Mr. Roadshow Saved My Life

[kevin_standlee]

I try to go for a walk every day after lunch, weather and workload permitting. My normal path takes me along a stretch of West Hillsdale Blvd. in front of the Laurelwood Shopping Center. There is a four-way stop at the entrance to this center. Yesterday, while I started to cross at the crosswalk, a US Postal Service delivery truck came down the drive and only barely slowed down as it started to roll through the crosswalk, where it would have intersected me at maybe 20 miles an hour or so.

Fortunately for me, I had been reading recent "Mr. Roadshow" columns in the San Jose Mercury News about the so-called "California Stop" (motorists coasting through stop signs without stopping), and partially because of that, was extra-alert for such stunts. I shouted and lept clear, with the truck missing me by only centimeters. No harm done, but it was a frightening experience. Maybe it wouldn't have killed me, but I doubt I would have been in good shape had the truck hit me -- especially as it would have thrown me into the middle of the intersection, where there were other vehicles coming through.

I wrote to the SJMN's Gary Richards and thanked him for having run items that made me alert enough to save my life. I do wish that motorists would not drive as though pedestrians didn't exist.

Comments

[buddykat.livejournal.com]

You should also call the local post office and file a complaint. Based on the time and location, they may be able to figure out which truck and driver it was and possibly discipline the driver.

[bigblued.livejournal.com]

Around here, they are called Chicago Stops.

[johno.livejournal.com]

Texas and Florida are common names too.

[dave-gallaher.livejournal.com]

I always figured I was safer when I jay walked while I was working in San Francisco than when I used the cross walks.

Glad you're OK.

Dave

[lindadee.livejournal.com]

As a child growing up in New York, my parents impressed upon me at a young age to look both ways before crossing the street. It's just my observation, but I think New Yorkers more commonly do so than elsewhere - probably because jaywalking is so common. In Seattle, I see people blithely cross the street without turning their heads even once to look for oncoming traffic. They EXPECT cars to stop for them. Until they don't, I guess.

[garyomaha.livejournal.com]

One of my (many) strange tics is: whenever I see a car not fully stopping for a stop sign or red light (and that's fairly frequently), if I'm in a position to do so, I clap and say to myself "Nice stop." That may have originated from being exposed to an early computer version of "Wheel of Fortune" where a digitized Vanna White would be clapping all the time.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

"only barely slowed down as it started to roll through the crosswalk, where it would have intersected me at maybe 20 miles an hour" is actually running the stop sign; it's not the 'California stop', which consists of paying nominal respects to the stop sign by slowing down without coming to the Complete And Utter Stop and Waiting For N Seconds, "N" being set by the whim of the officer who gives you a ticket.

The issue with the 'California stop' is that anybody who did that and didn't see a pedestrian coming, wouldn't see the pedestrian coming even if they did perform the Complete And Utter, and indeed I as a pedestrian have been almost hit by people who did the Complete And Utter, but whose failure was to be able to look in all directions at once before starting up; the reason it was only "almost" is that I could tell they probably wouldn't see me.

The reason the 'California stop' is prohibited, then, is not because if performed with proper caution it's unsafe (even the Complete And Utter has to be performed with proper caution), but because it's impossible to draw a bright and shining line between it and stop-sign running. Problem is, we see that the definition of the Complete And Utter is arbitrary too, though cops pretend it isn't.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

I keep wondering about the name of a California Stop, since I've never not seen a place where a preponderance of drivers rolled through stop signs.

I get great glee when people driving behind me get visibly pissed when I come to a full and complete stop at all stops signs.

Growing up, we used to always say "stop signs are orders, not suggestions."

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of stop signs on Campus Drive, where my office is located, where I see people run them all the time, usually late in the evening when most people have gone home.

Oregon has an interesting stop sign that isn't an order. In some places, the sign has a "Right Turn Permitted Without Stopping" endorsement. I've not seen that anywhere else.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

KTVU or one of the other local channels did a "study" (stood at an intersection for a couple hours with a camera) in Golden Gate Park where a jogger had been killed in a hit and run. They found NO ONE stopped at the stop sign. Most did slow down, kinda.

[lindadee.livejournal.com]

One good suggestion I've heard (and try to follow) is to make eye contact with the driver before stepping in front of a car, even if it's stopped.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I normally do that, but my sunglasses were sufficiently dark and his face was in shadow so that I couldn't see that he was actually looking the other way. My mistake.