This is just one of those short rants that I considered posting on Facebook, but then decided against it. But we all, myself included, need to just rant some times, and this blog is turning out to be almost as neglected as my old livejournal is, so I thought this would be the space for it.
The subject? Pedestrians. Now, walking is great, and given that this country is known for both a highly sedentary lifestyle and pollution caused by over-dependence on vehicles, I'm glad to see people walking. But the walkers in my area (suburban PG County, MD) just don't have much sense. They ignore perfectly good, clear sidewalks to walk in the street instead. These aren't high-traffic areas, but it's still unnerving as a driver having to share road-space with people who should be utilizing the sidewalks made for them. It's for your own safety, people!!
What really brought about this rant was seeing, on the outskirts of my neighborhood, three men walking abreast right down the center of the street. I had to go illegally pass in the opposing lane to go around them. Again, this wasn't an extremely high traffic area - a semi-residential road with speed bumps and a 25 mile-per-hour speed limit. But still. There were no sidewalks, but in that case, the shoulder is perfectly appropriate walking space. The middle of the road is not.
Aargh. It's even worse in cities. In both Baltimore and DC (where I have been a pedestrian as well as a driver), pedestrians are all too eager to ignore the signals in the cross-walks and act like the road (rather than the sidewalks) belong to them.
Just think of this as a little public service announcement. Keep on walkin', just do so in walking-appropriate spaces, and when it's your turn to walk.
In other news, it's now officially spring, and yet again there is snow (freezing rain? sleet? wintry mix?) forecasted for Tuesday. Get it together, mother nature.
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