This morning’s honk report is a bit different. I walked to work again today. I was honked at in a crosswalk while legally crossing with the light in my favor.
I walk north on Fremont to Grand. From there, I go left on Grand and cross National. My building is on the corner of Grand and National about 3/4 mile from my home.
Fremont is a 2-lane street with a 30-mph speed limit. Grand is a 3-lane street with a 30-mph speed limit that drops to 20-mph during school hours at the Fremont intersection. There is a crossing guard at this intersection, but I usually pass by about 30 minutes before he arrives. There are painted crosswalks in all four directions, and the paint is fairly fresh.
(Don’t you just love all this detail?) 
I was on the west-side sidewalk heading north. The light was already green in my favor as I approached intersection. A car turned left across my path before I stepped into the intersection. After I was already halfway across, a person in an expensive, newer SUV challenged me (by starting a left turn and driving up to the crosswalk line) and honked.
Really? I mean, what the hell?
There are at least two problems here:
1) The driver’s hubris and sense of entitlement.
2) The driver’s intrusion on my peace of mind.
Thankfully, Springfield is a polite town in a polite state. This kind of behavior is inconceivable to most drivers here, although I’m not sure I can make the same claim about what they may be thinking.
Comments 12
Could be “proximity to the full moon.” I had a neighbor get pissy with me because – and I still don’t quite understand what the actual problem is in his opinion – he made me wait while he backed into his parking spot. I didn’t honk, gun my engine, or make “hurry up already” gestures. When I parked and was heading to my apartment the guy waited next to his building and shouted something about “next time… [unintelligible].. with my truck.” I have chalked it up to “people have issues” and am being wary of that guy going forward but there hasn’t been any fallout post “incident”.
Really, I have no idea what the “incident” was, but I wasn’t aware Texas and Missouri shared water supplies. (Shrug)
Posted 26 Jan 2010 at 12:23 pm ¶Kudos to you Andy for taking it in stride. I however have committed what could be termed as “Sidewalk Rage” to drivers like that. If whoever shouts profanities the loudest wins, then I’ve got a pretty good track record. Sometimes walking and bouncing are oddly similar.
Posted 26 Jan 2010 at 1:18 pm ¶What’s up with that challenge thing? Motorists don’t physically challenge me when I’m on a bicycle, but they will do that to me as a pedestrian.
Posted 26 Jan 2010 at 7:48 pm ¶Keri… They feel powerful! Remember those Hummer ads?
Posted 26 Jan 2010 at 8:21 pm ¶Er, maybe using power to compensate for something else.
Posted 26 Jan 2010 at 8:38 pm ¶Many pedestrians defer to turning cars out of concern for their own safety. This has led to a “cars-first” ethic.
Posted 27 Jan 2010 at 10:11 am ¶.
The problem is the private auto system, which, without massive subsidy, could not stand. Once you see that, everything falls into place. People are not monsters, the system is.
freepublictrans, you just hit on something…
There’s some unconscious stuff at play. I think normative behavior becomes a social (tribal) rule. Motorists are used to peds deferring or jumping out of the way. When one doesn’t, it may be seen as a primal challenge… and our our less-evolved, hind-brain-governed citizens will act out.
I observed this with cycling in Key West. I found motorists challenging me pretty much everywhere, and most often from the rear. Honking and revving their engines to chase me out of their way (even when there was stopped traffic or a red light just ahead). But observation of local cycling behavior showed that it is normative for cyclists to scurry out of the way. My refusal to act like a pigeon, was seen as a challenge and resulted in a stunning amount of abuse (for a place that is all about “live and let live” tolerance).
Check out Mighk’s Tyranny of Speed post.
You’re right, too that it is a system problem. Most people operate mindlessly within a social structure. Our traffic social structure is dysfunctional.
Posted 27 Jan 2010 at 11:42 am ¶Ugh. Andy, I screwed up an html tag, can you fix that?
Posted 27 Jan 2010 at 11:43 am ¶Keri… Done!
Free… Most people are not monsters. I agree re: the system. The system sometimes encourages monstrous behavior.
Posted 27 Jan 2010 at 12:58 pm ¶That’s when you adopt what I call the “East Coast approach”
Posted 27 Jan 2010 at 7:39 pm ¶Whoops! Tried to link a video. Channel Ratso Rizzo: “HEY, I’M WALKIN HERE, I’M WALKIN HERE”
Posted 27 Jan 2010 at 7:40 pm ¶I find it hilarious when people say drivers are “compensating” for something because I don’t even own a car.
Posted 28 Jan 2010 at 1:38 pm ¶