Pedestrians the real movers and shakers
Pedestrians: we’re everywhere. Throughout the day we scuffle our way to wherever we’re headed. But let’s face it - cars set the standard of speed that compel us to move along, either rapidly or at a stress-producing pace.
And this concept makes sense, because as a child I was always taught when crossing the road to look right then left and so forth, and only to cross when it’s safe to do so. It should be common knowledge, or at least basic instinct to look before crossing a road, because we don’t live in an ideal world where streets belong to pedestrians, and why should they? Isn’t this the sole purpose of pavements?
To “safely” allow pedestrians to get where they are going - not for every man and his SUV to mount if there isn’t parking. However, I understand their thinking, because in today’s fight for equality, pedestrians find themselves walking in the middle of the road for whatever reason, so why can’t cars mount the curb?
Personally, I was always a bit fearful of getting knocked down as a child walking to shops for the daily bread. So I stuck to the pavement like a tattoo on a biker, and only crossed once it was safe to do so. Being “older” now, I still adhere to these undemanding rules - yet forced to get behind the wheel on a daily basis to get to work,
I’m even more fearful of pedestrians than I was of cars!
On Arrive Alive’s website they warn drivers to be aware that “you can encounter pedestrians anytime and anywhere – even in places where they are not supposed to be found”. How do you begin to adjust your driving style to a comment like that? One can understand when driving in rural areas and most urban areas, but on a highway?
Imagine motoring along a darkened freeway only to spot a glimpse of a murky figure in your headlights. This has no doubt happened to most and in my experience the transgressor was wearing nothing but a black rubbish bag as his chosen attire. Way to blend in Spartacus. I literally had to slam on brakes so hard that my rear lights blew in order to avoid having an unwanted piñata on my hands.
This was definitely the last place I was expecting any sort of two-legged pedestrian, especially at the late hour the incident occurred. I know that the fatality rate of pedestrians is around 30 000 a year. They account for about 25% of accident victims, and are obviously the most vulnerable road users. But who is largely at fault for their deaths if they stubbornly ignore walking on the pavements? Is this perhaps where the joke “keep deaths off the road, drive on the pavement” spawned from…
The term jaywalking may spring to mind, which can be considered a misdemeanour if a pedestrian’s action is in deliberate violation of regulations. Simply put - not crossing a road at a designated area. But it seems people in almost all the suburbs of Gauteng cross and walk in the road whenever they choose, and instead of moving for motorists, on to the assigned pavements, they merely dismiss the vehicle, forcing the driver to move over or swerve for them.
When did this arrogance and fearlessness manifest? Because I still scamper across the road, it doesn’t matter if a donkey drawn cart is kilometres away, I will still hurry. Corrective measures definitely need to be set in place to change South African pedestrians’ attitudes. In primary school, the scholar patrol used to take down your name if you were caught jaywalking and pass it on to your teacher, who, if you were apprehended again would tell your mommy or daddy – busted!
But let’s face it this practice wouldn’t work so well in the big bad world. So, why don’t we adopt the American way, we have with almost everything else we do. In the USA many believe jaywalking is getting out of hand and, in certain areas, police officers patrol roads in order to try reduce jaywalking incidences. Officers can issue fines of up to , roughly R400, for the infraction or, if you’re a cop in Seattle, punch the offender in the face if he/she doesn’t comply and continues to walk away offering dismissive gestures, which happened recently.
Order is certainly the American way, in the Supreme Court, the death penalty for the crime of jaywalking was approved in a 5-4 split vote on the controversial matter, showing the serious light in which other countries view this violation. Yet in South Africa, a wayward pedestrian can be the death of a family or multiple car pile up because someone swerved for a person crossing the road dangerously and illegally. And if that doesn’t happen, at the very least they will leave you shaken and perhaps a little moved. However if you’re lucky they may receive a caution from a police officer… verbally, of course.
