Pedestrian Traffic

Hey, Pedestrians.  Guess what?!  You are traffic, too.  That's why it's called "foot traffic" or "pedestrian traffic".

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not here to bash any one group of people.  Well...no, that's not technically true.  I'm here to bash the stupid, self-absorbed, and entitled.  Those sorts of people exist among all groups, pedestrians and drivers alike.

Pedestrians often complain about the lack of respect they get from drivers.  As a frequent pedestrian, I make this complaint loudly and often.  In fact, you will probably read many more entries on the lack of courtesy given to pedestrians from drivers than you will vice versa.  However, I have to touch on this today, because someone really got under my skin last night.

I got home from a wonderful evening at 1:30am.  My husband came down to the bus terminal to pick my friend and me up.  After we dropped my friend off, we continued down her street, which is, incidentally, a one way street.  Suddenly, we came across two girls walking down the middle of the road, in the wrong direction on a one way street.  They were, essentially, deliberately walking into oncoming traffic and making no apparent effort to accomodate said traffic.

Now, if we were in a suburban neighbourhood without sidewalks, this would be entirely acceptable (so long as they were walking at the side of the road).  However, we were in an urban neighbourhood where traffic at 1am is a completely normal occurance.  There were sidewalks.  Two sidewalks, in fact.  There were sidewalks on either side of the street.  I have walked down this street in recent weeks and can tell you that the sidewalks in this particular area are in somewhat better condition than the road.  They were not blocked.  They were clear and open.  It's July, so it isn't even as if there was the excuse of snow blocking the way.  Yet, there they were, walking down the middle of the street as though no car had any business driving there, wearing no reflective clothing.  And if they'd been hit by a driver who did not see them until too late?  How come that would have been the driver's fault?

If it had ended with those two girls, I might have chalked the experience up to two entitled teens, which would hardly make this blog.  It did not.  Not a minute later, we had to avoid a runner.  She had her headphones in and she was running.  Down the middle of the street.  At 1:30am.  Again, no reflective clothing and no apparent concern for her safety or for the fact that roads are made for cars and sidewalks for pedestrians.

So, dear pedestrians, if a sidewalk is available to you, please use it.  It makes the lives of careful drivers much easier and will certainly save your life from the careless ones.