What's with the rude drivers?
I received this email from a neighbor and friend, and the same thing has happened to me trying to cross the street from Marciano's. Drivers speed up at that area coming in and out of the Grove:
Does anyone know of an attempt by the police to enforce pedestrian right of way on the crosswalk? Working and living in the Grove it has long struck me as contradictory to let a freeway of commuters run through the middle of our "village." No wonder people appear to prefer Coral Gables and South Miami to shop. Parking is atrocious there too, but you don't have to take your life in your hands every time you cross the street (or maybe this is just because there are more streets).
After eating lunch at Cefalo's with some colleagues we actually were verbally abused by a man in an SUV while crossing Main Highway, at the crosswalk. "You don't have the right of way!" he yelled, along with some other beauties. It sure feels like that. I always try to stop for pedestrians in the Grove but am often passed by the impatient traffic behind me, which is terrifying, like watching a disaster unfold before your eyes.
It is always so pleasant to visit my sister in New England where on every street corner in every town it's posted the fines for not yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk. I'm told the fine is $300 in California, even if the person crossing the street is jay walking! Just think how much money we could raise in the Grove alone. A Playhouse debt relief fund, perhaps?
Does anyone know of an attempt by the police to enforce pedestrian right of way on the crosswalk? Working and living in the Grove it has long struck me as contradictory to let a freeway of commuters run through the middle of our "village." No wonder people appear to prefer Coral Gables and South Miami to shop. Parking is atrocious there too, but you don't have to take your life in your hands every time you cross the street (or maybe this is just because there are more streets).
After eating lunch at Cefalo's with some colleagues we actually were verbally abused by a man in an SUV while crossing Main Highway, at the crosswalk. "You don't have the right of way!" he yelled, along with some other beauties. It sure feels like that. I always try to stop for pedestrians in the Grove but am often passed by the impatient traffic behind me, which is terrifying, like watching a disaster unfold before your eyes.
It is always so pleasant to visit my sister in New England where on every street corner in every town it's posted the fines for not yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk. I'm told the fine is $300 in California, even if the person crossing the street is jay walking! Just think how much money we could raise in the Grove alone. A Playhouse debt relief fund, perhaps?
posted by Tom Falco at 7:41 AM
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6 Comments:
Yeah, youre right. I think there are a few reasons why drivers are "rude" here to pedestrians and I cant say I blame them. First off, you have bikers who take up entire lanes and dont give a crap about anyone else trying to drive on the road. Im all for giving them ample space, but single file riding is how it should be, especially where there is no bike lane. That causes frustration as do people in the Grove who walk their dogs IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD and hardly move when cars try to get around them. That pisses drivers off and its understandable why. The other reason is that when people cross the streets in areas like Boston, etc, like you mentioned, they show a little hustle. Down here in Miami, people saunter across the streets taking their sweet ol' time going as slow as possible.
THE PREVIOUS POST IS FROM A REAL JERK ,,NEED TO TREAT THE PEDESTRIANS LIKE THEY DO IN CALIFORNIA WITH A LITTLE RESPECT.. WE CAN HAVE PUBLIC HANGINGS ON MAIN HIGHWAY FOR SPEEDERS .. OR WE NEED FOUR WAY STOP SIGNS OR MORE RED LIGHTS THIS IS NOT THE DAYTONA 500
Just because some cyclists don't always ride single file and some people walk their dogs in the street (probably because there are NO sidewalks in much of the grove-where are they supposed to walk? in the dense foliage or off to the side of the road where the cars speeding through the grove won't even see them?!) doesn't give drivers the right to be rude to pedestrians. That is a ridiculous argument. Drivers are rude because they, like so many people in south florida think they are #1. they and they alone matter. there is such a lack of courtesy in this part of the country that it cuts across drivers, bikers, walkers, customers, you name it. As long as I win you don't matter-that's the attitude. I for one always wave in thanks to the driver of a car who stops and lets me cross a busy road and I hurry. I do agree that when I see people cross most do saunter. I also ride single file and get mad when cyclists don't but that doesn't cause me to be an aggressive driver.
In california, cars slow well in advance if they even think a person may be heading into a crosswalk. They know they will get a nice fat fine if they don't stop and get caught. It's so refreshing.
Money talks. There should be laws for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers with fines and ENFORCEMENT of the laws when they are broken. Then we could force some courtesy because it is just not going to happen here any other way.
Can't wait to move to a place where people are more respectful of people who chose NOT to be in their cars or trucks!
Miami cops are among the least accommodating when it comes to yielding the right of way to pedestrians. We could ask them to write tickets, but why bother?
People in this town are just angry, and they seem all too willing to take it out on each other.
Hey Blind Mind,
It is not the pedestrians who are at fault here. It is the rude, international low rent drivers and the laziest police force I have seen in the United States.
It's true that we do walk our dogs in the middle of the street. That's because we want people cutting through our neighborhood to SLOW DOWN. In the south Grove, cars speed down our little streets each morning to get the kids dropped off at school in time to make it to the gym. We are sick of it.
And have you seen the driver's manual for Carrolton school? There are instructions for how to talk on the phone, apply make-up, and flip the people in the Grove the bird, all the while maintaining speeds 10 to 20 miles over a safe driving speed down very narrow streets. Their parents must be very proud to have these girls follow in their footsteps.
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