So I’m walking to an evening class at a local college, it’s dark. There’s a bend just before the junction and as I’m walking across a car comes round way too fast. I had to step back to avoid being hit. I was wearing gloves and as it went past I hit it, no idea why, just instinct and anger.
I carry on walking and I see the driver has pulled over a bit down the road, I was expecting a “sorry are you ok” but she instead shouted “did you just hit my car?”. That set me off, shouting at her that she almost fucking ran me over. Then she says “you don’t have to use that kind of language”, the fucking nerve.
Gave up and just walked off. Wish I’d have smashed the wing mirror or keyed the car or something.
Has anyone else almost been run over and how do you deal with the anger of it?
I don’t have much to say besides I’m glad you’re safe.
I’ve had a few near misses like that. I try not to lose my temper but sometimes the sweet release of calling a driver in the wrong a basic dickhead is too appealing.
It’d depend on their reaction. I’m happy to say they’re apologetic more often than not. If they were clearly on their phone I’d probably cuss them out anyway.
E: I get maybe irrationally annoyed when they don’t use their indicators though.
That’s not irrational. That’s rational anger. It’s normal to get angry at others for not holding up their end of societys agreed upon rules.
Seinfeld made an entire show based off the concept of “character does something wrong, 4 main characters react to it, audience relates to how annoying that person is”.
I feel validated by this response 😊
Thanks, yeah I think most people, drivers or not, are decent people, but driving is stressful and that changes them. I regret hitting the car now I think about it, I wonder if they would have said sorry or just drove away.
I understand the regret but I kind of feel like a person’s fight or flight response would be pretty strong in a situation like that.
If they realised they nearly hit you, I’m sure they’d come to understand why you did that. Here’s hoping empathy prevails.
In Illinois pedestrians always have the right of way. Even if they’re fucking stupid, like walking along the median at night in dark clothes.
If you’re going walking at night, I’d advise:
- Wear a reflective vest. They’re dirt cheap.
- Get a flashlight that you can clip on your belt or pocket - I got a good one when I moved into the suburban hinterlands, and you can’t fucking miss it.
- Easier said than done, but didn’t just look for traffic - listen for it. And always err on the side of caution.
You can’t escape the need for cars, especially in America outside of urban areas, so you just need to be careful. And remember everybody - you, me, and Joe down the street, EVERYBODY, every single human alive - is a fucking idiot. It’s just a matter of degrees, subject matter, and self awareness.
I think a good rule here is, “If I could reach your car, you were way too close.” I like to drum on the hoods of cars stopped halfway into the crosswalk at traffic lights too. No one has actually spoken to me the few times I’ve done it, just confused and/or angry looks depending on the MSRP of the vehicle.
I kick cars if they get too close… Same logic. If you’re close enough to kick, you were close enough to kill me.
It’s self defense at that point
I saw a cop actually pull someone over for making a left turn while someone was crossing the street and they didn’t leave much room between the person, it is the law in my area that pedestrians are to be fully clear of the crossing before a car can go. It is so rarely enforced that I was irrationally happy to see them pulled over for it. Part of this may be because its a crossing I use weekly to get to a grocery store.
I’m glad you are safe, if your city doesn’t have similar laws recomend them as well as other measures to your local politicians. Some of our intersections give pedestrians a head start before cars to put the pedestrians in the crosswalk before the light turns green to help increase visibility, your intersections might be able to have a similar feature with very little additional costs.
One of my colleagues almost got hit recently, apparently he was crossing a pedestrian crossing, a woman was speeding up. He just had time to jump to the side! The woman was accompanied by a young woman (probably the one who alerted the driver) , they stopped and asked him “are you okay?!” after the driver told him she was sorry, that she hadn’t seen him -_-…
He told me that he had the reflex to jump, what would have happened with a child?
The interesting side of this story is that my colleague owns an (fucking) SUV…
I can’t say I remember this ever happening to me with a car (regularly with e-scooters and bicycles, which isn’t as bad and also besides the point). You know why I think that is? They actually enforce traffic rules over here. Get caught almost killing a pedestrian, and you can be pretty sure you’ll lose your license. There’s speed cameras and random speed checks everywhere too. Slightly too fast is expensive, clearly too fast makes you lose your license (either immediately or eventually, depending on severity), and driving obscenely fast will make you also lose your car. Not all drivers have their own sense of accountability, so it’s critical that we force them to have one.
Where is that? Here in the UK, whilst nowhere near as bad as the US, the sentences drivers get for even intentionally running someone over are laughable.
I live kinda half-half in Austria and Switzerland
I do drive, but also walk a lot and yes, I hit the hood of the car if crossing the street and someone starts to turn without looking the way they are going. Smack the hood, they stop, I cross. Can’t even count the number of times I’ve done that.
As far as dealing with the anger, I would say your response was appropriate and it’s much better you didn’t smash her mirror.
I just straight up got hit crossing a crosswalk in Auckland, NZ. Did a full flip in the air, lost my glasses, and spider webbed most of the kid’s windshield with my head. I didn’t have to be angry. He took me back to his Mother’s to get me an ice pack, and she did all the work for me. I spent a few days picking shards of glass out of my neck, though.
Ironically, the previous week, another NZ kid rear-ended the car I had bought two hours prior, totalling it. That was the end of my car travel in New Zealand.
Honestly note their plate and get them fined, or sue them
