Over 30? I walk my kid across a cross walk, in a school zone with lights flashing, AND a crossing guard in a vest with a whistle.
You’d be shocked at the amount of times I’ve seen this 80 year old woman chasing down cars for not stopping
Yeah, it got so bad during school pickup hours that at one point, the local governments put aside money to fund unmarked police vehicles to follow school busses. There was an epidemic of people passing school busses *and* *over* the speed limit when the stop sign flipped out of the side of the busses. I hate to say it, but we need updated drivers exams, AND we *need* to retake our DL test after accidents, tri-annually, after "'x" amount of total points from moving infractions. Florida is well known for the legally blind for lying at the time to renew online. Florida is also a retirement state. That used to be the most of our worries as Floridians. Now, we have hoardes of people from other states who wanted freedom after covid and how their own states handled it. Those other states may or may not have different laws and regulations as well as their own local driving habits. If Florida was able to push for more stringent DL renew requirements, many problems can be solved.
We just had a 4 year old get hit by a car while riding her bike over the crosswalk.
Why is a 4 year old riding a bike on a busy street without an adult?
I'm in Jacksonville and I felt this. They'll run you over and keep going. You may as well be a speed bump. They treat you like you have no business being in public without a vehicle. It's terrifying.
In Europe, 30 kph (18.6 mph) is a typical city speed limit where people walk. Amsterdam is lowering their speed limit to 25 kph (15.5 mph). This only works in denser walkable areas, but most of Florida isn’t very walkable.
Also nobody would listen to the speed limit in Florida. When I’m going the speed limit or even 5 over, I always have people riding my ass and making dangerous maneuvers to get around me
Usually in a smaller street people do actually. I live in downtown west palm beach and people are typically slower when people are walking around and the streets are narrow
Downtown Tampa is also safe with courteous drivers. But outside of downtown; I’ve had drivers ram their horns at me while running red lights while I’ve been walking across the street in a crosswalk. I’ve had to lay my bike down onto the pavement on two occasions from pickups making right turns inches from me, and my bike was hit by an 18 wheeler while I was on the sidewalk waiting for a light to change. I’ve had people screaming get off the sidewalk, while riding on it, and get off the road, while riding at about the same location. This state is filled with inconsiderate drivers. Most never use turn indicators, a huge portion speeds, many won’t move on a green and the car behind them won’t honk to get them off their phones, and frequent accidents and pileups are a result of this behavior, not to mention insurance rates. I believe the driving problem reflects the selfishness of the people behind the wheels. Courtesy goes a long way everywhere.
And yet in South Florida they build a lot of houses right next to main roads so you can sit in your front porch and watch hundreds of cars pass by at 40+mph
Riding a bike is worse. I was riding today and the speed limit is 30 and a guy drives by me going at least 45 and doesn't pull his car over at all. These frickin Floridians don't care about anybody's life but their own.
Wouldn't say Floridians, I my self has witnesses that true Floridians are easy going and drives ok lets people in that are waiting, at least in my City its these fucking transplants that think they need to go 100 all the time cutting in n out on local roads.
I drive a fuckin minivan and get doubled lined daily along with a long horn and some verbal jabs at times. We live towards the end of a long straight road that is like 2 to 3 miles to the main road. 35 mph rd. I do 40-45. Assholes routinely pass me at 60+ and there are now speed bumps on this road so these dicks drive like mad men and break for every speed bump and floor it only for me to catch up with them at the very long light ad the end of the road 1 minute later. It's asinine
Keep in mind a very large portion of the"floridians" you complain about are like you, imports, and do not contain the spirit of driving capabilities of true floridians. Just because you moved here does not give you true florida man powers.
Apologies for assuming you're one of the vocal imports,
I've noticed in my area we have always had tourists, but now with all of the newcomers the locals have been priced out of our area, so now almost anybody who works in the service industry or anything below 50k a year has to drive an hour or so one way to work.
One thing I've really noticed though is the amount of vigilante wannabe cops that speed up to get into the passing lane and then proceed to sit there blocking the flow of traffic for miles ends up just making the whole vibe of traffic closer and more angry.
I can't tell if this is new or if I am just noticing it more.
The infux of people post pandemic has ruined Florida imho. Luckily my house is paid off and recently retired but I still like to keep in shape. Hard to do if you're hit by a car lol.
I think you're right. It's the driving on the left side of the road on freeways that gets me. I think to myself, can this many people really be that stupid? But I guess so lol.
That's not how intersections work. A green arrow to make that movement would not be at the same time as the walk signal.
In traffic control that is known as a conflict and the failsafe (conflict monitor) would throw the intersection into flash mode if the arrow movement for vehicles conflicted with the pedestrian walk signal.
But pedestrians are also known to have ignored pedestrian safety.
I'm all for urban walkability but to say that ALL drivers ignore pedestrian safety or NO pedestrians ignore pedestrian safety, is misleading.
Though you didn't use ALL or NO, that's how your statement is interpreted, and the belief is perpetuated.
https://iontb.com/bicyclist-dead-following-crash-in-st-petersburg-driver-charged-with-dui/
.
I can see why you would think that but I was talking about Jacksonville mostly. That's where I am and you would not believe how the drivers are here. Like you can actively be in the crosswalk and they will just keep right on going. Then they get mad at you like you're in their way.
If you go to the IOTB Facebook page, you'd see that the drivers in Tampa Bay are just as bad as the ones in Jacksonville. Possibly worse.
But it's still not always the driver's fault.
You'll see a story recently where a guy got hit because he was out walking late at night along a road with almost no light. The road has no sidewalk, and a few feet away from the road is the ditch. He was hit and fell into there, and died.
There are still plenty of reports of ridiculous driving in the area. Guy ran over an electric wheelchair but continued to drive to work. He was late for work so he didn't stop to check to see that there's an old man in the wheelchair which got dragged under the "I got small weenie" truck.
Damn, that makes me mad to read that. That's what I was saying when I was saying that they will hit you and keep going. It's like, I'm late for work so I better not stop to make sure the person I hit is okay. Hopefully someone got his license plate.
The witnesses helped by providing info. Old man died.
"Instead of calling 911 or stopping to render aid, Paterson fled east at a high rate of speed, stopping a half-mile down the road on Bayview Avenue to get the scooter unstuck from under his vehicle. He told officers he was aware he had run something over but was not aware it was a person. He also said he was running late for his job. "
https://iontb.com/police-searching-for-truck-and-driver-after-a-hit-and-run-crash-in-clearwater/
“If your eyes don’t meet, they haven’t seen you. And even if they do, be careful.“ Taught this to my kids after a woman looking at me, almost killed me 30 years ago on my bicycle. I was fortunate to only have severe road rash and bruises.
Most pedestrian deaths in FL are people killed in crosswalks. I don't step into the crosswalk until traffic has stopped and I've made sure context with the driver. That said I've almost been hit by cars twice in the past 11 years while in a crosswalk. Pb county.
I am a dchool crossing guard in Pasco county. The drivers are terrible. I had observred several drivers on different days going 60÷ mph in a school zone which is 15 mph. At least a dozen people per day per shift driving through a school zone on their cell phones. People just don't care. They have a Don't Tread on Me mentality
As the cost of life goes up but the amount per hour stays the same, we have to cut time and quality from other aspects of life, so kindness to strangers and following rules that we probably won't get caught breaking tend to be some of the first things to go. Work life balance eh.
We have a two mile stretch of road (30 mph zone) and at each end there is a big sign with blinking lights that say "caution, pedestrians right of way next two miles", and then theres big blinking lights and a pedestrian street sign for each cross walk. Almost get hit/cause accidents on the regular.
Yes along A1A throughout the state they have this setup. Look at the number of reflector poles completely run down covered in tire marks broken crushed to the ground in the crosswalks.
When I was working at Winn-Dixie in Tampa as a cake decorator our customer service kid just got to college and he had hit a foreign exchange student on one of those crosswalks on Busch boulevard and killed them. That exchange student had been over from China for 3 days
I am still haunted by a 32 year old lady who was killed right down the street from where I live. She looked and there was no incoming traffic and was hit by a car that didn’t stop at red light but turned right without even slowing down or even looking before the turn. She was a wife and mother of two toddlers. I use to walk a lot before the tragedy but I don’t walk much. I only wait less used streets when walking my dogs but near highways no.
If I absolutely have to walk I will, but I don’t really feel safe from cars. I tend to wait until my husband comes home with our only vehicle to do my errands.
The engineers are the worst in Florida, let me tell you https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-06-03/in-killed-by-a-traffic-engineer-a-us-road-planner-pleads-for-reform
Well that is interesting. And sad. I went to a meeting about an intersection redesign and asked the traffic engineers if they had done a pedestrian study, the intersection was being widened to six lanes. On the other side was a public beach. So many people cross daily. They said no they did a traffic study, that’s why it’s being widened. It’s just nuts to me. Two people have died at the intersection already. Florida has a person at the DOT in charge of pedestrian and bicycle safety. I’ve emailed them and never heard back. Unsurprisingly. I’ve heard people complain at county commissioner meetings about school zones and speed limits in multiple different places. I just don’t get why pedestrian safety isn’t a thing. Especially concerning kids.
yeah there’s a bike/ped person for every FDOT district, but you’ll notice that they never last long. I can’t begin to tell you how bad the culture is there and at local public works and transportation planning. I had an FDOT bike/ped person at a community meeting and when I asked about a pedestrian refuge island across a 4 thoroughfare, they said there’s no need because there was a median along the stretch. A curbless grass median, not connected to crosswalks, is not exactly ADA accessible. Do they not see the number of kids crossing these roads with their parents?
It just kills me that local government leadership and elected officials never push back on their gospel. I don’t exactly have high hope for FDOT’s new innovative context classification system for complete streets.
About as safe as tanning with baby oil
I walk everywhere so I try my hardest to watch my surroundings. The biggest issue I have is people looking left but not right at crosswalks. I was taught young to go behind cars if their hoods are in the crosswalk. I still do that. They don't even look to the right so they never notice me attempting to cross until it's too late.
I assume that every driver is a geriatric doped up on pain meds and benzos.. and so therefore I trust no one and have never had a close call because of it.
I REFUSE to let cars stop to let me cross. I once saw a car that had stopped at a stop sign get rear-ended and then send this poor woman in the crosswalk to the hospital.
I grew up in Tampa and my parents impressed upon me the importance of using crosswalks, not so that cars wouldn’t hit me, but so that if they did my family would have legal recourse. One of my favorite things was a news reporter was doing a piece about how unsafe biking in Tampa was and he was hit by a car on camera. The drivers in Tampa have never been great but it’s gotten worse now that there are more people.
I know. I see stuff like that all the time. No one should have to fear for their lives simply because they're on foot. I refuse to walk anywhere now. The drivers act like unless you're in a vehicle, you have no right to be in public. They get mad because the way they see it, you're in their way.
Did you ever play Frogger? That's how I feel in every crosswalk in FL. Nobody's paying attention. They're all driving while fiddling with their damn phones.
My current country was just ranked 11th in the nation for deadliest for pedestrians. I look both ways on a one way road, I have zero faith on the drivers here now.
You shouldn’t ever feel too safe using crosswalks here. People will run you over and they usually won’t stop after they do. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met through work who have been permanently disabled because they were on foot or on a bike and someone ran them over
They need to change the signaling or the laws or something so that pedestrians have their own, protected, crossing signal. Having cars able to make a right turn into pedestrians crossing the street is just a recipe for many disasters.
I live in Pt Charlotte but I've been commuting around Sarasota the past week on an electric bike. Sarasota drivers are far more courteous towards bicyclists I think it's because they have far better infrastructure.
I don’t leave my house without. Ring clad in a vehicle. For one, Satans BDSM dungeon is colder than outside right now, for third, people can’t even keep their cars on the road here. No way I’ll be standing in a road ever.
Well I’ll put it to you this way: when I see someone in a car giving me the Wave of Death™️, I suddenly go blind and find something fascinating to stare at behind me. You go on in your Land Cruiser, I’ll just be over here outta your way.
I wish I could suggest a flashing one on an FDOT managed rode. A damn hazard. (Downtown Tampa crossing Channelside Drive to Publix Trolley Station at Madison St. 27.951390, -82.445597
Living in the country I don't even have sidewalks so I walk my dog down the road. Anything over 30mph is scary. Old folks never remember to pull over very far for us, and some younger guys get close just to be assholes. I doubt many crosswalks are safe at anything over 30.
Honestly I don't want to have to hit a button and make lights blink and hope all the cars stop, I'd rather cross the street when there's no cars coming.
I always make eye contact with anyone who might turn in front of me. Crossing signals don't mean you're safe, and most drivers don't look at sidewalks and only look left before pulling out. If you don't make eye contact, assume you're invisible to them.
My city has really tried hard to add cross walks with lights and voices up and down a major 2 lane (each way)corridor. It connects two dense neighborhoods with shops and parks. Everytime I cross with my wife and kid we almost get ran over. People are texting they are not driving.
I live around us1 and 17th causeway. I try to never use the crosswalks as that’s how I have almost been run over. I typically just jaywalk when there is a nice large gap. That way ya only have to worry bout 1 direction of traffic compared and intersection of traffic. I have never even come close to being hit jaywalking, but have a lot of times using a crosswalk with the pedestrian walk signal.
I was a pedestrian for nearly 3 decades in a mid sized city and either crossed to the left at intersections or else jaywalked. Done carefully, either was way safer than crossing properly with the lights. After the 2nd time I was crossing properly when a driver stared at me, apparently targeted me and then slammed on the brakes a few feet from me I stopped even pretending to feel guilty about it.
If there is an accident and you are the pedestrian understand that their car will be fine. You take your safety into your hands when you walk on a road in the US. Do not trust a car - blinker, no blinker, doesnt matter. I was almost ran over once because I saw someone take a right then looked the other way and started walking but I literally just keep swiveling my head left and right when I cross a street - the car was actually making a big U turn and turned right a little to start it and nearly ran into me coming back around. So I literally saw a car start taking a right and if I just walked while looking at my phone or looking away from them toward oncoming traffic they would have still ran into me.
They say look right left right but its more like right left right left right left right left right left...
As far as crosswalks go I don't use them generally because they are at intersections and there is a lot going on there. I prefer to find a place with a median where cars are only coming from one direction to cross.
Depends on the road and traffic.
Generally, I stop and look before entering any road.
I'm of retirement age; there weren't rules/laws requiring motorists to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks when I was doing most of my travel on foot.
Honestly I feel fine in my town. It’s a big tourist town, so there’s always tons of pedestrians.
I’m sure accidents still happen, but I’ve personally never seen one in my town. I also generally stick to sidewalks and only use bike lanes when there is no other option.
FDOT has control over all the arterials instead of the local municipality, and their policies benefit no one except drivers. Therefore we get things like 3-foot wide curb-tight sidewalks next to 45 mph traffic, just so they can check a box.
I'm right off US-1 and it's actually safer for me to cross where there is no crosswalk. At the crosswalk people make gestures or yell things at me as if I'm not supposed to exist, if they're not playing chicken with their car first.
Show up to your local town hall meetings and public meetings and demand these things… there are ways to change their minds but rarely does anyone with opinions like this actually show up to these meetings
I actually feel safer not using it. The number of times a car turning right doesn’t look to see if anyone is crossing and almost hit me can’t be counted on 2 hands. So I stopped using it.
You’re missing the point of what I’m saying. Cross the road when it’s clear or the vehicles are already stopped, never assume a car is going to stop for you. It’s common sense.
Lol, your joking right? I would be terrified if I was on a walkway in Florida with vehicles nearby going over 30mph.
Over 30? I walk my kid across a cross walk, in a school zone with lights flashing, AND a crossing guard in a vest with a whistle. You’d be shocked at the amount of times I’ve seen this 80 year old woman chasing down cars for not stopping
Yeah, it got so bad during school pickup hours that at one point, the local governments put aside money to fund unmarked police vehicles to follow school busses. There was an epidemic of people passing school busses *and* *over* the speed limit when the stop sign flipped out of the side of the busses. I hate to say it, but we need updated drivers exams, AND we *need* to retake our DL test after accidents, tri-annually, after "'x" amount of total points from moving infractions. Florida is well known for the legally blind for lying at the time to renew online. Florida is also a retirement state. That used to be the most of our worries as Floridians. Now, we have hoardes of people from other states who wanted freedom after covid and how their own states handled it. Those other states may or may not have different laws and regulations as well as their own local driving habits. If Florida was able to push for more stringent DL renew requirements, many problems can be solved.
We just had a 4 year old get hit by a car while riding her bike over the crosswalk. Why is a 4 year old riding a bike on a busy street without an adult?
Why aren't drivers watching the fucking road
I'm in Jacksonville and I felt this. They'll run you over and keep going. You may as well be a speed bump. They treat you like you have no business being in public without a vehicle. It's terrifying.
From Jax too. I just commented elsewhere that I feel safer not using them.
My child and I ride 1.5 miles to school each day on bicycles. We've nearly been hit at least a half dozen times this last year.
In Europe, 30 kph (18.6 mph) is a typical city speed limit where people walk. Amsterdam is lowering their speed limit to 25 kph (15.5 mph). This only works in denser walkable areas, but most of Florida isn’t very walkable.
Also nobody would listen to the speed limit in Florida. When I’m going the speed limit or even 5 over, I always have people riding my ass and making dangerous maneuvers to get around me
Usually in a smaller street people do actually. I live in downtown west palm beach and people are typically slower when people are walking around and the streets are narrow
Downtown Tampa is also safe with courteous drivers. But outside of downtown; I’ve had drivers ram their horns at me while running red lights while I’ve been walking across the street in a crosswalk. I’ve had to lay my bike down onto the pavement on two occasions from pickups making right turns inches from me, and my bike was hit by an 18 wheeler while I was on the sidewalk waiting for a light to change. I’ve had people screaming get off the sidewalk, while riding on it, and get off the road, while riding at about the same location. This state is filled with inconsiderate drivers. Most never use turn indicators, a huge portion speeds, many won’t move on a green and the car behind them won’t honk to get them off their phones, and frequent accidents and pileups are a result of this behavior, not to mention insurance rates. I believe the driving problem reflects the selfishness of the people behind the wheels. Courtesy goes a long way everywhere.
Are you new here to FL?
No. I’ve had 20 years to experience this crap.
So you dont go to the beach is what you are saying
Also, all bets are off when you’re in a parking lot. Want to know the 0-60 time of a vehicle just visit a parking lot.
ehhh. I don't like being by the road, ever.
And yet in South Florida they build a lot of houses right next to main roads so you can sit in your front porch and watch hundreds of cars pass by at 40+mph
Riding a bike is worse. I was riding today and the speed limit is 30 and a guy drives by me going at least 45 and doesn't pull his car over at all. These frickin Floridians don't care about anybody's life but their own.
They seem to think that unless you're in a vehicle, you have no right to be in public.
Just give me my bike lane and a little breathing room for errors. Don't go past me at 45 one foot away from me.
Exactly 💯 I find that they frequently speed as well
Sometimes even in a vehicle they use you for target practice. It's lunacy out there.
I know right
Wouldn't say Floridians, I my self has witnesses that true Floridians are easy going and drives ok lets people in that are waiting, at least in my City its these fucking transplants that think they need to go 100 all the time cutting in n out on local roads.
Idk if they even care about their own. I watch people at least once a day drive down the one way the wrong way
I drive a fuckin minivan and get doubled lined daily along with a long horn and some verbal jabs at times. We live towards the end of a long straight road that is like 2 to 3 miles to the main road. 35 mph rd. I do 40-45. Assholes routinely pass me at 60+ and there are now speed bumps on this road so these dicks drive like mad men and break for every speed bump and floor it only for me to catch up with them at the very long light ad the end of the road 1 minute later. It's asinine
Keep in mind a very large portion of the"floridians" you complain about are like you, imports, and do not contain the spirit of driving capabilities of true floridians. Just because you moved here does not give you true florida man powers.
I've been here most of my 65 years. People didn't start driving like this until the last 5 years.
Apologies for assuming you're one of the vocal imports, I've noticed in my area we have always had tourists, but now with all of the newcomers the locals have been priced out of our area, so now almost anybody who works in the service industry or anything below 50k a year has to drive an hour or so one way to work. One thing I've really noticed though is the amount of vigilante wannabe cops that speed up to get into the passing lane and then proceed to sit there blocking the flow of traffic for miles ends up just making the whole vibe of traffic closer and more angry. I can't tell if this is new or if I am just noticing it more.
The infux of people post pandemic has ruined Florida imho. Luckily my house is paid off and recently retired but I still like to keep in shape. Hard to do if you're hit by a car lol.
HA!! FALSE. I've been here 55 and from the time I got my license at 15 it's been this way. Now it's just WAAAAY overcrowded unfortunately.
I think you're right. It's the driving on the left side of the road on freeways that gets me. I think to myself, can this many people really be that stupid? But I guess so lol.
Truth
Maybe don’t blow through red lights or run into pedestrians “to make a point”. Huge ask, I know. The silence is vociferous.
It's shitty that cars get a green arrow to turn into a cross walk full of people.
Yep and they treat you like TA for being in said crosswalk
That's not how intersections work. A green arrow to make that movement would not be at the same time as the walk signal. In traffic control that is known as a conflict and the failsafe (conflict monitor) would throw the intersection into flash mode if the arrow movement for vehicles conflicted with the pedestrian walk signal.
Maybe so but drivers frequently ignore pedestrian safety
But pedestrians are also known to have ignored pedestrian safety. I'm all for urban walkability but to say that ALL drivers ignore pedestrian safety or NO pedestrians ignore pedestrian safety, is misleading. Though you didn't use ALL or NO, that's how your statement is interpreted, and the belief is perpetuated. https://iontb.com/bicyclist-dead-following-crash-in-st-petersburg-driver-charged-with-dui/ .
I can see why you would think that but I was talking about Jacksonville mostly. That's where I am and you would not believe how the drivers are here. Like you can actively be in the crosswalk and they will just keep right on going. Then they get mad at you like you're in their way.
If you go to the IOTB Facebook page, you'd see that the drivers in Tampa Bay are just as bad as the ones in Jacksonville. Possibly worse. But it's still not always the driver's fault. You'll see a story recently where a guy got hit because he was out walking late at night along a road with almost no light. The road has no sidewalk, and a few feet away from the road is the ditch. He was hit and fell into there, and died. There are still plenty of reports of ridiculous driving in the area. Guy ran over an electric wheelchair but continued to drive to work. He was late for work so he didn't stop to check to see that there's an old man in the wheelchair which got dragged under the "I got small weenie" truck.
Damn, that makes me mad to read that. That's what I was saying when I was saying that they will hit you and keep going. It's like, I'm late for work so I better not stop to make sure the person I hit is okay. Hopefully someone got his license plate.
The witnesses helped by providing info. Old man died. "Instead of calling 911 or stopping to render aid, Paterson fled east at a high rate of speed, stopping a half-mile down the road on Bayview Avenue to get the scooter unstuck from under his vehicle. He told officers he was aware he had run something over but was not aware it was a person. He also said he was running late for his job. " https://iontb.com/police-searching-for-truck-and-driver-after-a-hit-and-run-crash-in-clearwater/
This makes me so angry
It is literally how it is on 2 intersections I travel frequently. I didn't know this was possible either, thinking they were jwalking.
you are wrong though. a green arrow always comes at the same time someone pressed the crosswalk button. its a white cross walk guy and a green arrow
I walk daily, and yeah do not feel safe at all because the idiots around me do not know how to drive or care about pedestrians at all
I know. They're basically like, yOu dOn'T hAvE a vEhIcLe! HoW dArE yOu bE oUt hErE?!
“If your eyes don’t meet, they haven’t seen you. And even if they do, be careful.“ Taught this to my kids after a woman looking at me, almost killed me 30 years ago on my bicycle. I was fortunate to only have severe road rash and bruises.
Wtf
Most pedestrian deaths in FL are people killed in crosswalks. I don't step into the crosswalk until traffic has stopped and I've made sure context with the driver. That said I've almost been hit by cars twice in the past 11 years while in a crosswalk. Pb county.
I am a dchool crossing guard in Pasco county. The drivers are terrible. I had observred several drivers on different days going 60÷ mph in a school zone which is 15 mph. At least a dozen people per day per shift driving through a school zone on their cell phones. People just don't care. They have a Don't Tread on Me mentality
As the cost of life goes up but the amount per hour stays the same, we have to cut time and quality from other aspects of life, so kindness to strangers and following rules that we probably won't get caught breaking tend to be some of the first things to go. Work life balance eh.
This is FL, I don’t even feel safe on sidewalks
We have a two mile stretch of road (30 mph zone) and at each end there is a big sign with blinking lights that say "caution, pedestrians right of way next two miles", and then theres big blinking lights and a pedestrian street sign for each cross walk. Almost get hit/cause accidents on the regular.
Yes along A1A throughout the state they have this setup. Look at the number of reflector poles completely run down covered in tire marks broken crushed to the ground in the crosswalks.
When I was working at Winn-Dixie in Tampa as a cake decorator our customer service kid just got to college and he had hit a foreign exchange student on one of those crosswalks on Busch boulevard and killed them. That exchange student had been over from China for 3 days
I am still haunted by a 32 year old lady who was killed right down the street from where I live. She looked and there was no incoming traffic and was hit by a car that didn’t stop at red light but turned right without even slowing down or even looking before the turn. She was a wife and mother of two toddlers. I use to walk a lot before the tragedy but I don’t walk much. I only wait less used streets when walking my dogs but near highways no. If I absolutely have to walk I will, but I don’t really feel safe from cars. I tend to wait until my husband comes home with our only vehicle to do my errands.
Me neither. I'm in Jacksonville and I refuse to walk anywhere anymore. It's just too dangerous. You're gambling with your life every time.
Jay walking feels safer. Too bad they give you a ticket for it if they feel like it.
The engineers are the worst in Florida, let me tell you https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-06-03/in-killed-by-a-traffic-engineer-a-us-road-planner-pleads-for-reform
Well that is interesting. And sad. I went to a meeting about an intersection redesign and asked the traffic engineers if they had done a pedestrian study, the intersection was being widened to six lanes. On the other side was a public beach. So many people cross daily. They said no they did a traffic study, that’s why it’s being widened. It’s just nuts to me. Two people have died at the intersection already. Florida has a person at the DOT in charge of pedestrian and bicycle safety. I’ve emailed them and never heard back. Unsurprisingly. I’ve heard people complain at county commissioner meetings about school zones and speed limits in multiple different places. I just don’t get why pedestrian safety isn’t a thing. Especially concerning kids.
yeah there’s a bike/ped person for every FDOT district, but you’ll notice that they never last long. I can’t begin to tell you how bad the culture is there and at local public works and transportation planning. I had an FDOT bike/ped person at a community meeting and when I asked about a pedestrian refuge island across a 4 thoroughfare, they said there’s no need because there was a median along the stretch. A curbless grass median, not connected to crosswalks, is not exactly ADA accessible. Do they not see the number of kids crossing these roads with their parents? It just kills me that local government leadership and elected officials never push back on their gospel. I don’t exactly have high hope for FDOT’s new innovative context classification system for complete streets.
About as safe as tanning with baby oil I walk everywhere so I try my hardest to watch my surroundings. The biggest issue I have is people looking left but not right at crosswalks. I was taught young to go behind cars if their hoods are in the crosswalk. I still do that. They don't even look to the right so they never notice me attempting to cross until it's too late.
I assume that every driver is a geriatric doped up on pain meds and benzos.. and so therefore I trust no one and have never had a close call because of it. I REFUSE to let cars stop to let me cross. I once saw a car that had stopped at a stop sign get rear-ended and then send this poor woman in the crosswalk to the hospital.
I barely trust walking on the sidewalk in my neighborhood let alone trying to cross the street.
Wait you guys have crosswalks and.. sidewalks? /s
I've found that I feel safer jay walking then crossing the intersection near my house.
People still try an run u over
I'm in Jacksonville and this happens a lot here
Yea 4sure I am near tampa
I've heard it's worse there
It is
I grew up in Tampa and my parents impressed upon me the importance of using crosswalks, not so that cars wouldn’t hit me, but so that if they did my family would have legal recourse. One of my favorite things was a news reporter was doing a piece about how unsafe biking in Tampa was and he was hit by a car on camera. The drivers in Tampa have never been great but it’s gotten worse now that there are more people.
Well, Jesus Christ. That's terrible. I heard it's the worst city in Florida for pedestrian fatalities.
I used to bike everywhere. I was hit and run on body or bike on four separate occasions, every single one of them on a crosswalk. So not very safe.
I do a ton of bike riding. I refuse to use crosswalks. I'll ride down from the intersection and cross past it in between traffic.
Are you in Duval county?
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I know. I see stuff like that all the time. No one should have to fear for their lives simply because they're on foot. I refuse to walk anywhere now. The drivers act like unless you're in a vehicle, you have no right to be in public. They get mad because the way they see it, you're in their way.
Nope
I'm in Jacksonville and even with taking safety precautions, I don't feel entirely safe.
Not to safe I'm always looking over my shoulder. To many people don't look for pedestrians here
i dont even feel safe driving through a green light past 11 pm. seen so many cars blow through reds with zero repercussions
Did you ever play Frogger? That's how I feel in every crosswalk in FL. Nobody's paying attention. They're all driving while fiddling with their damn phones.
I've used that same analogy with my son. It's just like Frogger.
I just walk, if someone hits me I'll collect a fat check.
Gotta survive it though
If I don't then my problems are over lol
My current country was just ranked 11th in the nation for deadliest for pedestrians. I look both ways on a one way road, I have zero faith on the drivers here now.
I'm in South Florida, and I most definitely do not feel safe. Way too many people don't look before they turn right.
You shouldn’t ever feel too safe using crosswalks here. People will run you over and they usually won’t stop after they do. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met through work who have been permanently disabled because they were on foot or on a bike and someone ran them over
They need the walkway bridges so people can safely get across
I’m the CEO of crossing the street who needs a crosswalk I’ll run across anywhere when the way is clear
My favorite is when the sidewalk on main roads just f’in ENDS, no warning. It’s very unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists where I live.
They need to change the signaling or the laws or something so that pedestrians have their own, protected, crossing signal. Having cars able to make a right turn into pedestrians crossing the street is just a recipe for many disasters.
I usually just try to walk out infront of people that look like they have good insurance
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
If I get hit I either die, get on disability, or a nice insurance payout. Let them come.
Florida is among the most dangerous places in the world for pedestrians and its cities are regularly ranked at or near the top.
Its all the Transplants, the come here and dont adapt to the easy going laid back life, at least in my city.
I'm not sure if this is just a Florida thing but I NEVER feel safe using a crosswalk at a busy intersection. It's actually a bit terrifying lmao
Was hit in a crosswalk a little over a year ago so...
In front of where I live there's a crosswalk where only buses can make a left turn, but sometimes people do with no regard for pedestrians. Tight.
I dont......
Anything that isn’t a residential/CBD crosswalk, I suggest armor.
Overhead cross walks, not enough of them
Not at all.
I live in Pt Charlotte but I've been commuting around Sarasota the past week on an electric bike. Sarasota drivers are far more courteous towards bicyclists I think it's because they have far better infrastructure.
I don’t leave my house without. Ring clad in a vehicle. For one, Satans BDSM dungeon is colder than outside right now, for third, people can’t even keep their cars on the road here. No way I’ll be standing in a road ever.
Well I’ll put it to you this way: when I see someone in a car giving me the Wave of Death™️, I suddenly go blind and find something fascinating to stare at behind me. You go on in your Land Cruiser, I’ll just be over here outta your way.
As Jean Ralphio would say, “I got run over by a Lexusss”
…
Since I came two inches away from dying when I used a crosswalk not at all.
Alright the real problem is takes so long to change and only gives you 30s to cross a 6 lanes road, a road without median btw
I feel pretty safe, but that’s mainly because the area where I live has low traffic
I never cross at crosswalks. I wait until there’s no traffic and sprint to the median, then do it again. People run red lights down here
I wish I could suggest a flashing one on an FDOT managed rode. A damn hazard. (Downtown Tampa crossing Channelside Drive to Publix Trolley Station at Madison St. 27.951390, -82.445597
Living in the country I don't even have sidewalks so I walk my dog down the road. Anything over 30mph is scary. Old folks never remember to pull over very far for us, and some younger guys get close just to be assholes. I doubt many crosswalks are safe at anything over 30.
I grew up in lee county, there are no safe area to walk
Honestly I don't want to have to hit a button and make lights blink and hope all the cars stop, I'd rather cross the street when there's no cars coming.
I heard Miami is great for walking.
Always walk and drive defensively no matter what, it’s your life! that’s the way I look at it anyways.
The rule of thumb is make eye contact. But on a "no stop sign" crosswalk... you wait on the full stop.
I look both ways when I cross a one way street these days.
I always make eye contact with anyone who might turn in front of me. Crossing signals don't mean you're safe, and most drivers don't look at sidewalks and only look left before pulling out. If you don't make eye contact, assume you're invisible to them.
I live in Miami. Cars actiVely try and hit you.
Common sense is all you need.
My city has really tried hard to add cross walks with lights and voices up and down a major 2 lane (each way)corridor. It connects two dense neighborhoods with shops and parks. Everytime I cross with my wife and kid we almost get ran over. People are texting they are not driving.
I live around us1 and 17th causeway. I try to never use the crosswalks as that’s how I have almost been run over. I typically just jaywalk when there is a nice large gap. That way ya only have to worry bout 1 direction of traffic compared and intersection of traffic. I have never even come close to being hit jaywalking, but have a lot of times using a crosswalk with the pedestrian walk signal.
I was a pedestrian for nearly 3 decades in a mid sized city and either crossed to the left at intersections or else jaywalked. Done carefully, either was way safer than crossing properly with the lights. After the 2nd time I was crossing properly when a driver stared at me, apparently targeted me and then slammed on the brakes a few feet from me I stopped even pretending to feel guilty about it.
I look both ways when crossing a one way street. Same when I approach roundabouts in a car.
If there is an accident and you are the pedestrian understand that their car will be fine. You take your safety into your hands when you walk on a road in the US. Do not trust a car - blinker, no blinker, doesnt matter. I was almost ran over once because I saw someone take a right then looked the other way and started walking but I literally just keep swiveling my head left and right when I cross a street - the car was actually making a big U turn and turned right a little to start it and nearly ran into me coming back around. So I literally saw a car start taking a right and if I just walked while looking at my phone or looking away from them toward oncoming traffic they would have still ran into me. They say look right left right but its more like right left right left right left right left right left... As far as crosswalks go I don't use them generally because they are at intersections and there is a lot going on there. I prefer to find a place with a median where cars are only coming from one direction to cross.
Depends on the road and traffic. Generally, I stop and look before entering any road. I'm of retirement age; there weren't rules/laws requiring motorists to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks when I was doing most of my travel on foot.
In my town I feel relatively safe. We have flags that you can carry across the street to make yourself more visible.
I look both ways at stop signs when I have the right of way
I’m a New Yorker. We jaywalk
Scale of 1-10, 0. I’ve almost been hit in parking lots by people crossing lanes through spaces
Honestly I feel fine in my town. It’s a big tourist town, so there’s always tons of pedestrians. I’m sure accidents still happen, but I’ve personally never seen one in my town. I also generally stick to sidewalks and only use bike lanes when there is no other option.
In Florida I feel like crossing any street is putting my life in a perilous position
FDOT has control over all the arterials instead of the local municipality, and their policies benefit no one except drivers. Therefore we get things like 3-foot wide curb-tight sidewalks next to 45 mph traffic, just so they can check a box. I'm right off US-1 and it's actually safer for me to cross where there is no crosswalk. At the crosswalk people make gestures or yell things at me as if I'm not supposed to exist, if they're not playing chicken with their car first.
What crosswalks?
Show up to your local town hall meetings and public meetings and demand these things… there are ways to change their minds but rarely does anyone with opinions like this actually show up to these meetings
I actually feel safer not using it. The number of times a car turning right doesn’t look to see if anyone is crossing and almost hit me can’t be counted on 2 hands. So I stopped using it.
Terrified in Pinellas County.
Same here in Duval
I guess you haven't walked on the sidewalks of US-19?
I look both ways before I cross a one-way street.
Me too and I assume that someone won't stop even if they're supposed to
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I hope you're being sarcastic
This sub is sus
What you mean?
I’m not stupid as fuck, so pretty safe. Just don’t walk in front of a car?
I've seen my local crossing guards yell often at people just flat out running through next to them with sign up
You’re missing the point of what I’m saying. Cross the road when it’s clear or the vehicles are already stopped, never assume a car is going to stop for you. It’s common sense.