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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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on July 12, 2013 at 7:32am

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 Shaun Jacobsen on July 19, 2013 at 7:10pm

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 7:58am

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 8:23am

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 10:38am

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 10:40am

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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