The Chainlink

Why would I stop for a mother pushing a stroller in a zebra-striped crosswalk?

When I can just swerve instead?

That's what a middle-aged white man driving a gray Volkswagen Passat station wagon asked himself this morning as he drove north on Lincoln Avenue between Sheffield and Racine. I watched all this from about 12-14 car lengths behind the Passat wagon as I rode north on Lincoln to work around 9AM:

A WOMAN PUSHING A STROLLER IN A VERY CLEARLY MARKED ZEBRA-STRIPED CROSSWALK was crossing Lincoln from west to east outside the 7-11 at Shubert.  The Passat wagon definitely saw ahead of him A WOMAN PUSHING A STROLLER IN A VERY CLEARLY MARKED ZEBRA-STRIPED CROSSWALK because he began to gently swerve well before even the zebra-striped crosswalk at Lincoln and Seminary.  He wasn't driving fast. There were no cars behind him.  He easily could have stopped. Easily.  But no brake lights ever lit up. Ever. He swerved around this baby in a stroller like he would swerve around an orange safety cone. Now, certainly it is fantastic that he did swerve because it would have been absolutely horrific if he hadn't, but why would one swerve rather than stop in this situation?  

A red light at Lincoln/Diversey/Racine allowed me the opportunity to speed ask Mr. Illinois Plates T58-04** (the * grant him some measure of anonymity) that very question.  To be fair, I didn't really give this man much of a chance to answer because I was in a BLIND RAGE at the time, but I'm still wondering, WHY WOULD A DRIVER SWERVE, AND NOT STOP, FOR A WOMAN PUSHING A STROLLER IN A VERY CLEARLY MARKED ZEBRA-STRIPED CROSSWALK?  

I just don't get it.  

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Permalink Reply by David P. on July 12, 2013 at 11:59am

I get almost uniform surprise from people waiting in a crosswalk when I stop or slow to let them cross. Last year I saw a guy on Clark in Andersonville not only stop to let a couple cross, but block the lane to ensure cars stopped, too.

I've always been pretty good about yielding to peds who are either crossing in walks, at intersections, or at least trying to cross in a non-oblivious manner, but eventually I realized I wasn't good enough, so I've tried to be even more attentive. I still feel like hitting (even if I don't) people who behave with an utter lack of situational awareness, though.

I regularly cross Pulaski at Roscoe (I live nearby) and nobody, but nobody, stops for me or anyone else in that crosswalk.



J Park said:

I get this a lot.  I almost always have to get vocal and smilingly say, "it's your right of way, have a nice day!".

Serge Lubomudrov said:

No wonder pedestrians often look bewildered when I stop to let them cross a street. And I'm on my bicycle, not in a car.
Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on July 12, 2013 at 1:32pm

Actually, the signs say to STOP for pedestrians; not yield, stop.

That was the change in the law a few years ago, and why those new, middle of road signs are up.

Here's the 2010 Trib article

pceasy said:

I see this all the time. Clearly marked crosswalks with signs saying "Yield to Pedestrians, it's the state law" and about 2 percent of all vehicles comply. 

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 12, 2013 at 2:22pm

Actually, I think the screaming guy is likely to get someone killed (it wasn't a crosswalk, right?)

I have heard from paramedics that some of the most horrible tragedies they have to deal with on a regular basis involve exactly this scenario-- someone with good intentions but catastrophically poor judgement stops to wave someone across (more often than not families with children by the telling), only to have another driver come along with no idea what's going on and....well...

echo said:

You know what, now things are starting to make a little sense. I recently moved back here and was surprised about all of the stop signs in the middle of the road that, in essence, remind drivers to avoid plowing down pedestrians in the road. 

But, after reading this thread, now I get it. Yikes!!  I can't believe (well, I can, actually... so I guess I'm just annoyed then) that so many drivers just swerve or blow through when there are pedestrians! 

And I think it's a good thing you said something to the driver. When I was young at first got my license, I was driving over by Foster (I think) and saw a car stopped in the road with no traffic. I was totally peeved and swerved around him, and he was honking at me like mad. What a jerk, I thought...only to then be horrified to see he stopped to let a mom and a stroller cross! I felt like TOTAL SHIT.   Then he pulled up next to me at the light and screamed at me. I didn't say anything...too embarrassed...and he was right. And that stuck with me since then, and is part of the reason I am extra cautious around crosswalks--even 10 years later! Hopefully you make that driver think twice about next time. I mean, it sounds like he saw her and still went around so that's an extra level of doucheness. but, one can hope. 

Permalink Reply by Shaun Jacobsen on July 20, 2013 at 1:10am

Have you noticed if the 100% compliance is at crosswalks with the little signs or not? Because at the crossing just north of the Alamo shoe store, there is no sign, and drivers almost never stop. But at some of the others, with signs, drivers usually (but not always) will stop.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

It all depends.

On Clark in A'Ville I get a near 100% compliance from drivers. It may be because the road is already narrow, traffic is already slow and backed up. 

On the intersection mentioned by OP, I often see pedestrians wait like what seems forever.It may have to do with the road design (much wider than Clark), and the higher speeds of cars.

Still sucks though.

Permalink Reply by djm on August 21, 2013 at 1:58pm

Along the same lines, I witnessed a cyclist southbound on Milwaukee run the red light at Leavitt and swerve around a mother pushing a carriage in the crosswalk.  Perhaps he was an undercover cop who didnt have time to pull out his lights and siren from his messenger bag?

Permalink Reply by Tim S on August 21, 2013 at 2:23pm

This is a unnerving new trend the slow and swerve or straight up swerve but no slow. 

Permalink Reply by Jason W on August 21, 2013 at 4:38pm

This law isn't that old and isn't in every state. I regularly see cars that think the stop for pedestrians is a straight up stop sign. I see that on Damen a lot.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on August 21, 2013 at 4:40pm

After riding home up Lincoln last night I'll say the riding etiquette is worse than anything I see on the lakefront path.  Too many long waits at the six-way intersections seems to bring out the rabbit in people, and cause them to run afoul of cars and pedestrians, to say nothing of other cyclists.

And I really don't like the stop markers.  Stop was designed to mean stop.  Stop every time you see the sign.  A selective (based on the situation) stop is a yield.  A lot of thought went into standardizing traffic signs and procedures in the 40s and 50s, and it's sad to see all that work replaced by conditional signs that require attention to read and process, let alone have a good understanding of English to follow.

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