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> Normally the way traffic works is small yields to big. Pedestrians yield to bikes who yield to light powered equipment (e.g. Forklift) who yield to cars/motor

> Normally the way traffic works is small yields to big. Pedestrians yield to bikes who yield to light powered equipment (e.g. Forklift) who yield to cars/motorcycles/trucks who yield to heavier equipment who yield to trains who yield to ships. Huh! This is exactly the opposite of my perception: In general the way traffic works is "big has a responsibility to not hit small." If you want to drive an 18-wheeler, you better get a special class of driver's license and special training, and you will certainly lose that special license if you expect "smaller" entities on the road to yield to you because you are larger. When you drive a car, you again will need to get licensed and registered, though it's less difficult than if you want to drive a truck. You must drive safely around pedestrians--and should drive like you expect them to behave in unexpected ways, in a way where you won't kill them if they do. You yield to pedestrians when turning, or in a crosswalk, or parking lots. You must give bicyclists enough room when passing them and in general treat them like another vehicle, even though they are physically smaller. When you're on a bike, you should absolutely yield to pedestrians, not the other way around. In fact, I can't think of a single case in these most common classes of vehicles (trucks, cars, bikes, and pedestrians) where the law gives right-of-way to the larger entity, in a way it wouldn't if the entity were smaller. Can you?

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
>I can't think of a single case in these most common classes of vehicles (trucks, cars, bikes, and pedestrians) where the law gives right-of-way to the larger entity, in a way it wouldn't if the entity were smaller. Can you? It's not about size it's about traffic class. In the absence of specific instruction smaller classes do not have the right of way. Flagmen direct traffic around construction. The flagman tells the cars to yield so (e.g.) a skid steer can cross the road. Crosswalks tell pedestrians where they have the right of way but sometimes other instructions supersede that right of way. Crossing at a crosswalk at an intersection with a "don't walk" light and you don't have the right of way. There's a reason most places have a law on the books that lets them fine people for jaywalking. People stop or slow for jaywalkers not because the pedestrian has the right of way but because hitting them is less preferable. Yes, people who drive wheeled vehicles are trained to expect the smaller classes of traffic to be idiots. The rules that people using the roads are supposed to abide by have many layers of redundancy to make up for stupid. Slowing for pedestrians who are crossing the street where/when they shouldn't be or other vehicles taking turns they shouldn't be is still preferable to just hitting them. Stop thinking of trucks as separate. Road vehicle with a license plate are the same class of traffic and follow the same rules. Big trucks just optimize their behavior for their size. The rules of the rod work on paper. The problem is that people don't follow them and there's a bunch of situational details that dictate whether or not the rules can/should be broken. It's everyone's responsibility not to crash into other stuff. You will have to yield to people not following the on paper rules to do that. Whether having to do so is reasonable is dependent on the situation.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

>I can't think of a single case in these most common classes of vehicles (trucks, cars, bikes, and pedestrians) where the law gives right-of-way to the larger entity, in a way it wouldn't if the entity were smaller. Can you? It's not about size it's about traffic class. In the absence of specific instruction smaller classes do not have the right of way. Flagmen direct traffic around construction. The flagman tells the cars to yield so (e.g.) a skid steer can cross the road. Crosswalks tell pedestrians where they have the right of way but sometimes other instructions supersede that right of way. Crossing at a crosswalk at an intersection with a "don't walk" light and you don't have the right of way. There's a reason most places have a law on the books that lets them fine people for jaywalking. People stop or slow for jaywalkers not because the pedestrian has the right of way but because hitting them is less preferable. Yes, people who drive wheeled vehicles are trained to expect the smaller classes of traffic to be idiots. The rules that people using the roads are supposed to abide by have many layers of redundancy to make up for stupid. Slowing for pedestrians who are crossing the street where/when they shouldn't be or other vehicles taking turns they shouldn't be is still preferable to just hitting them. Stop thinking of trucks as separate. Road vehicle with a license plate are the same class of traffic and follow the same rules. Big trucks just optimize their behavior for their size. The rules of the rod work on paper. The problem is that people don't follow them and there's a bunch of situational details that dictate whether or not the rules can/should be broken. It's everyone's responsibility not to crash into other stuff. You will have to yield to people not following the on paper rules to do that. Whether having to do so is reasonable is dependent on the situation.