pedestrians.
|
While I'm
on the subject of stupid laws
in the great state of Massachusetts, let me tell you about pedestrians.
In Massachusetts, it's a
state law that
traffic has to come to a screeching halt if a pedestrian so much as thinks
about stepping into a crosswalk. They have these big
signs posted
at a lot of intersections, especially in town centers, warning
motorists
that pedestrians have the right of way. Pedestrians here are
spoiled
rotten by this unfortunate policy; many think nothing of stepping out
into
a busy street and bringing traffic to a standstill. In fact, some
drivers have been so bullied by this law (no doubt issued a ticket at
some
point for not yielding to a pedestrian) that if they are in their car
and
spot you on foot within ten feet of a crosswalk, they will hold up
traffic
and insist that you cross, whether you want to or not.
Traffic here is bad enough
already without
having to worry that your second biggest investment (or biggest, if
like
me you can't afford to buy a house here) will be smashed from behind
because
you had to slam on the brakes to keep from killing some indignant
nimrod
who couldn't wait another twenty seconds to cross the street. A
street
which, I might point out, exists for cars to drive on, not for people
to
walk on.
Of course, the net result
of the law is
that pedestrians here have a false sense of invulnerability, and
therefore
often step right out into that crosswalk without bothering to look
around
to see what's coming. (Does anyone remember "look left, look
right,
look left again?") Even worse, a lot of people take it one step
further
and just hop right into the street wherever they feel like it, assuming
that traffic will part ways for them like the red sea. As far as
I know, cars still have legal precedence over jaywalkers, so the only
things
keeping these particular people from getting plowed is the lingering
sense
of goodwill towards our fellow man and the knowledge that insurance
will
never fully cover the cost of smoothing out the dents in the fender.
As far as I'm concerned, if you're walking then you weren't in a hurry in the first place, so if you need to cross the street then dammit you can just wait your turn. |