5 ms·

Why are car drivers taking turns so quickly they cannot stop fast enough to not kill someone on a crosswalk?

HPsquared 5y ago
Probably focused on, and wanting to get out of the way of, other oncoming cars.
marcosdumay 5y ago
Without going into unreasonable drivers (that surely are plenty), how many turns do one make in a trip there, what is the speed on the outgoing street, and what visibility do they have over the new street. Anything you do is an exercise of balancing risks. Breaking too hard is a risk, taking time slow at a fast street is a risk, and turning too fast is a risk.
- spamizbad 5y ago
  The problem is, as a pedestrian, I have no way of knowing if vehicle intends to take a left turn across my crosswalk UNLESS they come to a complete stop and I can see their turn signal. So even if I am fully alert I ultimately have to trust that you will not run me over in the crosswalk if you are traveling fast.
  - marcosdumay 5y ago
    If you as a pedestrian are having this problem, it's because the road geometry is completely unfit for the purpose and the cars have absolutely no chance of reacting to your moves either. This should only happen on very low speed streets. It's certainly not your fault either. Somebody is guilty of mass manslaughter.
asdffdsa 5y ago
The drivers are still 100% at fault, but left-turns are difficult because there's oncoming traffic if it's unprotected. Stopping when there's incoming traffic feasible isn't feasible. The best move for drivers making unprotected left turns in busy intersections would be to wait until the end of the light: no more oncoming traffic, so the driver can wait until the last jaywalkers pass. The best solution from a city-planning perspective could be more protected left turn lights installed at those intersections with lots of accidents from left-hand turns.
rootusrootus 5y ago
You can keep asking that question, but physics doesn't care about who is morally right. Everyone should pay more attention to increase safety. Drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, everyone.
- estebank 5y ago
  Alternatively, instead of relying on people not acting like people, we could design the streets themselves to be safer for everyone. Doing so most of the time has a lot of pushback due to the perception from drivers that doing so is somehow punishing them.
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    As someone who drives more than walks (except for my daily three mile recreational walks), I agree. Roads are often designed for speed, not for multi-user safety. I think city streets should be narrower in general, to the point of being single-lane in residential neighborhoods. Changing speed signs doesn't really have a strong effect. Changing design works.

Probably focused on, and wanting to get out of the way of, other oncoming cars.

Without going into unreasonable drivers (that surely are plenty), how many turns do one make in a trip there, what is the speed on the outgoing street, and what visibility do they have over the new street. Anything you do is an exercise of balancing risks. Breaking too hard is a risk, taking time slow at a fast street is a risk, and turning too fast is a risk.

spamizbad 5y ago
The problem is, as a pedestrian, I have no way of knowing if vehicle intends to take a left turn across my crosswalk UNLESS they come to a complete stop and I can see their turn signal. So even if I am fully alert I ultimately have to trust that you will not run me over in the crosswalk if you are traveling fast.
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  If you as a pedestrian are having this problem, it's because the road geometry is completely unfit for the purpose and the cars have absolutely no chance of reacting to your moves either. This should only happen on very low speed streets. It's certainly not your fault either. Somebody is guilty of mass manslaughter.

asdffdsa 5y ago

The drivers are still 100% at fault, but left-turns are difficult because there's oncoming traffic if it's unprotected. Stopping when there's incoming traffic feasible isn't feasible. The best move for drivers making unprotected left turns in busy intersections would be to wait until the end of the light: no more oncoming traffic, so the driver can wait until the last jaywalkers pass. The best solution from a city-planning perspective could be more protected left turn lights installed at those intersections with lots of accidents from left-hand turns.

rootusrootus 5y ago

You can keep asking that question, but physics doesn't care about who is morally right. Everyone should pay more attention to increase safety. Drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, everyone.

estebank 5y ago
Alternatively, instead of relying on people not acting like people, we could design the streets themselves to be safer for everyone. Doing so most of the time has a lot of pushback due to the perception from drivers that doing so is somehow punishing them.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  As someone who drives more than walks (except for my daily three mile recreational walks), I agree. Roads are often designed for speed, not for multi-user safety. I think city streets should be narrower in general, to the point of being single-lane in residential neighborhoods. Changing speed signs doesn't really have a strong effect. Changing design works.