Pedestrians don’t always have the right of way, but the majority of drivers don’t want to kill pedestrians, and so most will still yield… Isn’t that why jaywalking is a crime in the US?
Sweden law says that cars are required to stop for people at the zebra crossings (övergångsställe), but at passageways without zebra (gångpassage example) it’s the pedestrians who shall yield to cars. Basically, a passageway is to be considered as a part of the roadway (you’re not supposed to run out into traffic), whereas a zebra crossing is a legal extension of the sidewalks (cars supposed to yield to people on sidewalks).
However, way too many pedestrians don’t understand the difference. In practical terms it shouldn’t make a huge difference, because you should always reduce your speed and be alert when nearing any kinds of crossings, and we usually have speed bumps directly before many passages… but still.
If someone collides with you at a zebra walk, they’re almost always losing their license, and maybe a couple years in prison if you got badly injured. But if you walk out into a non-zebra passage and a car doesn’t see you in time, you can actually get fined if the police are feeling cheeky, as you didn’t yield to the car/your behavior thus caused the accident.
So no, pedestrians are definitely not menaces. But if we want to continue to reduce traffic injuries, it’d be nice if both groups were a bit more concentrated and respectful.
That is quite interesting how it works for you all. In my state (North Carolina), pedestrians always have the right of way, regardless of the situation. Yes, they can still be breaking the law (jaywalking), but drovers still need to yield and be alert to their presence.
There are people who will wall out in front of cars without regard, and I can’t help but feel that they want to get hit with how they carry themselves (no eye contact, no flinching if a car has to hit their brakes hard, etc).
It’s just numbing yourself, you get tired of constantly checking every angle for some crazy driver. After a decade or so, right around high school age, you just look once and go and if someone wants to hit you hopefully your family gets a nice settlement.
Yep, unfortunately a lot of people haven’t experienced what good traffic planning, cooperation & educated drivers can accomplishes on a daily basis in many European countries.
In my experience, the worst and most commonly recurring offenders are phone zombies on e-scooters. Possibly due to being more dangerous than pedestrians and more noticeable than a distracted highway driver.
Pedestrians don’t always have the right of way, but the majority of drivers don’t want to kill pedestrians, and so most will still yield… Isn’t that why jaywalking is a crime in the US?
Sweden law says that cars are required to stop for people at the zebra crossings (övergångsställe), but at passageways without zebra (gångpassage example) it’s the pedestrians who shall yield to cars. Basically, a passageway is to be considered as a part of the roadway (you’re not supposed to run out into traffic), whereas a zebra crossing is a legal extension of the sidewalks (cars supposed to yield to people on sidewalks).
However, way too many pedestrians don’t understand the difference. In practical terms it shouldn’t make a huge difference, because you should always reduce your speed and be alert when nearing any kinds of crossings, and we usually have speed bumps directly before many passages… but still.
If someone collides with you at a zebra walk, they’re almost always losing their license, and maybe a couple years in prison if you got badly injured. But if you walk out into a non-zebra passage and a car doesn’t see you in time, you can actually get fined if the police are feeling cheeky, as you didn’t yield to the car/your behavior thus caused the accident.
So no, pedestrians are definitely not menaces. But if we want to continue to reduce traffic injuries, it’d be nice if both groups were a bit more concentrated and respectful.
That is quite interesting how it works for you all. In my state (North Carolina), pedestrians always have the right of way, regardless of the situation. Yes, they can still be breaking the law (jaywalking), but drovers still need to yield and be alert to their presence.
There are people who will wall out in front of cars without regard, and I can’t help but feel that they want to get hit with how they carry themselves (no eye contact, no flinching if a car has to hit their brakes hard, etc).
It’s just numbing yourself, you get tired of constantly checking every angle for some crazy driver. After a decade or so, right around high school age, you just look once and go and if someone wants to hit you hopefully your family gets a nice settlement.
Yep, unfortunately a lot of people haven’t experienced what good traffic planning, cooperation & educated drivers can accomplishes on a daily basis in many European countries.
In my experience, the worst and most commonly recurring offenders are phone zombies on e-scooters. Possibly due to being more dangerous than pedestrians and more noticeable than a distracted highway driver.