Quote:
Originally Posted by Full Mountain
Pedestrian accidents more often than not occur because of driver inattention, I would bet that there are very few accidents each year where the pedestrian wasn't in a mark crosswalk.
The party with the most at stake should always have the right of way, a car is a 2000-4000 pound block of metal protecting its occupants, pedestrians/cyclists do not have this protection. If a pedestrian/cyclist takes a risk they risk only themselves physically, if a driver takes a risk they risk everyone around them as well as themselves.
As a pedestrian/cyclist it takes me much more human energy to accelerate from a stop than the driver, sorry I will press the crosswalk button when I arrive at the intersection, I will not wait for a break in traffic. If they happen to coincide that's great for the drivers.
If a driver is blinded by the sun, then they should slow down to the point where if something happens they can stop, speed limits are not the recommended speed only a maximum and a vehicle should only travel those speeds in ideal conditions (i.e. right next to never).
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This echos my thoughts almost exactly.
We can't protect people all the time, someone will do something stupid despite our best intentions (like the girl in Montreal who was texting and walked between to moving subway cars and died). Like Full Mountain said, and I said before, the people who can do the most damage (motorists) should be the ones who are forced to pay the most attention, and in this case that means surrendering the right of way to those who have the most to lose (pedestrians / cyclists).
In addition, we are trying to encourage people to not rely on driving everywhere (especially in the inner city), making it less convenient for them to do this would be counterproductive to that result.