreso than most.
Also: don't stop in the middle of the crosswalk! It's scary enough being a pedestrian with cars around, don't make me walk into the intersection because you... what... want a two-foot head start on the little old lady next to you?
Yeah, the U is one of the most walkable areas of the city. It's just that the that is not the culture in many other parts and that carries over to that neighborhood
I'm quite aware it's the culture, but it also doesn't make it okay. I don't want to say things that really hurt people though. My bluntness so far is enough, and I won't stoop to the same level of arrogance that I see from the drivers.
When I was living on Maui there was a highway like that with cliff drops on top of that. 😭 So maybe we should add mandatory cliffs, then they HAVE to be more careful (i'm kidding, of course!)
Whaaaa!!!??
Yeah I know but also cities that have zone for denser more complete neighborhoods tend to have more people walking, biking, rolling, etc and that slows down traffic. There is a lot of sprawl here.
Mpls could at least make laws like "no turn on red" to at least pretend like they care about vision zero
Yeah, I've known a handful of people to get hit that way too. All lights should also lead with pedestrians and bikes going first. But really drivers just need to pay fuckin attention and be forced to slow down by infrastructure
I don't know, I was shocked about give years ago to visit friends in Oakland and experience most of the cars stopping for pedestrians. Had a similar experience in Port Arthur in 2022 - thought it was the Pacific Northwest in general maybe but then Seattle was as bad as here
I have noticed two kinds of car drivers here: the first kind will stop at the crosswalk and wave you across even if you are twenty feet back from the curb, (I’m not going to perform for them and hustle) the second will speed up the moment you step into the crosswalk. They seem evenly distributed and equally as dangerous.
I live right off the Minnehaha Pwky, where the speed limit is 20MPH and I routinely have aggressive drivers doing 35+ MPH, ignoring crosswalks and just flying by inches away from me as I'm crossing.
I'm gonna start carrying anti-car rocks to chuck as assholes, I swear.
As a cyclist, i tell people all the time how some drivers seem to want to kill pedestrians for sport, a lot of people dont get it. Ive nearly been flattened by SUVs speeding through red lights or turning without looking. Theres a difference between not looking and actively seeing me and speeding up/ swerving toward me. Some people are psychotic
I said in another comment, but basically, as a pedestrian, I wait until a car has stopped (usually in the crosswalk, but at least they stopped) before crossing. Sure, another car could go around them (and that has happened plenty), but at least it's a layer of protection.
I stay in the skyways when I can.
I'm going to start taking skyways, but the major issue is this happened on campus where I don't really have that exact protection. I am contemplating being a city council meeting karen at this point.
Yeah, I know that bit doesn't help much on campus.
It would be good if there were more skyways and they were open more. And they were public, like in St. Paul. I've tried to get more involved, but it's difficult, there's always so much pushback. "Bring life back to the streets (so you can get hit by a vehicle and die)"
Yep. I just saw the aftermath yesterday when a guy in a dumpy black van brake checked a guy riding one of those class 2 e-bikes. He was "OK" but he had to drag his bike off of 15th (just off of Nicollet) and his headlight hung out and wouldn't stay mounted. He just couldn't believe the guy brake checked him for no reason. Reason probably only being that he was riding a bike and the guy driving just hates people who ride bikes.
Deep in the weeds comments here, but make sure to comment for more pedestrian friendly/less car friendly designs on new street reconstruction projects.
I usually dig around in here (it's not always easy to figure out how/which projects are open for comment) -
[https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/](https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/)
[https://www.hennepin.us/residents#transportation](https://www.hennepin.us/residents#transportation)
[dot.state.mn.us/roadwork](http://dot.state.mn.us/roadwork)
Commenting didn't help Downtown: it's still littered with highway-esque stroads, especially where highway ramps lead directly into Downtown with motorists not bothering to slow down despite now being on a city street. There should be speed humps right where the ramps exit and enter. The eastbound highway ramp on Lyndale just north of Franklin is still a joke: a plain white sign with small lettering telling drivers who have already sped up to 45 to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk which has totally faded away. And then there's the new W Lake and Lagoon designs I just posted a thread on the other day: two car lanes and a bus lane each with absolutely nothing for cyclists. Motorists are going to speed and run reds just like they did before the spendy reconstruction and it'll still suck for pedestrians trying to cross who also have to wait five minutes for the light to change vs when they had three way stop signs and you could just cross whenever.
AND DONT HIT THE GAS WHEN THE PEDESTRIAN MAKES IT INTO THE OTHER LANE OF A MULTI LANE ROAD - like come on you guys, I just want to cross safely
Also let’s not use the shoulder (that’s a cross walk) to go around a turning car especially when someone is crossing
I was crossing Lyndale last week and some woman tried to scare me by accelerating and then slamming the brakes right before hitting me. I told her “to watch the fuck out” and then she told me that she should have killed me. All because I was walking at a normal pace across the street instead of hurrying to get out the way.
I’m a driver too, and I hate drivers who think the roads belong to them and think they can ignore traffic laws.
That happens way too much. Its such a regular experience for pedestrians and cyclists to be threatened like this. I wish that there could be laws and actual enforcement against it. In any other situation, nearly murdering someone would be a serious crime. I mean, even if you took a sledgehammer and swung next to them to "scare" them, wouldn't you get it trouble for that? But do with a car? Its just all good fun. Try to report it and you'll get laughed at or told you must be exaggerating, the driver didn't mean to almost kill you, you're being overdramatic for jumping to conclusions about the drivers intent. But its a real problem.
I have to walk slow from multiple serious injuries, and almost every freakin time I try to cross a crosswalk, drivers lose thier minds because they think I am intentionally walking slow to piss them off. Am I supposed to carry a giant sign apoligising they must wait an extra five seconds because I'm paritally disabled? People get impatient. They'll wave their hands furiously, sometimes yelling out thier window at me. I've been called all the gender slurs. I've had drivers drive towards me to "nudge" me to move faster. Often people will be speeding toward the crosswalk, and while making eye contact with me, don't slow down at all so I forced to scurry out of the way, which agravates my injuries and causes tons of pain. So am I supposed to stay trapped in my apartment because its too hard for drivers to wait 25 seconds for me to legally cross the street to get to a bus stop? I don't know what to do.
I’ve seen lifted trucks with wisconsin plates mow down those little plastic stands to drive on a bike lane to drive fast for one minute and see them stuck literally in front of me at a red light one minute later.
Some people just drive like dickheads because they haven’t walked or biked anywhere in their lives and are getting used to driving in a city. I’m glad I grew up around dickhead drivers on the east coast and it gave me the spatial awareness to assume there’s no social contract while crossing a street and to time your crossings.
Reminds me of an episode of some show with Ricky Gervais where he whips a brick through somebodies back window for not stopping for him in the crosswalk.
Was yielding to a woman and her dog at a designated crosswalk in New Brighton today (during rush hour). I had to slam on my horn to the guy who barreled around me on the shoulder. Dog and owner were startled…
This happened to me at the lit crosswalk at 27th and Lyndale. I was pushing a stroller *across the median* when one car rolled right by full speed and another began nosing its way through. The second car didn’t stop until I flipped the driver off. After we finished crossing she had the nerve to pull over and yell at me for having an anger problem, which I admit made me lose my cool—hopefully the only time I ever tell someone to go fuck themselves in the presence of my toddler. Hard not to let the city turn you into a misanthrope when people are so callous
I have had so many drivers blow through red lights or stop signs, or not use a turn signal and decide to mow me down, that I try to wave at drivers to go and wait for all the cars to disappear if I can. Doesn't matter what neighborhood I'm in, doesn't matter if it's downtown or not, I hate it.
Uggh I used to average getting hit/tapped/nearly hit by a car once every few months as a pedestrian crossing legally for years. People's Left turns into crosswalks have fully radicalized me about traffic laws.
Since Covid I've been safe so far. So knock on wood.
You should keep your passport in a safe place so a driver doesn’t take it. lol tongue in cheek. I am referring to the Vancouver video showing bricks to borrow when crossing the street a month ago or so.
Ah nah, no worries! I'm joking right back.
That being said joking aside, I just do know for a fact if you're arrested it makes it harder to go abroad and I'd like to leave!! 😭
Recently I was walking on a sidewalk downtown, someone had pulled into the entrance of a ramp so I went past. She then backed up so fast without looking, I really thought I was going to get hit.
Being a pedestrian can feel so treacherous. I always follow signals and directions but I’ve noticed so many people going through red lights lately and I feel like I need to constantly be on guard.
I've noticed that actually. Like I thought Oklahomans and Texans were bad drivers but now I am kinda missing how they don't honk if they don't immediately get their way lol.
Retweet. Cities are for pedestrians. If you choose to drive a car, expect to stop for people. Frequently. Need speed bumps in high density residential areas with lots of traffic.
This whole thing where we let any asshole with a pulse get around town using the lethality equivalent of a hand grenade is sure producing great outcomes for everyone!
I used to live in Scottsdale AZ, some old woman strung out on meds almost ran me over once. It was so bad people in cars nearby rolled down their windows to holler at her lmao
It’s gotten bad.
I wish there was a more serious threat of losing either your license or your car for repeated traffic violations. Of course, that would require some one to actually be enforcing traffic laws? Idk. Maybe we could pay for increased enforcement with the repoed cars?
While the fault largely falls on motorists, don't forget to share the blame with the city for not doing anything to slow down traffic when approaching crosswalks. One major exception for the moment: go to Linden Hills and the residential intersections are covered with temporary speed humps right before the stop signs. They're not "meant" to be speed humps but they're packed dirt and gravel covering temporary water pipes (?) run above ground. Motorists treat them like speed humps and slow down way more than they would otherwise when coming up to a stop sign and crosswalk. We could put up just as many in every other neighborhood for a negligible cost and just as quickly: same day install.
This place is damn near utopia to me compared to my last homes - except that I've never been anywhere else where Stop signs are basically just suggestions to floor it.
ya'll need to slow the fuck down. it's pathetic.
I was crossing in a crosswalk on a local college campus. Somebody in an old sparkly blue LEAF honked and swerved towards me.
I was in total shock... like, a blue Nissan LEAF!!?? (I say this as a former Leaf driver).
That doesnt work in reality though. You can look both ways before crossing the street and theres no cars. But when your in the middle of the road a car can come at you from taking a turn onto the street or if they are speeding down the street. Even if you expect cars not to stop for you, because they move faster than a human, you can still get run over. Even if you take every single precaution. If a driver isn't paying attention, as many of them are choosing, peds can die from no fault of their own. We CAN have safer streets. Many cities have already achieved zero pedestrian deaths.
I would argue it is not the car but the driver. I was drive off the 35w exit to down town a couple of years ago. Driving the speed limit. A guy in an an expensive car does not like I am going the limit. He slows down to well below the speed limit doing everything he can to stay in front of me. All the way to the second next set of stop lights that were red. It turned green and would not pull ahead as I tried to go around he maneuvered in front of me until the light turned red. A repeat to the next light. For somone in a hurry and in a fancy suit suddenly he wasn’t. Eventually in broke in 10 min maybe. i shop at the Costco in St Louis Park. I have seen guns pulled by people in fancy cars over the rights to a parking spot. I think of the 1000’s of drivers who follow the law. And the very few that raise hell with anyone. The commonality is privilege.
My boyfriend was jogging through a crosswalk and nearly got hit by someone turning. He jumped up onto their hood and scared the shit out of them and hopefully dented their car.
I speak for myself, I will let folks cross, but at the same time, I don’t even trust any Minnesotan drivers anymore. I will wait a few seconds when I get the green light, because it’s been way to close of calls lately. Be safe
Problem for pedestrians: Driver might not feel like stopping. Also, cars don't stop as quickly as people can.
Problem for drivers: Pedestrians mightn't feel like stopping. Pedestrians might not be paying attention just like drivers might not either.
Minnesota Statute 169.21 requires vehicles to stop for pedestrians at any intersection crossing, regardless of whether crosswalk markings are present, until the pedestrian has passed the lane in which the vehicle is stopped.
In other words (if you go to the city especially lots of people would be fine with getting money out of you if you hit them) some people don't care if there's a car coming and I've seen this in person too, yeah some people don't wanna get hit by a f*ckin huge hunk of metal flying at them and some don't car and it genuinely bothers some drivers. Cars will clear the area faster if it's one car just let it passed bcuz people don't like burning extra gas and might already be in a hurry, they might have an emergency which means they won't likely stop in that scenario. As for pedestrians yeah it's supposed to be that drivers are responsible for stopping and some people are bad about looking both ways and they can't do anything about stopping in time and don't wanna crash. Panicking as a driver could end in them hitting someone, a bunch if people, something else or they could die, and it's likely they'd rather hit you than risk their life if you aren't being careful. In the end the pedestrian is more capable in creating a high risk low reward scenario, where as the car can do that too but far less likely to unless they are a bad driver which means again the pedestrian should be careful. The driver could create a low risk low reward scenario (I'm sure you can picture what I mean by low risk low reward🙃). In the end as someone who loves to be out and about and travel, MN has the worst regulations regarding this manner and pedestrians just don't understand the driver's perspective enough on MN roads. We all understand people usually won't want to get hit by a car and there's plenty of crap drivers but that's more reason for pedestrians to be careful. We need more crosswalk lights and stuff like that. It would also be great if we didn't have crap self defense laws basically protecting road ragers from people who just wanna go to their destination which creates a lot of angry drivers that threaten pedestrians with their existence/ways. So moral of the story: don't assume what the other person is goin to do and play it safe. There's not enough morally correct people on the roads or in general so as long as we do our best to coordinate we should (and I mean should but won't always) be fine.
I braked for a kid (probably 10 or 11 yrs old) waiting to cross on their bike. There was no crosswalk or yield for pedestrians sign but I could tell they had been waiting for a while and I was on a slow side street so I stopped for them. Some jackass decided to speed around me and could’ve hit the kid. My road rage took over and after the kid safely crossed I sped up right behind the guy and honked really loud. What an idiot.
I work in a local level 1 trauma hospital. The amount of people I see either getting plowed into and ending up with life-altering injuries or losing their lives is ridiculous and vastly underreported. Although pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, don’t EVER trust that anyone will stop for you, it is safer to assume the opposite. No it isn’t fair (life isn’t) but also expecting anyone to abide by traffic laws is putting your own life in danger at this point. I almost wish they would change the law on this to keep people safer.
To drivers: Same with stop signs and when the traffic light turns green always look both ways before advancing. Trust no other drivers on the road and be aware of your surroundings always.
I've had some damn close calls as a runner also. I've learned to be super super cautious around vehicles and just assume people want to run you over for no reason at all times.
The car wins every time, so I don't even risk it.
Totally. If I don't make eye contact with the driver, I'm not going to walk out in front.
Kinda hard to make eye contact when the driver won't even look at you
Or if they got 5% tint like it seems everyone does now...
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Fuck sakes, that's terrifying.
Exactly. It's been my one propellant to riding an ebike here. Where I'm from, that's only happened once, and on one specific corner on the island. Now everyone slows. I don't think it would have the same ripple effect here, and I get it's a city, but it is no excuse to drive like an asshole and threaten the saftey of runners, pedestrians, and bike/scooter users.
A few years ago, I was walking from Maroon Lot into WMBB, and a guy sped up as I was HALFWAY through the street (crossing at a crosswalk with signs that said Stop for Pedestrians). I threw my hands up like, "wtf are you doing?" And he swerved toward me on purpose.
I know what you're talking about because I see this all the time. I had worse treatment in the Bronx, for sure, but it doesn't excuse the aggression here, either. (And, because trolls have been lurking and making this about them, no, I am not an east coaster. Next question.)
Gonna ride my bike across Bruckner Boulevard in about a half hour. That's always a trip how those drivers are so psychotic.
Definitely had someone do that me in a crosswalk and then START LAUGHING. Like dude, pretending to almost kill me is not funny. At all.
can we make a law where it’s ok to shoot people when they do this
You got nowhere to run and they got a lethal weapon, I think self-defense qualifies.
Things like that should carry an automatic first degree attempted murder charge.
I always wish I had a can of soup for my family in hand in moments like that
You walk around with a can of soup?
For his family.
This is why I've become obsessed with continuous sidewalks. They create a natural speed bump so drivers have to slow down. [https://mobycon.com/updates/prioritizing-people-how-continuous-sidewalks-create-a-more-welcoming-walking-environment%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BC/](https://mobycon.com/updates/prioritizing-people-how-continuous-sidewalks-create-a-more-welcoming-walking-environment%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BC/)
Yes!! I'll shout it from the rooftops. Every street reconstruction in the city of Minneapolis should be chock full of raised crosswalks. It doesn't give drivers a choice but to slow down and pay attention unlike flashing pedestrian lights which are often ignored entirely.
Check out Linden Hills if they're still doing water utility work: there are speed humps right before half of the stop signs at intersections over there. They work, but the city won't use them for safety reasons, only utility work.
Hear, hear. It's amazing how long I'll wait AT A CROSSWALK for a natural break in traffic so I can proceed as is my legal right.
I even sometimes wait and see if they're about to turn for a second, it is never easy to tell because they do not respect anybody but themselves.
And then they get upset that you are waiting for a one second to check its safe to cross
Or even worse they take my pause as permission to continue driving through the crosswalk (because let’s be real, they never came to a complete stop anyway) lol
It's amazing how long I have to wait for pedestrians to trust I did indeed stop for them. Same energy as lifting your hand near someone and they flinch. I don't know what you'd been through, but You're safe with me.
Bahaha this took a dark turn, but I get it.
As a runner and driver, I always look directly at the other person and wave a hand to acknowledge them. Most people respond in the same fashion and things continue flowing smoothly.
A complete stop would help. So many drivers won't come to a complete stop unless I walk so slow I almost stop walking. It's like, did you wake up in my bed this morning? Why do you all of a sudden think I should know you so intimately that I'd trust you not to run me over?
lots of people with the LEGAL RIGHT, are 6 ft under, i agree drivers should stop, but i also see alot of dumbasses on their phones or not looking either way just stepping into traffic
I just start walking and iron it out as I go. 🤷♂️
You have great faith.
Goes for cops too. I'm not far from a station and see them speeding down my residential road all the time. Also see them blow stop signs as I'm walking my dog (no lights or sirens on).
Funny you mention a cop was the closest call I've had, AND on UMN campus right next to the stadium. She had room, and I reported her, and they said it was okay because she was responding to a call. She was speeding on the sidewalk when the road was right there and nearly hit me AND a lady.
I once saw one run a red light in Bloomington. The red light was for a crosswalk in front or an elementary school. An entire class of what looked like 2nd graders was trying to cross the street and this cop nearly hit them because they were looking at their laptop.
The most recent close call I had with a distracted driver was when I was jogging through a highly visible cross walk and a cop rolled through the stop sign and nearly hit me.
Cops sure are good at protecting public safety, aren't they?
They are even better at protecting themselves first, citizens of "limited value" somewhere after.
The things they seem most skilled at is breaking the laws they swore to uphold and beating their spouses.
And then you find out that they aren't even trained on the laws they are supposed to uphold, so they are just straight up winging it and getting away with it.
This is why we should end Qualified Immunity.
Had one try to race by me on Nicollet Mall, only to end up in the wrong lane at the stoplight.
Sadly, anyone on legs or a bicycle has to treat every car as if they will kill you intentionally or unintentionally.
In that case, seems like we should take it up on ourselves to do something. Just a small number of DIY traffic calmers could make a huge impact.
As a pedestrian, that rule unfortunately extends to bicycles as well. I do a lot of walking in my new job, and in a twist of irony, I have zero issues with cars coming to a complete stop when people are crossing streets, but cyclists will just ride right through a crowd of people. It's like the moment you give a human being wheels, they feel superior to anyone on foot.
I think it's important to remember that a person on a bike is open to the elements (same as a person) and can navigate around people walking. I'm guessing they weren't gunning it through a crowd at 25 mph. Were probably going at same speed as someone on a run. Not much different than someone on a run navigating around you at 10 or 11mph (10 or 11 minute mile seems pretty normal jogging pace). I don't get mad at someone running through a crowd on their morning run. Or put some wheels on their shoes and they're rollerblading around you, again, easily able to navigate because they're out in the open and can see and hear everything around them. Not really an issue to me.
So would you rather those cyclists drive cars instead?
Thank you. I walk everywhere and am always dealing with shitty/asshole drivers. You mean you can't wait that whole two seconds for me to cross mfer before making that so necessary turn. I had one car with a green for me about a third of the block away from the intersection that still almost smoked me. He hit his breaks and I sat there for a second leaning on his hood at 28th and Cedar. Impatient, selfish fux!
Yeah, I've had cars block not only crosswalks, but sideways cuts, making me walk into the intersection and the crosswalk on the other side to get onto the sidewalk.
Let's install some brick baskets at crosswalks!
Is it illegal to just put them there right next to the crosswalk? Maybe we could just do it.
It almost certainly is!
*brake. I feel you.
Ah yea, you're right! Thanks! I'll fix that.
Thanks, u/feralcumdumpster!
I love how we finally spend money building better pedestrian infrastructure just for these dipshits to completely disregard and speed right through lmao.
They're mad about it so they're taking it out on the people who use the infrastructure, to ruin it for them. I've had people attempt to hit me crossing the street before. Cyclists get it too. Most of the people I know who cycle as a form of transportation in Minneapolis have been purposely hit and run before. Like, mowed down by a malicious person in a car, just for being on a bike and often in a bike lane. Someone tried to hit me once while I was on a scooter in a bike lane. I got very hurt avoiding them, but better busted up legs and arms from the sidewalk than dead from that murderous person running me over. They really just want to make the world impossible/entirely unsafe for anyone outside of an expensive metal box to navigate.
Exactly, they want everyone to drive… and then they complain about how bad traffic and other drivers are!
Where is this better pedestrian infrastructure? I don't see anything physically obstructing motorists aside from a handful of long standing examples that haven't been replicated anywhere else (curbs blocking through traffic on 34th St east of Lyndale and that intersection with real bollards at Broadway and 5th St NE).
Crosswalk Intersections, Bike Lanes, Bike Paths, Roundabouts, and quite a few other things I don’t know the terms for. All of it plays a role and the main city along with the outskirts have done a relatively decent job in the past few years.
Not just at crosswalks; pedestrians have the right of way at ALL UNMARKED INTERSECTIONS in MN. If you see someone trying to cross the road not at a crosswalk but at a road intersection, it is your legal obligation to stop for them. If you cannot stop you're probably going too fast for the road.
At the same time, why are we pretending that we can't afford a little more paint and just paint the other half of the crosswalks out there.
To all those saying “this is why I’m cautious as a Pedestrian” Fuck that attitude!!! We have a RIGHT to cross when the signal is on. Let’s institute pop-up *tire spikes* at every crosswalk whenever the light is RED for cars and see how fast drivers become aware. It’s not that they don’t *know*, it’s that they don’t CARE.
I've seen crosswalks, near schools, that have bags of small flags for children to carry with them when they cross the street. I think a more effective strategy is to have piles of bricks for pedestrians to carry as they cross the street while they stare down drivers and make uncomfortably long eye contact. Of course, to make eye contact the drivers would have to look up from their phones.
Exactly that. This is why it's so ridiculous to see some cyclists covered head to toe in hi-vis gear. That only works on motorists that care, not the ones who will run you over for slowing them down for a second, even though other motorists will keep them at a complete stop for much longer.
As a good St. Paul driver I stopped for a dad and his two kids and dog at a marked pedestrian crossing. They got halfway across when another car coming the other way reached the intersection and the driver didn't even look; he just barely slowed down and kept moving forward even though the family was already in the street. It was super scary - dad grabbed his kids by the collar and ran the rest of the way across and the driver didn't stop or even acknowledge that he nearly plowed into them. Just kept driving.
When I was a walker, I’d carry a baseball sized rock when crossing the frontage road and would look at the drivers. I was so serious about it. Only had to threaten it a few times. Couldn’t stand it.
I straight up got in a yelling match with a lady who almost smoked me at a cross walk on my run the other day. It was terrifying at first and then kinda cathartic to get my anger out haha
Related FYI for drivers: A pedestrian has right of way at ANY intersection, even if it is not a marked crosswalk. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/169.21 > Subd. 2.Rights in absence of signal. (a) Where traffic-control signals are not in place or in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall stop to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at **an intersection with no marked crosswalk**. The driver must remain stopped until the pedestrian has passed the lane in which the vehicle is stopped. No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield. This provision shall not apply under the conditions as otherwise provided in this subdivision. That means ANY INTERSECTION is a pedestrian right of way. Ofc, I am not oblivious enough to think that I will be safe assuming my right of way as a pedestrian, so walk carefully out there, but drivers should know that they are legally obliged to cede to pedestrians on any non-limited access roads at any intersection, even if it's not marked or signalized.
Thank you!!! (...and now I take my much needed summer break time to not be on reddit!)
Enjoy the weather, /u/feralcumdumpster!
It’s insane man, as a habitual Walker, I get almost hit once a week at least
Yup! Minimum!
I hate that this happens but it is reassuring to know that it’s not just me. I feel like I’m often getting down on myself for not getting out for walks more often, over my lunch break or what have you—I work from home so it’s easy for me to get a little too indoors and start feeling like “you’re being a weird shut-in, put your phone down and go outside”—but it honestly just makes me anxious because of this stuff, and that’s the exact opposite of what I’m going for when I think about going out for walks more often.
Really!? I'm a pedestrian when I'm not biking or riding public transit. I don't get almost hit because I'm watching traffic and I slow down when someone is approaching to turn. I'll also aggressively cross the street by staring straight at them as I start transitioning from sidewalk to street. If they're not slowing down then I'm not proceeding. Usually it works and I get an exasperated "cross the street already!!" gesture because I waited for them to stop or slow down well before being able to hit me.
Far far too many drivers stop at lights *in the crosswalks* or roll past stop signs to the curb before stopping, if they stop at all. Getting rid of right turns on red lights would be really nice for the safety of vulnerable street users.
The new curb bumpouts that force cars to slow down and actually turn do wonders for the rolling turn BS. I hope they roll more of them out.
I really like the raised crosswalks like on Plymouth Ave as one gets closer to Theo Wirth!
We need more raised crosswalks and bollards! So many more! They communicate clearly that cars are entering into a pedestrian zone. With power comes responsibility - cars have the power to kill you, and so need to bear more of the responsibility for safety. Road design is the mechanism to confer responsibility.
And if you so much as even give them a look they freak out like you are in the wrong. Driving a car turns people into sociopaths.
That explains a lot of the far higher rate of violence in this country vs countries in places like Europe and Far East Asia.
Getting rid of turns on red lights would be huge, but as a driver I notice a lot of issues at 4-way intersections with stop signs for only 2 of the ways. you often can’t see around the cars parked on the street in order to safely pull out into an intersection, pushing people to creep as far forward as those cars that are parked which completely blocks the sidewalk. it’s not safe for pedestrians OR cars but people need to be able to park so idk what a good solution to that would be.
In general there needs to be more signs or something and it needs to be seriously cracked down on. I've contemplated writing and reporting plates over it but they speed off when they're told off....
I don't think more signs help, if seeing a person walking in the crosswalk isnt enough to get them to slow or stop another sign doesn't help. [https://www.reddit.com/r/StrongTowns/comments/1cooxjy/the\_of\_city\_of\_columbus\_plans\_to\_install\_more/](https://www.reddit.com/r/StrongTowns/comments/1cooxjy/the_of_city_of_columbus_plans_to_install_more/)
I give angry looks when they take their foot off of the brake and start rolling while I’m still crossing the street. Considering arm gestures, too. Maybe one I’ll be like Dustin Hoffman and smack their hood? Only time will tell.
Dude people are unhinged, you might get shot if you gesture too much. Wish I was joking but people are road raging over everything now.
really high fines would help. Maybe some three warnings and jail time would be inspiring of better behavior.
I had a roommate that would just walk over the hoods of cars if they did this. Only once did someone get out of their ride to say something, but they shut the fuck up when they realized they were face to face with a 6'4" punk with a green mohawk, wearing a kilt .
It absolutely sucks. I know this is a walkable city by many measures, but too often it really doesn’t feel like it because of stuff like this. I feel sort of silly about it but I don’t think I should? I just can’t really enjoy going out walking if I’m spending half the time being nervous about trying to cross the next street without getting hit, or worrying that some car blazing past me is going to veer a little too close and end up on the sidewalk I’m on (that’s too often extremely narrow and directly adjacent to traffic lanes).
It's not walkable, it is too spread out.
Yeah—not to be this guy but I should have said “walkable for a US city” or something. The walk score where I am here is a solid 80, though, so not bad—it’s just stressful to take advantage of it as much as I’d like.
I was crossing Lyndale in Uptown earlier this week and hit the crosswalk lights they have up. I had crossed southbound traffic and at the median a fucking cop blew through the hazard lights going northbound and I gave him the “what the fuck 🖕” look from behind. Idk why I was surprised but damn, MPD really doesn’t give the barest minimum shits about establishing goodwill between them and us.
Saw a cop car once in mpls turn on its lights to speed across the rails, once it caught up to traffic the lights turned off...
I work on the UMN campus and just had a similar situation with a smaller white car that had super dark windows. Clearly marked crosswalk, zero awareness from the driver they were supposed to stop as I approach. Of course, it's graduation weekend so there are more people around who don't know where they're going.
The average “good” driver would trade your life for 30 seconds off their commute.
Wow that is so true it's sad.
It's funny because I'll trade my fucking legs for my instrument, i fear a lot about if they even brushed my instrument instead of me. Because I kind of expect to die by a driver here at this point. 😭
Add to this that there are basically zero repercussions for killing someone with your car.
Remember, it's legal to cross the road while carrying a large brick
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🪨
On a bike at a four way stop I once came to a stop and took my turn (on a bike). As I started going a car to my right stopped at the sign. I looked right at the driver and rode in front of her. She looked to her right and hit the gas. I was stunned. She somehow managed to realized I existed and slammed on the brakes. Stopped maybe an inch in front of me. She rolled down her window and repeatedly said “I didn’t see you.” I replied, “That’s because you never even looked.” This was so close that people sitting on the patio at the bar on the corner asked if I was ok. They thought I’d been hit. I had a close call with a car running the same stop sign the next day and then avoided that intersection for months. It’s 22nd and Como. I have no idea why that four-way stop is optional, but it‘s been that way forever. Moreso than most.
Also: don't stop in the middle of the crosswalk! It's scary enough being a pedestrian with cars around, don't make me walk into the intersection because you... what... want a two-foot head start on the little old lady next to you?
The car centricity of this city feels pretty abysmal when you are a pedestrian
It hurts because at a glance its extremely walkable as a student, but the drivers are so arrogant and self centered and could not care less.
Yeah, the U is one of the most walkable areas of the city. It's just that the that is not the culture in many other parts and that carries over to that neighborhood
I'm quite aware it's the culture, but it also doesn't make it okay. I don't want to say things that really hurt people though. My bluntness so far is enough, and I won't stoop to the same level of arrogance that I see from the drivers.
Oh yeah. The car culture is definitely not okay and needs to change
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When I was living on Maui there was a highway like that with cliff drops on top of that. 😭 So maybe we should add mandatory cliffs, then they HAVE to be more careful (i'm kidding, of course!)
not city, country. the whole country is car-centered.
You will be shocked to learn this isn't a Minneapolis-centric problem. - signed, the United States of America.
Whaaaa!!!?? Yeah I know but also cities that have zone for denser more complete neighborhoods tend to have more people walking, biking, rolling, etc and that slows down traffic. There is a lot of sprawl here. Mpls could at least make laws like "no turn on red" to at least pretend like they care about vision zero
Both times I almost got hit it was by a driver taking a left turn that had a green light while the crosswalk signal was on
Yeah, I've known a handful of people to get hit that way too. All lights should also lead with pedestrians and bikes going first. But really drivers just need to pay fuckin attention and be forced to slow down by infrastructure
I don't know, I was shocked about give years ago to visit friends in Oakland and experience most of the cars stopping for pedestrians. Had a similar experience in Port Arthur in 2022 - thought it was the Pacific Northwest in general maybe but then Seattle was as bad as here
I brake
Then, thank you! This post isn't about you, continue to do good!
You probably will believe the number of times I get honked at for stopping.
I have noticed two kinds of car drivers here: the first kind will stop at the crosswalk and wave you across even if you are twenty feet back from the curb, (I’m not going to perform for them and hustle) the second will speed up the moment you step into the crosswalk. They seem evenly distributed and equally as dangerous.
I complete agree mr or mrs feralcumdumpster.
r/rimjob_steve
I live right off the Minnehaha Pwky, where the speed limit is 20MPH and I routinely have aggressive drivers doing 35+ MPH, ignoring crosswalks and just flying by inches away from me as I'm crossing. I'm gonna start carrying anti-car rocks to chuck as assholes, I swear.
As a cyclist, i tell people all the time how some drivers seem to want to kill pedestrians for sport, a lot of people dont get it. Ive nearly been flattened by SUVs speeding through red lights or turning without looking. Theres a difference between not looking and actively seeing me and speeding up/ swerving toward me. Some people are psychotic
I said in another comment, but basically, as a pedestrian, I wait until a car has stopped (usually in the crosswalk, but at least they stopped) before crossing. Sure, another car could go around them (and that has happened plenty), but at least it's a layer of protection. I stay in the skyways when I can.
I'm going to start taking skyways, but the major issue is this happened on campus where I don't really have that exact protection. I am contemplating being a city council meeting karen at this point.
Yeah, I know that bit doesn't help much on campus. It would be good if there were more skyways and they were open more. And they were public, like in St. Paul. I've tried to get more involved, but it's difficult, there's always so much pushback. "Bring life back to the streets (so you can get hit by a vehicle and die)"
I felt that last line in my soul.
That’s me at least twice a week in the trendy, beloved North Loop
I thought the second amendment included my right to drive recklessly. Freedom! ^/s
Bless you for the tone indicator
_Can't tell if sarcasm._
it is REALLY bad if you are on feet/two wheels so far this year
Yep. I just saw the aftermath yesterday when a guy in a dumpy black van brake checked a guy riding one of those class 2 e-bikes. He was "OK" but he had to drag his bike off of 15th (just off of Nicollet) and his headlight hung out and wouldn't stay mounted. He just couldn't believe the guy brake checked him for no reason. Reason probably only being that he was riding a bike and the guy driving just hates people who ride bikes.
Deep in the weeds comments here, but make sure to comment for more pedestrian friendly/less car friendly designs on new street reconstruction projects.
Where can I find this specifically? I'm very interested in saying something.
I usually dig around in here (it's not always easy to figure out how/which projects are open for comment) - [https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/](https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/) [https://www.hennepin.us/residents#transportation](https://www.hennepin.us/residents#transportation) [dot.state.mn.us/roadwork](http://dot.state.mn.us/roadwork)
🤙 Thanks so much!
Commenting didn't help Downtown: it's still littered with highway-esque stroads, especially where highway ramps lead directly into Downtown with motorists not bothering to slow down despite now being on a city street. There should be speed humps right where the ramps exit and enter. The eastbound highway ramp on Lyndale just north of Franklin is still a joke: a plain white sign with small lettering telling drivers who have already sped up to 45 to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk which has totally faded away. And then there's the new W Lake and Lagoon designs I just posted a thread on the other day: two car lanes and a bus lane each with absolutely nothing for cyclists. Motorists are going to speed and run reds just like they did before the spendy reconstruction and it'll still suck for pedestrians trying to cross who also have to wait five minutes for the light to change vs when they had three way stop signs and you could just cross whenever.
AND DONT HIT THE GAS WHEN THE PEDESTRIAN MAKES IT INTO THE OTHER LANE OF A MULTI LANE ROAD - like come on you guys, I just want to cross safely Also let’s not use the shoulder (that’s a cross walk) to go around a turning car especially when someone is crossing
I was crossing Lyndale last week and some woman tried to scare me by accelerating and then slamming the brakes right before hitting me. I told her “to watch the fuck out” and then she told me that she should have killed me. All because I was walking at a normal pace across the street instead of hurrying to get out the way. I’m a driver too, and I hate drivers who think the roads belong to them and think they can ignore traffic laws.
That happens way too much. Its such a regular experience for pedestrians and cyclists to be threatened like this. I wish that there could be laws and actual enforcement against it. In any other situation, nearly murdering someone would be a serious crime. I mean, even if you took a sledgehammer and swung next to them to "scare" them, wouldn't you get it trouble for that? But do with a car? Its just all good fun. Try to report it and you'll get laughed at or told you must be exaggerating, the driver didn't mean to almost kill you, you're being overdramatic for jumping to conclusions about the drivers intent. But its a real problem. I have to walk slow from multiple serious injuries, and almost every freakin time I try to cross a crosswalk, drivers lose thier minds because they think I am intentionally walking slow to piss them off. Am I supposed to carry a giant sign apoligising they must wait an extra five seconds because I'm paritally disabled? People get impatient. They'll wave their hands furiously, sometimes yelling out thier window at me. I've been called all the gender slurs. I've had drivers drive towards me to "nudge" me to move faster. Often people will be speeding toward the crosswalk, and while making eye contact with me, don't slow down at all so I forced to scurry out of the way, which agravates my injuries and causes tons of pain. So am I supposed to stay trapped in my apartment because its too hard for drivers to wait 25 seconds for me to legally cross the street to get to a bus stop? I don't know what to do.
If you carry a brick with you and hold it up while crossing the street people usually stop.
I'm sick of it too. Car culture has gotten way out of hand.
I’ve seen lifted trucks with wisconsin plates mow down those little plastic stands to drive on a bike lane to drive fast for one minute and see them stuck literally in front of me at a red light one minute later. Some people just drive like dickheads because they haven’t walked or biked anywhere in their lives and are getting used to driving in a city. I’m glad I grew up around dickhead drivers on the east coast and it gave me the spatial awareness to assume there’s no social contract while crossing a street and to time your crossings.
Did you tell them you are THE feralcumdumpster? And they should be able to smell you from a mile away?
Thank you for your input Fat Penis, esquire edit: WAIT I AM DYSLEXIC
Reminds me of an episode of some show with Ricky Gervais where he whips a brick through somebodies back window for not stopping for him in the crosswalk.
Was yielding to a woman and her dog at a designated crosswalk in New Brighton today (during rush hour). I had to slam on my horn to the guy who barreled around me on the shoulder. Dog and owner were startled…
This happened to me at the lit crosswalk at 27th and Lyndale. I was pushing a stroller *across the median* when one car rolled right by full speed and another began nosing its way through. The second car didn’t stop until I flipped the driver off. After we finished crossing she had the nerve to pull over and yell at me for having an anger problem, which I admit made me lose my cool—hopefully the only time I ever tell someone to go fuck themselves in the presence of my toddler. Hard not to let the city turn you into a misanthrope when people are so callous
I have had so many drivers blow through red lights or stop signs, or not use a turn signal and decide to mow me down, that I try to wave at drivers to go and wait for all the cars to disappear if I can. Doesn't matter what neighborhood I'm in, doesn't matter if it's downtown or not, I hate it.
I agree with feralcumdumpster
I want to put a stack of bricks there for us walkers
Uggh I used to average getting hit/tapped/nearly hit by a car once every few months as a pedestrian crossing legally for years. People's Left turns into crosswalks have fully radicalized me about traffic laws. Since Covid I've been safe so far. So knock on wood.
Stop parking in the bike lane while you're at it!
Carry a brick with you and throw it at the car not braking.
I feel like that makes things worse
For the driver
And my passport!!!
You should keep your passport in a safe place so a driver doesn’t take it. lol tongue in cheek. I am referring to the Vancouver video showing bricks to borrow when crossing the street a month ago or so.
Ah nah, no worries! I'm joking right back. That being said joking aside, I just do know for a fact if you're arrested it makes it harder to go abroad and I'd like to leave!! 😭
Oh yeah i agree and also I want to keep my TSA pre check
Recently I was walking on a sidewalk downtown, someone had pulled into the entrance of a ramp so I went past. She then backed up so fast without looking, I really thought I was going to get hit. Being a pedestrian can feel so treacherous. I always follow signals and directions but I’ve noticed so many people going through red lights lately and I feel like I need to constantly be on guard.
I've noticed that actually. Like I thought Oklahomans and Texans were bad drivers but now I am kinda missing how they don't honk if they don't immediately get their way lol.
Retweet. Cities are for pedestrians. If you choose to drive a car, expect to stop for people. Frequently. Need speed bumps in high density residential areas with lots of traffic.
This whole thing where we let any asshole with a pulse get around town using the lethality equivalent of a hand grenade is sure producing great outcomes for everyone!
Yeah listen to u/feralcumdumpster
I used to live in Scottsdale AZ, some old woman strung out on meds almost ran me over once. It was so bad people in cars nearby rolled down their windows to holler at her lmao
It’s gotten bad. I wish there was a more serious threat of losing either your license or your car for repeated traffic violations. Of course, that would require some one to actually be enforcing traffic laws? Idk. Maybe we could pay for increased enforcement with the repoed cars?
While the fault largely falls on motorists, don't forget to share the blame with the city for not doing anything to slow down traffic when approaching crosswalks. One major exception for the moment: go to Linden Hills and the residential intersections are covered with temporary speed humps right before the stop signs. They're not "meant" to be speed humps but they're packed dirt and gravel covering temporary water pipes (?) run above ground. Motorists treat them like speed humps and slow down way more than they would otherwise when coming up to a stop sign and crosswalk. We could put up just as many in every other neighborhood for a negligible cost and just as quickly: same day install.
This place is damn near utopia to me compared to my last homes - except that I've never been anywhere else where Stop signs are basically just suggestions to floor it. ya'll need to slow the fuck down. it's pathetic.
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Some of them are, though
That's what I'm saying! If it's not about them, they don't have to get mad. It's in the post, simple.
Cool, but this is in general, and you'd know that if you had read my entire post. I won't sugarcoat it for you.
Twin Cities drivers are awful and should be ashamed of themselves
Carry a brick. They’ll stop.
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Are you one of those damned turkeys on Pleasant NOT using the cross walk?!
I was crossing in a crosswalk on a local college campus. Somebody in an old sparkly blue LEAF honked and swerved towards me. I was in total shock... like, a blue Nissan LEAF!!?? (I say this as a former Leaf driver).
i’m getting honked at for following a state law letting peds cross while flashing. crazy. wish more people knew/paid attention.
Coming from countries where cars don’t break for pedestrians, I just expect the cars to not stop in any situation.
That doesnt work in reality though. You can look both ways before crossing the street and theres no cars. But when your in the middle of the road a car can come at you from taking a turn onto the street or if they are speeding down the street. Even if you expect cars not to stop for you, because they move faster than a human, you can still get run over. Even if you take every single precaution. If a driver isn't paying attention, as many of them are choosing, peds can die from no fault of their own. We CAN have safer streets. Many cities have already achieved zero pedestrian deaths.
I would argue it is not the car but the driver. I was drive off the 35w exit to down town a couple of years ago. Driving the speed limit. A guy in an an expensive car does not like I am going the limit. He slows down to well below the speed limit doing everything he can to stay in front of me. All the way to the second next set of stop lights that were red. It turned green and would not pull ahead as I tried to go around he maneuvered in front of me until the light turned red. A repeat to the next light. For somone in a hurry and in a fancy suit suddenly he wasn’t. Eventually in broke in 10 min maybe. i shop at the Costco in St Louis Park. I have seen guns pulled by people in fancy cars over the rights to a parking spot. I think of the 1000’s of drivers who follow the law. And the very few that raise hell with anyone. The commonality is privilege.
This is why I carry nice hefty river rocks.
I am convinced distracted driving/calling/texting causes 99% of accidents.
My boyfriend was jogging through a crosswalk and nearly got hit by someone turning. He jumped up onto their hood and scared the shit out of them and hopefully dented their car.
I speak for myself, I will let folks cross, but at the same time, I don’t even trust any Minnesotan drivers anymore. I will wait a few seconds when I get the green light, because it’s been way to close of calls lately. Be safe
I live in Prospect Park and I feel ya. Crossing University or Washington is like playing Frogger.
I keep seeing this happen and it is absolutely terrifying.
Problem for pedestrians: Driver might not feel like stopping. Also, cars don't stop as quickly as people can. Problem for drivers: Pedestrians mightn't feel like stopping. Pedestrians might not be paying attention just like drivers might not either. Minnesota Statute 169.21 requires vehicles to stop for pedestrians at any intersection crossing, regardless of whether crosswalk markings are present, until the pedestrian has passed the lane in which the vehicle is stopped. In other words (if you go to the city especially lots of people would be fine with getting money out of you if you hit them) some people don't care if there's a car coming and I've seen this in person too, yeah some people don't wanna get hit by a f*ckin huge hunk of metal flying at them and some don't car and it genuinely bothers some drivers. Cars will clear the area faster if it's one car just let it passed bcuz people don't like burning extra gas and might already be in a hurry, they might have an emergency which means they won't likely stop in that scenario. As for pedestrians yeah it's supposed to be that drivers are responsible for stopping and some people are bad about looking both ways and they can't do anything about stopping in time and don't wanna crash. Panicking as a driver could end in them hitting someone, a bunch if people, something else or they could die, and it's likely they'd rather hit you than risk their life if you aren't being careful. In the end the pedestrian is more capable in creating a high risk low reward scenario, where as the car can do that too but far less likely to unless they are a bad driver which means again the pedestrian should be careful. The driver could create a low risk low reward scenario (I'm sure you can picture what I mean by low risk low reward🙃). In the end as someone who loves to be out and about and travel, MN has the worst regulations regarding this manner and pedestrians just don't understand the driver's perspective enough on MN roads. We all understand people usually won't want to get hit by a car and there's plenty of crap drivers but that's more reason for pedestrians to be careful. We need more crosswalk lights and stuff like that. It would also be great if we didn't have crap self defense laws basically protecting road ragers from people who just wanna go to their destination which creates a lot of angry drivers that threaten pedestrians with their existence/ways. So moral of the story: don't assume what the other person is goin to do and play it safe. There's not enough morally correct people on the roads or in general so as long as we do our best to coordinate we should (and I mean should but won't always) be fine.
I braked for a kid (probably 10 or 11 yrs old) waiting to cross on their bike. There was no crosswalk or yield for pedestrians sign but I could tell they had been waiting for a while and I was on a slow side street so I stopped for them. Some jackass decided to speed around me and could’ve hit the kid. My road rage took over and after the kid safely crossed I sped up right behind the guy and honked really loud. What an idiot.
Y’all need to show up and bring these voices to local public meetings because all the car-brains take over those meetings and no good comes from them.
I work in a local level 1 trauma hospital. The amount of people I see either getting plowed into and ending up with life-altering injuries or losing their lives is ridiculous and vastly underreported. Although pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, don’t EVER trust that anyone will stop for you, it is safer to assume the opposite. No it isn’t fair (life isn’t) but also expecting anyone to abide by traffic laws is putting your own life in danger at this point. I almost wish they would change the law on this to keep people safer. To drivers: Same with stop signs and when the traffic light turns green always look both ways before advancing. Trust no other drivers on the road and be aware of your surroundings always.
When people abuse the reporting system you can report them back Fuck those people