Submitted by blossomfox t3_1226z1w in boston
I nearly just got hit by a car turning at a crosswalk when I had the walk sign. He didn't even slow down and came very close to hitting me and my dog. I had to jump back. I then pointed to the walk sign and he pointed to his green light (green light was to go straight - it wasn't a turn light), and laughed. [EDIT: he was turning left - not a right on red or a right on green, and he did not yield at all to oncoming traffic]. The worst part? It was a cab driver. Someone who drives for a living and would presumably know the area.
I looked this up on the sub to see why this is such an issue because I have had NUMEROUS experiences like this since I moved here in September of last year. Someone was asking why Boston drivers are so respectful of pedestrians. I get that the laws favor pedestrians (if they didn't it would be inhumane), but the drivers (if you can call them that) literally have no idea what they're doing. It goes for Ubers too which maybe 30% of the time take me the wrong way and on one occasion the driver drove down the wrong side of a two-way street and we very nearly had a head-on collision. His excuse was that he just moved from Florida (?).
Maybe it's because I grew up in the UK where pedestrians are not only always respected but also people can actually drive, given the much stricter standards getting a license and how alert you have to be. Anyways... hoping not to get killed in the next 4 or so years that I'm living here. [EDIT 2: not making this up]
But yeah. Rant over. Just needed to commiserate.