A very interesting concept we discussed a lot in Torts class in law school: least-cost avoider. Basically, legal economic theory suggests that tort liability should fall on the party in the best position to avoid the harm. That’s the most efficient way to reduce the harm.
The argument against least-cost-avoider is that it can discourage behavior that you might otherwise want to encourage. Which came to mind as I read Alvin Landsman’s TAB op-ed encouraging safe pedestrian habits. Yes, there is no question that the person best equipped to avoid a pedestrian/car conflict is the pedestrian. If you wait until traffic is totally stopped or there is no traffic, crossing the road can be very safe. Don’t wear headphones. Cross briskly. &c.
But, if we put all the burden on the pedestrian, it’s going to have an impact on walking as an activity. If pedestrians can’t count on drivers to look out for them, people won’t walk. Which means they’ll drive. Yes, pedestrians should always be careful, but drivers really need to make it safe and comfortable for pedestrians to use the shared space.
Two people approach a crosswalk, one in a car, one on foot. We should aspire to a world in which the pedestrian could proceed right into the crosswalk (as is her right) without a care in the world, confident that the driver will be paying attention and perform his obligation to stop and allow her to cross.
Sean, I get the sense that you look at a crosswalks and see peaceful walkers and inconsiderate environment haters converging. “Proceed right into the crosswalk [] without a care in the world” — and you might be clocked silly by a biker! (Or a whole line of them)
Hoss,
Now that I’m done chuckling …
As I used to write about a lot on my blog, the way to look at things is the law of the sea: bigger, more powerful craft are always responsible to avoid collisions with smaller, less powerful craft. Drivers need to be on the lookout for bikes and peds. Bikers need to be sure not to hit peds. Runners need to be kind to walkers. Walkers, in shared space, ought to be entitled to a degree of confidence that they aren’t going to get hit and be hurt or die.
As well meaning as Mr. Landsman was in his op-ed, if we live in a society where pedestrians shouldn’t listen to music (but drivers do), we’re going to discourage walking. People in multi-ton vehicles capable of killing people if there is a conflict in shared space ought to be constantly vigilant for bikers and walkers. The exercise of a right — using a crosswalk — should not be fraught with peril.
It is rather presumptuous of you to say to what “we” should aspire.
I’m both a driver and a very frequent walker. Occasionally when driving I encounter a rude or careless pedestrian. Nearly every morning I encounter rude or careless drivers in a crosswalk.
.. and yes, as Landsman suggests for my own self-preservation I am very careful and defensive when crossing the street. You have to be. A rough guess though is that maybe 1 in 4 or 5 drivers totally ignore crosswalks unless there happens to be a pedestrian in the direct line of their car … and they happen to notice. Of those ignore-the-crosswalk drivers, half of them purposefully ignore them and half never see them (talking on the phone etc).
So yes we do have a serious problem, primarily with drivers not pedestrians. Until someone figures out how to get drivers to treat crosswalks as seriously as say Stop signs or traffic lights, crossing a busy intersection in a crosswalk won’t be for the faint of heart.
I love Sean’s aspiration but like many worthwhile aspirations I won’t hold my breath waiting for it to become a reality.
@Eric – saying we should aspire to a world where people follow the law is hardly presumptuous.
S
I’m sure we’ve all been on all sides of this argument at some point. What it boils down to is selfishness. I’m amazed at how often I see it. I see cars cutting off other cars just to get a single length ahead. The other day I was on Washington Street where it crosses 128 (coming from Newton Lower Falls toward the hospital) someone tried to pass me on the right. I WAS IN THE RIGHT LANE.
This same attitude pervades walker and biker safety. The fact is, if you’re on a bike, a few extras strokes of the pedals makes up for whatever slowing down you have to do for a pedestrian. If you’re in a car, a slight push of the gas pedal will make up for any delay incurred by waiting for someone to cross the street.
Yet, we are all so concerned with getting everywhere fast that we fail to see the bigger picture. The rules state that if a person is in the crosswalk, they have the right of way. There’s a reason that law exists.
Should we take precautions? Sure. There wasn’t supposed to be a car to my right, but I saw it because I check my mirrors. Same goes for walking and biking. But we need to change the attitude that pedestrians and cyclists are secondary.
It’s all perspective. The inconsiderate walker might be the one on Dorchester Ave, an obvious local that doesn’t look. The inconsiderate driver might be the one on Congress St (Boston) when you’re just trying to make a meeting and there’s traffic ahead so why is he not slowing?
Bigger, versus smaller – some law of the sea? Well, I always yield for the craft that will have the most difficulty stopping and with a pedestrian way — a bike has lots of difficulty stopping.
Glad Sean is ok. Elizabeth Warren on her three-speed had no idea why cars were stopped!
Here’s why it’s not quite a matter of perspective. A driver and a biker and a pedestrian may all be equally thoughtless. But, their equal thoughtlessness pose hugely varying degrees of danger to others because of our old friend kinetic energy = mass times velocity squared.
I’d also argue that the reasons why a person is selfish in their driving habits is not at issue. I’m sure that everyone at every moment can justify why they need to be in the lead, why they need to pass on the right and why they need to get through that light before it turns red. I’ve been there too.
It doesn’t justify the behavior.
Chuck, sorry for cutting you off the other day:).
Sean, you’re last statement is the exact reason why everyone needs to be equally vigilant. A pedestrian who gets hit by a mack truck maybe “in the right,” but only one of them will make it to the trial. Both sides need to be equally attentive and a pedestrian can’t assume that the driver is as attentive as he/she is. Thats just the way it is…should it be? Probably not.
And some of us try to be careful drivers despite the best efforts of some pedestrians to get hit (speaking as someone who spends time in both roles). Pedestrians who cross without looking, cross on the diagonal in the middle of the block so they are coming from behind the car (despite what I told my son when he was little, I don’t have eyes in the back of my head), cross against lights, dress all in black at night… I worry that even if I’m careful I will hit a pedestrian some day because some seem determine to flout all sensible safety rules.
What was the line from the old Kurt Russell movie, “Captain Ron” – “Don’t worry. “They’ll get out of the way. I learned that driving the Saratoga.”
Cyclists are the worst. Not the guys going to work but the ones in the Lance Armstrong gear especially if there is more than one. I’ve long dreamed of tackling them as they ride at top speed.
Seriously? Somebody wearing lycra to ride a bike makes you that angry?
Take a few deep breaths.
What’s the more ridiculous transportation fashion choice? A cyclist wearing lycra? Or, a a parent draped in a 3-ton SUV driving a kid or two to school?
As a walker, runner, cyclist and driver, this is one of the issues near and dear to my heart. I’ve learned from being the slow runner along the carriage lane on Comm Ave: warn people when passing (i.e. yelling “On your left” as a warning), if you’re going to wear ear buds/headphones, keep the volume low enough to hear what’s happening around you and pull to the far right if you’re in the way so people can easily pass you.
I also remember something my grandmother used to say to me when I first got my license: Many are in the graveyard that had the right of way….. I amended that to my kids to remind them that if they’re trusting that car to stop, you better hope they have their brakes serviced on a regular basis. I’m always shocked at how many people trust my brakes by jay walking.
One last note comes from friends who live in Cambridge: What do you call a student dressed in black on their bike at night without a helmet talking on their cell phone? An organ donor.
I regularly walk regularly from Kenmore Sq. to Kendall Sq. I can be a rather aggressive pedestrian, but that’s my choice. I don’t think anyone (who has their vision) should blindly walk into a crosswalk just because they have the right of way. It’s just not very bright. As someone who has been doing brake jobs on my cars for over 30 years I know all too well that it takes just a couple of components to fail for there to be little or no braking. And that failure can happen without warning. @karlsie is correct, why would you trust someone’s car maintenance? I would say that I see more thoughtless drivers than pedestrians, but there are more drivers around here. And I see far more thoughtless bicyclists than pedestrians. Sean has passed me on his bike fairly often, and at various times I’ve seen him go through every red light between Mass. Ave and Beacon to Broadway and Binney St. At one point I saw him go to the left around a car too close to the curb and cut in front of it to make a right turn. If the light turned green, was that guy supposed to expect to see you on the left and then in front of him before he stepped on the gas? If you want to risk injury that way, that’s fine, but I think everyone sharing the roads has a responsibility to be careful and shouldn’t be expecting the other guy to watch out for them.
I’m so pleased to have my own personal behavior monitor.
Ira kinda killed the timing on it, but I’m going to have a post about a recent decision I made (quite independent of Ira’s monitoring).
Stay tuned.
Sean is busted!
Ira Kronitz — boooooo! That was low.
You do things like that, it gets noticed. It just happens we know each other. I didn’t go around mentioning it, until something you said seemed wrong to me. Besides, you yourself told a room full of people at a neighbor’s house that you got a ticket from the Cambridge police for going through a red light. That was 3 or 4 years ago. I figured it was common knowledge. As far as being low, well… if you need to look someone in the eye, you do what you have to do. 🙂 Kidding aside, in that 30 minute walk, I’ve come upon 3 incidents when bicyclists were hit by cars in the last year and a half or so. Maybe no one was doing anything incorrectly and someone just sneezed at the wrong time. I just don’t believe you can or should give up the responsibility for watching out for yourself as well as others. I always liked that old joke about someone who refused to be rescued from the rising floods believing he would be spared. At St. Peter’s gate he asked how the Lord could do that to him. The response was, I sent 3 boats and a helicopter, and you wouldn’t get in!
@Sean – you better be careful if you ride through Brookline. My husband was stopped by the police while en route to work and he received a warning for going through a red light . . . on his bicycle. He was most surprised by how appreciative the police officer was that he (1) stopped and (2) was a good sport about being pulled over. According to the officer, most bikers just ride off and ignore them.
Lisap,
Thanks for the warning. I saw the Brookline PD working a recent red-light sting last week. As will be clearer in a future post, I don’t need to worry about Brookline — or any other — PD.
You bought your own island? If so I hope its sunny and warm with a good aquifer.
Hello? Anyone else concerned about Sean? Health & welfare check pls
I think he’s trading in his bicycle for a jet pack.
I’m still waiting for the jaywalking stings in Newton Centre.
Sean,
The suited riders are on a mission. It isn’t to be conscientious travelers. They are working out and they are socializing. Traffic be damned. On Beacon, Chestnut, Walnut, Centre….you need to be single file. They aren’t. If that’s you Sean, you are a douche bag. I will open field tackle you kids at some point.