Here in Las Vegas, NV there have been at least one, sometimes up to up to five news stories (a day) about pedestrians being hit by a motor vehicle. It’s a sad thing to hear. I don’t like hearing the stories. Here is what I do not like even more. A 13,000 comment feed, on every single local Las Vegas news station social media site that is basically a yelling match between “Drivers need to look out for pedestrians” vs. “Pedestrians need to use crosswalks and stop being late for the bus” debate. I can’t speak on behalf of anyone involved in a vehicle / pedestrian accident. But I can use my own personal experiences to make my opinion.
I remember taking the drivers ed class and seeing that there was a poster on the wall. It had the blind spots of all major motor vehicles. Semi trucks, Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles. You know the ones I am talking about. Here is a picture.
I’ve never forgotten this. My dad is a truck driver, and I always give them the benefit of the doubt. I do the same thing with vehicles when I am walking anywhere. For example: In a parking lot, sidewalk, crossing a street.
“I’m More Important than you are” Syndrome.
In my opinion, I feel like all of these vehicle vs. pedestrian accidents are due to the “I’m More Important than you are” Syndrome. It’s where the driver or pedestrian refuse to give way to the other because they feel like they are in fact more important and the other should respect that. The truth is, and the law is, the pedestrian has the right away as long as they are in a crosswalk and the walk signal is still active. That makes sense. There needs to be a way for people to cross streets with the appropriate amount of time to get across. I do think though, anywhere outside the crosswalk no matter what signal is active, the car has the right away.
my point is:
The only place a vehicle is supposed to be is on a street. A person, can literally walk anywhere else. The only appropriate place for a vehicle to be is on the road. If there was a demolition derby going on, you wouldn’t blame the person driving the car for hitting a person who jumped over the fence would you? it’s the only place a car should be. So why do we give the right of way to a person? Because a car has no feelings, soul etc? Because it takes a person longer to walk somewhere vs. a vehicle to drive to a place? I think we really need to update this law.
But I have a better Idea. I think we need to teach a PEOPLE’S EDUCATION class. On the walls we need to have posters like this:
This poster would clearly state where and where not a person should ever be when walking outside of their house. I do not want anyone else to get hit by a car. But You want to run across the street in a non-crosswalk area and expect a 3,200lb vehicle to stop for you in a matter of seconds? No way.
Did you know?
According to the DMV, it takes 4-6 football fields to slow down a car moving at 65mph? Yeah, if you sit in the DMV long enough, you learn facts like that. Fun facts are displayed on the televisions while you wait for your number to be called.