You should send this to members of the council as well. We need real penalties for these shitbird drivers.

I’ve almost been killed by someone going around a car waiting for me to cross. Sad part is I feel nothing anymore whenever I have close calls. Thank you for stopping for them even though it didn’t really work.

Mid block crosswalks are extremely bad for pedestrians and traffic.

Agreed. I avoid these. Feels suicidal to me.

Unfortunately this is news to many drivers in DC.

Piggying back on this to say: if you're a pedestrian, please don't stop in bike lanes. Especially if you're dressed in all black at night and I can't see you. There's a whole ass sidewalk that you can stand in instead of obstructing traffic.

I've almost been run over at intersection crosswalks without a light. Midblock crosswalks aren't great but DC drivers are willing to kill you whether that's at midblock or intersection

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Im grateful for some of the new medians being placed to give refuge to pedestrians on some of these longer crosswalks. But more still needs to be done - like bollards for centerline hardening and raised crosswalks everywhere.

I also hate when someone is waiting for me to cross and the car behind them leans on the horn.

Do not encourage someone to run me over. Also stop driving places if your situational awareness failed to percieve a whole person.

I'll be honest: sometimes I just don't feel like it. I can drive faster through the intersection than the pedestrian.

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I sympathize with OP’s experience, but I don’t get the lenience on this subreddit just being a sounding board for people to post generalized complaints about traffic, crime, metro, etc.

We can only reply with "Dan's Cafe" to so many topics

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You shouldn't be driving if you don't feel like following traffic laws.

You know, fair. I often feel the same way. I was just super mad and trying to channel all the adrenaline somewhere. I see this kind of driving all the time and this was an especially close call.

I would probably be in support of more restrictions around these types of posts, though.

I live off a busy street and in the course of a mile there are about 3 intersections I dare cross it at. The rest? Forget about it!

You think a post about a pedestrian almost getting killed by an asshole driver breaking the law is going to embolden pedestrians? Fascinating.

You shouldn’t have a license.

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I’m not sure what your point is here re: echo chambering getting people killed. Obviously the roads aren’t safe for people to have their heads in the clouds, and even if they were safe enough people should still pay attention.

Are you saying this post - an anecdote about dangerous driving - will give people false confidence when crossing the street? That the title of this post will somehow influence pedestrians more than the “state law drivers must stop for pedestrians” signs at most crosswalks (but not this one)? That stopping for pedestrians when someone could conceivably blow past is just putting pedestrians at more risk?

Its midblock cross in every city, not just DC

It's one of my great fears in life when I'm driving around DC that I'm going to get someone killed in this situation - stopping to let a pedestrian cross in front of me and giving them a false sense of security while the person behind me zooms around.

How is this piggy backing on the original topic at hand

Absolutely. As a former (and hopefully soon again) bike commuter, this is very frustrating. I get way less mad at these people as a cyclist than I do bad drivers as any form of road user, though.

"Piggybacking" a post about pedestrian safety with a comment complaining about pedestrians getting in your way is just as shitty as when people respond to posts about cyclists being hit by whining about cyclists biking through stop signs.

I believe this is absolutely the most dangerous situation for pedestrians — one car stops and blocks view and the car behind or on the side (multiple lanes) continues. Remember that viral video of the little kid in maryland almost getting killed? That was that scenario. It’s super dangerous, always pay extra attention when you can’t see all lanes.

Yes, but the law is clear - you stop if someone is already in the crosswalk. I can’t believe how many people walk into crosswalks and don’t even bother looking if a car is coming.

They would work better if they were permanently illuminated and were raised to sidewalk level as some sort of huge speed bump.

And DC is far better about having people actually stop than most places in the US. Would be nice to see cameras used for this somehow instead of giving people tickets on freeways.

What exactly do you think a city subreddit is for, if not for talking about the issues of living in this particular city?

Go on and slither back to r/wallstreetbets

On a similar note, crosswalks across more than one lane in each direction absolutely should have a light. There's always somebody who stops in one lane and then a bunch of assholes who keep going in the other.

Agreed, I am all for continuous sidewalks

This person was halfway across the road when I reached the crosswalk. They were almost clipped when the car literally drove between them and the sidewalk they’d almost reached.

Also every cross walk should come with a bucket of orange utility hammers that pedestrians can use to shatter the windows of passing cars in random acts of indiscriminate vandalism.

The cameras are there so people to slow down as they exit the freeway and enter a pedestrian area...

Don't read and comment on posts that you don't want to see? Upvotes and comments are how things get pushed out on this site

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That’s my biggest fear when driving in DC- hitting someone. I cannot count the times someone has stepped in front of me (not using a crosswalk).

There’s literally a camera right before the entrance to the BW parkway

I agree with you, pedestrians need to stop and look before crossing. I can't tell you how many times ive seen people that don't "have the light" just walk into the street without looking.

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Random Uber and delivery drivers just do that anyway, so people become programmed to just go around those idiots.

Do you think this actually is informing anybody here who didn't know that?

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Crosswalks are bad in DC not just midblock crosses.

I agree, but honestly, the worst ones are "The weather is so nice outside. Go outside." Those OP's can fuck right off.

... waited??

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They're not placed at exit ramps, at least on 295. They're placed on the highest speed areas, which are often the places furthest from any exits, to maximize revenue generation.

So you don't almost hit someone.

If it was a route that you were familiar with and you knew a crosswalk was there and you did not have a good view of what was ahead of you? You stop.

Let me know how that goes after you hit someone and are sued into abject poverty.

A couple years ago when I did the same the car behind me simply plowed right into me. The driver was on his phone not looking. Fortunately the pedestrian saw that he was going to hit me and didn't cross.

Found the Marylander.

A frightening number of drivers seem to think it's normal to drive so inattentively that you might miss a person-sized object in your path.

This. Although I would prefer bricks - they can be thrown to do more damage with less risk to the vandal.

Bruh what does this have to do with anything

I get beeped at almost daily for stopping for pedestrians. especially not making right hand turns into them. it's infuriating

Assume that there is someone in the crosswalk until you are certain that there is not. That may require stopping.

I guarantee that person would have no issue hitting a pedestrian and continuing on. Either that or shoot your car if you honk at them

Or at least those little light up flashy signs as a second indicator if the city doesn't want to install 900 new stoplights

Cruelty and demonstrating a disregard for others on the road is a goal of such behavior.

Lol they don’t use that. They put them on the ON-ramps

Sometimes I’m that person like “why are you randomly stopping?!” To be fair, some people will stop randomly for no apparent reason then keep driving when you try to pass them. I always try to keep an eye out for pedestrians. I was driving on M st. NW and some dude straight up stopped and started reversing then had the audacity to honk at me for being in his way while trying to illegally double and reversing down a 1 way street. The fucking audacity of drivers here is insane

100% I avoid them and only use them if there are absolutely no cars on the road. The people who just walk out in them with no regard are entirely too trusting

I’ll do you one better: I was at a red light waiting for it to turn. A lady in a BMW (cuz it’s always the BMWs or Benz or big ass trucks) had her left blinker on waiting at the red light opposite me. They got inpatient and started to roll forward and decided to just turn against the red light. They almost took out 3 people crossing the opposite street she was trying to turn in. My light turned green and now me and and everyone else on our side of the street was stuck there waiting for her. I honked and the person next to me honked and she had the audacity to flip us both off like we were the problem! I fucking hate how the rules of the road are just not obeyed in the district at all

I'm surprised someone is killed daily on 15th NW between Connecticut and U.

I mean that’s true of… all laws.

The police don’t enforce moving violations they see in front of them with their own two eyes they’re not going to follow up with that

But pedestrians in this city don’t know how to cross the street. Almost took out a GW student in foggy bottom because she decided she just had to run out into the street and run down the block even thought he sidewalk was perfectly empty.

I always honk at them and take pleasure with the fact that my loud ass honk annoyed them and their ear drums and they deserve it for almost making me involuntarily kill them.

Are you suggesting that it would somehow be the pedestrian’s fault if they got hit? They were already most of the way across the street when this happened - the car zipped between them and the sidewalk they were approaching.

The pedestrian 100% had the right of way, and they were attentive enough that they didn’t get hit.

Vent honey, let it out and put it in the burn book

Ok, that’s my big question whenever I see someone driving dangerously in DC: Are they not afraid about what would happen if they hit someone?

Beyond just the threat of KILLING SOMEONE, it would also ruin YOUR LIFE as the driver, right? I try to be extremely attentive when driving because I’m terrified of what would happen if I accidentally hit someone.

> Just almost killing someone for the feeling of getting there faster.

You are a bad person and you shouldn’t be on the road.

Fuck off back to Maryland

How is this emboldening anyone? Also they may be breaking the laws of the District of Columbia but they can’t break the laws of physics that saw a large object in motion needs room to come to a stop and can’t do it in a dime. You sound like the type of guy to step in front of an 18 wheeler then get mad when you get hit because the 10 ton truck couldn’t stop for you.

You are the problem. You should not be driving. Your ass can walk and use the metro. “Normal guy super car” it should be “entitled asshat dented car from all the people and objects he’s hit with it”

Or Virginian, they’re just as bad.

I mean, you can look it up. People have even done overlays with safety data. They're around transition points to heavy pedestrian areas.

No one MUST refrain from killing people. They are simply breaking the law if they commit murder.

Lmao what the fuck are you even talking about.

It should be a lot harder to get a drivers license.

This morning saw two cars back to back turning right almost hit a woman walking towards me in a crosswalk, I start to cross and a car almost turns left and hits me from the other side. Then they have the gaul to honk at ME. This is with a light and we both had right of way.

We need to put resources into this, hire crossing guards, stake out these most dangerous intersections with cops, whatever. I'm usually against the general attitude of this sub always shitting on DC, but this is one thing that DC is generally terrible about and needs to be addressed immediately.

You can go look up where they are. All the ones i'm familiar with are near high pedestrian areas. I don't even see any on on ramps...

The mid-block crossing on S Glebe in Arlington across from the Giant comes to mind

There’s several in the tunnels where pedestrians can’t even get to. There’s a few right after the bridge on NY Ave like right as your coming down hill. It’s not even a freeway they just put them at the bottom of steep ramps to catch people.

They need them in front schools and such. But really the cops need to start issuing moving violations. You shouldn’t be able to run a red light or make an illegal U-turn and double park blocking 2 lanes directly in front of cops. That’s fucked

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I try to watch if it's a two lane scenario and start splitting the lane if it looks like whoever is coming up behind me isn't stopping. Can't do that at every intersection though.

I’ve never seen or could imagine a more self centered city. This city is full of folks that act that same way and have 0 patience. And give 0 f’s for anyone but themselves. To those who actually have patience in this city, I commend you but you are the major minority. And their are those pedestrians who cross the crosswalk against the light and pretty much “dare” drivers to hit them. Or cross where the isn’t a crosswalk. I say, bring back Jay walking as a heavy fine. Or else do away with the cross walking signs and save the city some money on the lighting that few pay attention to. The only ones who pay attention to the rules of the road seem to be tourist.

For as much work as DDOT puts into bike lanes that only half the cyclists are using, there sure isn't a lot of protection for pedestrians in this city

This is why it's safer for most people to just jaywalk. Using a crosswalk involves either a) a multi-way intersection where vehicles can come from many different places, and it's all too easy for either a driver or the pedestrian to misread or ignore signals, or b) a "please stop here even though you probably won't" crossing in the middle of a street. Both of these situations have many points of failure.

Jaywalking in the middle of the street by contrast involves a simple process: 1) look left 2) look right 3) if you don't see anyone coming you can go, guaranteed. No looking out for left turn people not paying attention to the crosswalk, no cyclists who don't see you on the other side of a stopped SUV and think the light doesn't apply to them, just the total absence of any threat whatsoever.

I've been a lot in Germany and Benelux countries, where people mostly slow down and stop a looong way ahead to let you safely pass. But I discovered pretty fast in US that driving culture and respecting pedestrians is pretty 3rd world level here, and I'm coming from an ex-Soviet country. :D In the first week here I got cut off by a car coming from behind when I was around the middle of crosswalk, he passed me full speed like 5 inches from me. And the guy didnt even gain anything as there was red on next crossing. But then again you all have guns here and lots of crazy people so it's not like I'm going to run to him and start cursing and beating his car, which could be the case back at home.

A blind friend of mine asked me to help him cross the street. We had the walk sign, but I still did my double check. All car stopped, so we started crossing. Half way through crossing some oversized SUV with MD tags decides they aren’t going wait any more, blows through the red light and almost running us both over.

On 16th on my way to work there’s a cop who is always parked by a yield to pedestrians signed crosswalk, no light attached to it. Nearly every day he’s there, and nearly every morning & evening I stand there unable to cross for 10 minutes until the stars align and both sides of the highway have a gap in traffic or one out of 500 drivers decides to be a saint. I’m so confused what the point of the cop or the sign is.

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It's not most of the US. It's this region where people drive like that.

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It's always MD.

Wish the little light up flashy signs had red lights instead of yellow.

The people who need to see this are unlikely to.

Most will probably just turn right on red anyway.

No you mean to maximize the impact of the camera. If nobody was speeding there the camera wouldn't issue any tickets.

So? Speed limits exist on on-ramps as well.

Oh god your that Maryland driver… the on ramp for accelerating to the speed of traffic. You’re not supposed to merge at 20mph and then speed up once you’re fully on the freeway. That’s why the beltway be so bad

DC.

You can accelerate and also not go over the speed limit. They are not mutually exclusive.

ah, all the pedestrians wandering around the 395 tunnel?

tbh if they got rid of the most notorious cameras (395 and 295 with a dishonorable mention to independence ave SE heading onto 295), there'd be a lot less hostility to them. the 295 camera was even in a fake construction zone to extract more grift from residents. yet i am regularly passed by cars in fucking bike lanes for daring to approach the speed limit on 17th St SE, a residential street, which can't get so much as a solitary speed bump. line streets like that with cameras and stop pulling the predatory bullshit.

i already don't turn my signal on at no turn on red intersections until the light turns green. if i do, 50/50 chance that i am getting honked at or worse.

this explains a lot tbh

What is the speed limit? You make more traffic when you make everyone slow down because you’re too weak footed to step on the gas and get up to speed

Depends which highway where.

Not my fault if people are speeding and have to slow down for someone who isn't speeding and is following the law.

Jaywalking used to be just called "walking" before AAA lobbied to make it a crime.

Sparkplug fragments are more compact.

Or you can be a true asshole like I see every day and just jaywalk through the street AT NIGHT while full lanes of cars are actively driving past you, and then flip off the cars as if they did something wrong

Red lights would imply a mandatory stop, so they won't do that. A flashing red means stop like a stop sign. This is not practical at all crosswalks. Flashing yellow is what it is and what it should stay, unless they want to add a redlight triggered by crosswalk button pushes

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i almost got hit several months ago by someone doing that exact thing -- except it was also a red light and they were three cars back. like wtf. fuck cars.

sometime it feels like no one in this city has ever faced a real consequence... besides their victims

i just carry a 4 foot piece of rebar like a walking stick.

The idea is you slow down before you get to the pedestrian area, like K St in Foggy Botton where people are just whipping though coming off the freeway.

Considering the council's stance on paying for fines, chances are that are these shitbird drivers.

I'm in Italy right now and I have almost died multiple times I feel like hitting pediatricians is a game here 😶

I fully agree that cars need to stop for pedistrians in the cross walk, 100% pro the American stance on this. But it's interesting how in Italy, at least the parts I've been in so far, it seems more like cars have the right away

Of course there's way less cars and way more pedestrians here so that probably contributes

I've always stopped full stop for pedestrians. And ppl almost always try to aggressively go around me or start honking. I don't understand what people's problem is. Like is your pregnant wife having a heart attack in the passenger seat atm or something

South dakota ave NE going into US 50 is a speed trap camera. Outside costco

More than once I’ve made a conscious decision not to stop at a crosswalk for a waiting pedestrian for this very reason. I don’t trust the people behind and next to me enough to also stop.

No, I'm not talking about that scenario. I'm speaking in general ( maybe I shouldn't have used a comma). To rephrase what I'm saying... pedestrians have a duty to be vigilant when crossing the street regardless of what the light says. I see too many people these days looking down when crossing the street. Again, not talking about the scenario you mentioned.

I had to brake hard once because of this. I do stop for pedestrians, but I couldn’t see there was a person behind the giant pickup. I just braked when I realized the pickup was stopping.

The flashing yellow lights are what is triggered by a crosswalk button in many of these cases.

It’s not just them and they weren’t the first randomly stopping and double parking.

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Lol uhhh yeah, obviously.... But they also exist in a format where they flash all the time and there's no button, or in a literal stop light that's always flashing yellow but triggered to run a stop cycle when a pedestrian hits the cross button.

Yes but think of the rotator cuff injuries

I’m going to disagree slightly. Mid block crosswalks can be great, but the ones in DC are implemented horribly. I consider myself to be a conscientious driver and I still have trouble with mid block crosswalks like the one on 14th street and R/S Street. It’s especially difficult on a Friday/Saturday night if you’re unfamiliar with the area: it’s dark, people are everywhere, and there are absolutely zero physical traffic calming measures to indicate to a driver that they are approaching a crosswalk.

I don’t want to run anyone over, but I almost did when I drove through 14th street at night for the first time because it’s just such a mess.

Can we ban together to say enough is enough. My partner has a car video camera, which he jokingly uses. Someone drives like a maniac, he saves the video, but hasn’t done much other than that. I’d like to push it further….

Could people who have car video cameras save videos and report the most dangerous stuff to the police anonymously. Look I get it, I drive fast than the speed limit sometimes, but I DO NOT (a) drive into the other lane to cut people off (b) speed past another car almost hitting A PERSON in the process (c) throw objects out the window of my car. We should be able to fight these jerks somehow? No.

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I sense your frustration. Hopefully mobilizing and building a coalition to address this might help. That’s why, I’m kinda spit-balling ideas, it’s an early form of Iterative development.

Quincy and New Hampshire is the fucking worst for this

Those don't even help that much. Half of drivers just ignore them

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I don’t have a car, but I see this while walking all the time. people laying into their horns meanwhile the other driver is just paying attention and doing what they’re supposed to

Too many Bethesda Karens and McLean Darrens…

sure thing buddy, sounds like something a jay would say!

I was hit and left with broken bones laying in the street, summer 2017. right in front of the eastern market metro station. no witnesses, the women actually yelled something at me, and then sped off. people only care about themselves

Out of grim curiosity, where along 14th was this?

These crosswalks with the little yellow sign in the middle of the street are super dangerous. On New Mexico there is a stretch with about 7 in a row near AU. Im shocked a student hasn’t been flattened. I see kids walking across every day looking straight down at their phone with AirPods in. Put a fucking light up on a couple of those.

The crosswalk at 16th and Kalorama NW will flash yellow, then flash red, and then go solid red. This is the only one I know of but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more. It works well in my experience.

Well, upper 14th St is Ward 4, and Janeese Lewis George has generally been pretty receptive to traffic safety issues and pushing DDOT to resolve them (as best she canh).

This scenario is why I've, more than once, considered blocking both lanes on a four lane (two lanes either direction) road, to protect the pedestrian. I'm not sure I'm prepared for the resulting road rage, though.

Can I ask an honest question, though: why are there no consequences for shitty driving here? I never see cops enforcing traffic laws. Are the police understaffed? Is the area just super soft about traffic enforcement? What gives? It's the same shit up in MoCo as well.

Edit: a word and a clarification

Disagree.

The flashing yellow lights are usually manually triggered by a pedestrian in the process of crossing, which is, itself, a mandatory stop.

The only difference would be that a red light would actually signal to the driver that the stop is, in fact, required while someone is crossing.

As the pedestrian, I fantasize about flipping the honkers off, but I don't want to get shot, so...

So you're saying that the point of the camera is to be placed where the most tickets can be issued rather than in the places where it has the most impact on public safety? Are there, perchance, some financial incentives for prioritizing ticket generation over safety?

Cops don’t even do this - I have called out several before and they just laugh it off. So ridiculous.

Also use your signal please..

I hate this intersection SO MUCH, both as a driver and a pedestrian.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Honestly my least favorite one is the weird speed trap by RFK where you have to sometimes speed up to merge, then slow down to 25, then the speed limit goes right up to 40. The lanes are also super wide, which generally encourage speeding.

I truly wish the city would install crosswalk cams that issue traffic violation tickets. The $250 fine is a joke since it’s never enforced. I’m exhausted from having to be extra vigilant to make sure I won’t get ran over by a negligent driver. A few months ago, I nearly got hit by a car while I was in a protected crosswalk with the flashing warning lights on. Sadly, no cameras from nearby homes had a good angle to catch a plate.

I was driving through Arlington recently and almost hit someone like this. But here was the situation. There was a car in the left lane, seeming to be turning. I was in the right lane. So I kept driving as usual. There was a person in the crosswalk, but they were so short I could not see them above the car on the left. It scared the ever living SHIT out of me. Because the individual was in no sight where I could see them until I drove up Further and there they were. This is a busy intersection with no crossing lights.

Have you never seen a crosswalk sign that flashes yellow at all times? That's what we're talking about.

That's roughly the kind I'm referring to, though the ones I've seen are a stop light with the bottom position a flashing yellow, the middle a solid yellow (which it does a very quick aggressive series of flashes to indicate it's going to become a solid yellow), and then it's a hard red. Edit: you often see these at intersections where a fire house has trucks exiting the yard.

Nah. If you're trying to merge into the RIGHT-HAND LANE of a highway and everyone else is "going too fast", you're actually the one that sucks. Speed the fuck up and merge. Stopping is unsafe, and so is pulling out going 35 in front of a line of cars going 50.

I recently had the car behind me swerve around me and pass me because they found it unacceptable that I stopped at a red light. So they blasted around me on a narrow street into an intersection with a red light.

One day within the span of 5 min on my drive home, two separate times a car behind me honked at me while I was stopped at a stop sign. ???? And I don’t even do the full S-T-O-P stop that we’re supposed to, just came to a full stop then started again. The second time the car actually drove around me while I was at the stop sign 🙃 people are whack.

DMV motorists drive like npc's in Grand Theft Auto V.

Could we just sticky a thread related for the bad driving/fuck cars stuff?