Blaming the victim is not promoting safety
By Becky Pallack, Arizona Daily Star...
Police and pedestrian safety experts say at least part of the increase is due to pedestrians being more distracted. In the first fatal incident this year, a man was wearing headphones and looking at a handheld device while crossing Valencia Road.
Pedestrians have a responsibility to be aware of their surroundings, just like drivers, said Tucson police Sgt. Mary Kay Slyter.
“Pedestrians think, ‘I can see them: They must be able to see me,’ but that’s not the case,’ she said.
Even in a crosswalk, people need to be aware of vehicles around them, she said. “You may be right, but you don’t want to be dead right.”
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[B' Spokes: I will strongly assert that "you don’t want to be dead right." has done so much harm to our society. What should be said is something along the lines of "Assert and verify." That's what should be done by motoriterist when changing lanes and other situations where there is a potential conflict of right-of-way in fact all road users should follow this principle.
But when you stress that the victim should not be dead right you are stating the more vulnerable road users have no rights. The police are reluctant to charge at fault drivers because it's just common sense that drivers will not yield to you... Think about that for a moment, because something is a known fault, by a majority of motorists it now becomes lawful for drivers to behave that way and unlawful for pedestrians to follow the law. :/
Even worse, when it becomes "dangerous" for pedestrians to cross in a crosswalk with a walk signal because of turning traffic and non sopping right-turn-on-red motorists. And safety "professionals" go OMG look at that ill behaved pedestrian trying to cross in that situation, doesn't he know that he may be required to jump out of the way at a moments notice?
So when pedestrians do notice they no longer have the right-of-way in intersections and they are own for safely crossing the street, it comes down to what's safer, 1) Crossing where you are expected to yield to traffic coming from all the points on the compass in chaotic patterns (drivers rarely use turn signals) or 2) Crossing where you are expected to yield to traffic that is predictable and only traveling in two directions.
So mister "don't be dead right", look what you've done, you have just strongly encouraged jaywalking. :( ]
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