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 Alex Z on July 10, 2013 at 10:56am

Did the driver say anything when you confronted him?

Permalink Reply by pceasy on July 10, 2013 at 11:04am

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 Crazy David 84 Furlongs on July 10, 2013 at 11:11am

I have a couple of spots where, for various reasons, I get off the bicycle and become a "pedestrian" trying to cross the road.  The most blatant is Balmoral at Nagle.  (Nagle's under construction and the surface is that rough pre-asphalt layer....   Its just too hard on the tires and rims to ride crosswise over it).  I will stand there for a long long long time waiting and waiting and NO ONE even hesitates, let alone stops.  And several times i have been honked at for clearly the intersection too slowly when I do walk.    But I am not sure that I blame the drivers that much.... I nearly got rear ended on Irving Park in my car last Sunday night.   i saw a ped in the X walk and I stopped.  Car behind me not only did not stop, but swerved around me at the last minute nearly taking out the Ped crossing the street.  I certainly would not have been legally responsible if that Ped had gotten hit, but the moral bit would have been a bit harder to deal with as the Ped was certainly in harm's way because of my action following the law.   2%?   That's way way too high.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 10, 2013 at 11:14am

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 Michael A on July 10, 2013 at 11:23am

north of lincoln square on Lincoln ave they just run over the signs

Permalink Reply by pceasy on July 10, 2013 at 12:17pm

I agree, Clark in A'Ville the drivers always seem to stop. Broadway in Lakeview between Diversy and Cornelia, nobody stops. I've even had drivers honk at me at well-posted-state-law-signed-crosswalk. It doesn't help as well that there doesn't seem to be any crosswalk on Broadway between Cornelia and a few blocks south - or there are but they lines have faded away. 

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 Michelle S on July 10, 2013 at 4:28pm

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.

This kind of behavior also infuriates me. As you said, sometimes drivers buzz people on foot (or on bikes) as if they were just safety cones, or shrubbery. I always wonder if those drivers never or rarely walk in the city themselves, or is it because they're simply somehow clueless as to how menacing their speed and proximity is to a human being only a few inches away?

Permalink Reply by pceasy on July 11, 2013 at 9:34am

I just think drivers really do not understand the importance of a crosswalk, and stopping for pedestrians. I don't think this is enforced at all in the city. But it infuriates me! 

Michelle Stenzel said:

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.

This kind of behavior also infuriates me. As you said, sometimes drivers buzz people on foot (or on bikes) as if they were just safety cones, or shrubbery. I always wonder if those drivers never or rarely walk in the city themselves, or is it because they're simply somehow clueless as to how menacing their speed and proximity is to a human being only a few inches away?

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on July 11, 2013 at 9:53am

I find that cars longer bother me.  Its the bikers who (try to)  swerve around other bikers in the bike lane. specifically SB between Hubbard and Kinzie. 

Permalink Reply by physis 8.2 on July 11, 2013 at 12:43pm

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 Duppie on July 12, 2013 at 5:53am

And then they wave you through, after you stopped? Annoying, right?

Luckily, here is a thread that discusses some strategies for showing your displeasure at the pedestrian. ;)

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 David P. on July 12, 2013 at 5:59am

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.

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