Drivers Behaving Rudely
Just because there's a livable streets revolution underway in NYC doesn't mean that drivers have gotten the message. Cars blocking crosswalks, drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, unnecessary honking and a slew of other quality-of-walking violations are still a routine occurrence to contend with on nearly every corner of New York City.
Mark Gorton, publisher of Streetsblog, wants to put drivers on notice of their rudeness. While he acknowledges the majority of drivers are not bad or mean people, their actions speak otherwise and they may not even realize it. After all, one rude driver sitting in a crosswalk can inconvenience or endanger dozens of pedestrians in one light cycle. Yet would that same person take a shopping cart in a supermarket and purposely block an aisle and make people navigate around him or her? The betting line says likely not.
So what is it about driving a car that allows people to get a societal pass on their rudeness?
From Fort Collins, CO -- Yes, drivers are just as bad even though we have only have about 1/1000 the number of pedestrians.
Looks like Miami alright. We actually have some of THE worst drivers in the nation, proved by study after study.
I think it's the physical and social insulation that does it. When driving, you really feel that the outside world is less real than the world inside the car: you, running late, stressed, worried about damage to your car or yourself, etc. Everything else is just an obstacle.
When I drive my whole world view changes; it takes real conscious effort to avoid it. It's quite enlightening to switch between driving, biking, and walking and notice how your perceptions change each time.
Nice rant! My mother, who was big on politeness, would agree, as do I.
That is pretty bad, the worst behaviour by cars that I have ever seen. Not even ashamed of themselves when they are pushing people out of the way. Totally oblivious to their surroundings, my question what happens when a cop sees a car driving throught the crowds like this? It is kind of hard to believe they would do nothing? Here they would get something like a 100 or 200 dollar fine, not sure could even be worse.
I live in the Netherlands and thankfully it is a lot better here although I have to admit we also see some rude people here, but not like this and not that many. Mostly they drive faster than the speed limit or drive to close behind other cars. Some also drive through red lights, mostly after the lights have switched from green to red. Sort of like orange red. Still very annoying and dangerous for pedestrians or cyclists.
This kind of behaviour is the reason why a lot of people die in traffic. When people are in a hurry everything that does not involve themselves is unimportant to them. I say don't have the illusion that everything will be perfect, but the behavious in the clip is just plain ridiculous and should be stopped immidiately.
And yet look at this today in the NY Post - an editorial against jaywalking!
Now I will admit jaywalking is bad - BUT there is no comparison to the amount of law-breaking done by cars vs. pedestrians - and pedestrians aren't surrounded by tons of speeding steel. If they really wanted to do an editorial, why not one on car drivers?
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/jaywalking_steep_toll_7eep8TZ3px0xlRjJuQ3BnJ
Simple. When you are enclosed, there is no personal shame. No one is telling you that you are a jerk. Try it in a grocery store and people will kindly ask you to move. That just doesn't work when you are inside a car.
Thanks Mark and Clarence for shooting this. "Biking Rules" have their place, but they have to be seen in the broader context of everyday traffic and motorist disregard for driving rules.
En route to school today with my--we took the bus and train instead of biking--we watched the motorists taking advantage of the bus by illegally cutting in front of it, using the bus stops for parking, and generally clogging up the road and slowing things down. It was a crowded bus as usual, and we were struck by how much forbearance, cooperation and civility is demanded of bus and train passengers, and how little they get in return--just enough square inches to stand on tiptoes. In contrast, a bare minimum of cooperation is demanded form the motorists, who get to privatize a piece of roadway as big as the car they can afford, where they can sit, eat, smoke, text, and (at least comparatively to the masstrans users) insulate themselves from everyone else's needs.
Some system!
This Streetfilms makes my heart race from anger. I deal with this all the time and am so tempted to bang my fist down on the cars that do it. But, instead, I work towards improving this situation and support people like Mark and Clarence who do a great job of getting people riled up enough to take action.
Cars save absolutely NO time by ignoring crosswalks or forcing their way through a line of pedestrians. As a former road warrior, I know the frustrations of driving in high traffic areas and crowded streets but actions like this are inexcusable. It's like these people literally never get out of their cars. They clearly have no concept of what it's like to walk down a street. Shame!
Bev,
One thing we didn't show, but I see every day on my bike - when cars force their way thru a crowd only to have to sit at the next light for a minute. You are right, drivers save no time by doing this, they only create danger and anger.
Great work, Mark and Clarence.
Commenters here refer to different reasons for rude driver behavior, and... they are all right.
Current street design practice in America is almost universally auto centric. It screams to drivers that "this is your space" and puts pedestrians on the defensive. While this may be appropriate for the New York Thruway, it certainly is not for Broadway or Main Street USA. America needs to learn from countries like the Netherlands whose "self explaining streets" have led to a national environment where drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists all understand the rules for sharing streets, whether the street be a thruway or a local street. As a result, they have reduced their roadway fatality rate from being equal to ours in the 1970s to less than half of ours today.
If we followed suit, 23,000 more Americans would have returned home to their families last year. That is almost 8 times more than were lost in 9/11, and we would save those lives each year! We mobilized, committed billions, and relinquished some personal rights in reaction to 9/11, yet as a nation we still accept poorly designed roads and rude and reckless behavior as being too costly to address. Go figure.
The tendency of humans to behave poorly once they get behind the wheel, is not new. There is a Disney cartoon from 1956 which stars Goofy turning into a crazed maniac once he wraps himself in his tons of steel on wheels. Seek it out, it will make you laugh and then almost cry! 1956!
Nate Briggs makes a good point. In states like California where police will ticket you for driving your car into a crosswalk while pedestrians are still present, driver respect for pedestrians is far greater.
We need more publicity like that which Clarence and Mark have created here. Bravo!
I fight with drivers on a regular basis about making turns or blocking the crosswalk. This really shows that the city needs to deal with this.
Send the video to the Mayor and DOT as well as the police
Truly an idiotic video. Why don't you get a real job?
Point number one: when the signal tells pedestrians to cross the street, the light is generally green for cars moving in a parrallel direction to the walkers. Because you cannot turn on red in New York City, you have to navigate your car turning right or left when your light is green and the pedestrian light is on walk. Duuuh !!
Point number two: the guys stuck in the cross walk are there because they were in a traffic jam and thought they could make it to the other side before their light turned.
'clumsy powerful instrument in such a delicate space'? LOL, this is NY city, dude. Maybe you should move to a small town. Ridiculous, really.
What a piece of total trash. From the exceedingly weak concept to the trite visuals to the absolutely nauseating host, I can't describe how low and devoid of any value this is.
At the very least, someone knows to keep web video content short but with this concept and host, there is no such thing as short enough.
Shameful.
Troll "Hummer Driver":
The host of that video not only has several real jobs running the several companies he founded, he's created scores or hundreds more for other people.
Soooo, while the situations Mark is describing are instances of superbly rude behavior by motorists, his shrill, lecture-style narration is a little grating. ultimately, the problem of motorists imperiling ped safe passage in crosswalks is about cars' clunkily obstructing role in the otherwise fluid ballet of dense, human-scaled urban streetmaneuvers. they have no *complementary* role in the ped city!
So how about showing how well peds, bikes, and transit can do this multi-modal ballet without cars by contrasting images from better-integrated streets (European, perhaps?) with ones like those shots from this film, with the Nutcracker playing in the background of the former, and the Jaws theme song narrating the other?
i'd like to __see__ the alternative not just hear about what's rude because of what automobilic streets have long suggested (that moving cars is the imperative!).
T - you're an idiot.
To the rest of you - yes, this behavior is awful, but it happens EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY! Why? Driver makes you an ass (it's true, I'll defend it scientifically) and there is NO ENFORCEMENT! Blocking the box or crosswalk in many cities brings a $1000 fine, and it's enforced! It's NYC, there are no posted signs for blocking the box, and if there were, the lazy NYPD would do nothing about it...even though enforcement and fines could generate millions of dollars yearly (and that's no exaggeration!).
The answers to this constant annoyance are:
- enforcement and hefty fines
- congestion pricing (don't drive in NYC!)
- everyone making driving as annoying as possible (walk around with baseball bats and smash windows?)
I'm not advocating the last option, but in a city where car drivers' sense of entitlement is reciprocal to their penis size and the police are completely preoccupied with DOING NOTHING, vigilanty justice may be the only way.
Here's a Tips for all you pedestrians. One When your in the crosswalk Make Eye Contact with the Drivers. Two If the Driver is forcing themselves through the crosswalk, Point!! Point directly at the Driver!! Wave your hand like your haling a Cab, if the car is still in motion, Stop to make the Car Stop. This will help anyone behind you cross safely, especially the Elderly and Disabled. Three, Keep an Eye out! Stupid Drivers like to "Cut the Corner" When a Driver takes a corner at Speed us walkers have very little time to react. So At All times in the Crosswalk maintain a view of 180 degrees plus, to keep track of Any situation on the road. Four Stay within the Crosswalk, Let one car in and They All come in!! Stay Safe and May God Bless $9.00 a Gallon!!
As many of you have pointed out, what we need above all else is enforcement. It is the only way to "encourage" drivers to not do many of these things.
But there also needs to be a return to civility seen in European Cities and some places on the West Coast and cities that actively promote multi-modalism. For example, both in Boulder, Colorado and Portland, Oregon - drivers (not all, but well over 90%) would never, never do any of the actions seen here. Forget giving you only a few feet - if that - of clearance, they wouldn't dream of even turning until you were out of the crosswalk. Again, not holding these two cities as perfect, but there is a definite atmosphere of responsibility (and, yes, I will note cyclists and pedestrians also follow the law more in those cities as well.)
How we return to civility? I am not sure. But I think a combination of enforcement, continued expansion of facilities for pedestrians like what has happened on Broadway, and maybe some of us taking our neighbors to task (and a PSA campaign?) might be one avenue.
Isn't the problem more with the way the system is set up, as opposed to wheels vs. feet? How else are drivers supposed to turn? Make all 4 crosswalks "walk" at the same time so people don't have to navigate through a flood of pedestrians. Then, drivers can go. And people don't purposefully get stuck in crosswalks - you know that's a pretty big ticket right? No one says "Oh yes, I'll go ahead and sit here because I CAN. Haha!"
As an NYC driver (yes, I have to for work, but I also enjoy the convenience of it), I am COMPLETELY OVER being treated like a lower-class citizen for having a car here. Sure, there are some asshole drivers (as I driver, I do have to say that most of them are actually good/courteous/respectful), but there are assholes in every conceivable segment of the population.
We're all in this together, people. It's not gonna get better for anyone until we change how the system is set up.
Calm down folks! Have you ever driven in NYC? How exactly are you supposed to make a right turn? There is NEVER an empty crosswalk. I agree it can be irritating (and occasionally frightening) as a pedestrian, but as a driver I find it nerve wracking, hair raising, frightening and stressful. I would much rather be OUT of my car. And I HAVE to drive in NY (delivering large heavy objects).
I understand the isolationist theory and how it allows one to be rude without feeling bad- HOWEVER- have you ever been in the way (but lawfully you are just walking where you are supposed to) of a cyclist in Munich?
rude
This is an interesting - perhaps unwinnable - campaign. Good luck. Driving in New York City, unlike anywhere else I've been, is a rat race, driver against driver, trying to beat that one extra light or force a turn before the crosswalkers get to you, always inching, inching, inching. Pedestrians and bicyclists are an annoying afterthought. The attempts (shown in this clip) to bust through the crosswalk crowds are so common, they didn't strike me as unusual. When you think about it, it's wrong - but it's so darn New York. I think walkers have grown such a thick skin about it, crossing the street becomes an aggressive and competitive activity, too.
The rude behaviour is not confined to NY. In Munich it's pretty much the same. Drivers against pedestrians and bikers, bikers against drivers and pedestrians, pedestrians against bikers and drivers... The main problem is, in my opinion, not primarily the drivers, but the general unwillingness of people to respect others.
But: drivers are treated differently by the law. What would happen, if a pedestrian or a biker would block the street for drivers? And what damage can be inflicted by a bike or a pedestrian to a car?
In Munich there was a guy who just walked over cars which were parked on the walkway, or which blocked crossings. He was arrested and forced to have a psychiatric examination.
Hummer-
I'm of the belief that driver behavior can be modified to prevent situations like those shown in the video. But if you think that the only way for automobiles to travel through Midtown Manhattan is to routinely allow moving cars to come inches from small children it seems that the only solution is restrict automobile access to Midtown.
I'd offer a few possibilities:
Most extreme: a complete ban on personal automobile traffic. Buses and necessary truck traffic would be able to get through these intersections without much trouble.
Or as a compromise: congestion pricing. Maybe there is some level of automobile traffic that can coexist with these volumes of pedestrians. The money generated from the pricing could help put those drivers into more frequent and reliable bus service.
I'm sure you agree that we don't want to needlessly endanger the lives of children, seniors, or any pedestrians (remember that hundreds die each year in this city). Just as we don't allow people to walk through Times Square with a running chainsaw your assertion that this only way to navigate a car through Midtown leads to the conclusion that the activity must be restricted.
Andy and Jo,
I totally agree.
At the 1:33 mark we see the film narrator/reporter/whatever half way across the street. It takes him just about over 4 seconds to complete the crossing. All told we can assume at his pace, it would take some 8 seconds to cross the street.
In comparison, by watching the video you see 3 vehicles waiting to turn while the above mentioned person crosses. The first two you can't really get a accuracte time on, but the SUV you can.
(/sarcasm on)
It's basically inched into the crosswalk by 1:41, and clear by 1:43. That's a stunningly slow 2 seconds.
Now wouldn't it have been NICE (opposite of rude), as well as a whole lot safer for the above mentioned to wave those vehicles on by, especially since he was the ONLY person in the crosswalk at the time in the direct path of the vehicles.
I mean, I'm just saying in those situations, it couldn't possibly hurt to let the faster "crosser" to go first. It's just simple queue logic.
Let's see how your logic holds up. John is a driver. Drivers are rude. Therefore John is rude. (Do you even know John?)
You my friend are just plain wrong. In my many years of living in Brooklyn I have been a driver, a bicyclist and a pedestrian. These days as I'm getting old and not that confident riding a bicycle anymore, I mainly walk everywhere (and take the train also, let's not forget) except to the supermarket when I take my car. Point in fact. some bicyclists in my neighborhood think they own the road and some are incredibly rude especially in Prospect Park. Pedestrians are just as bad both in the park and on the street jay walking, crossing against the light (Some with children). There are the texters (walking & driving), the coffee mug people who drink as they walk across the street against the light. There are the rude drivers too who may have got their driving licenses second hand at a local street fair.
My point is make blanket statements and you really sound foolish. Your real target is rudeness and rude people who are really pains in the ass no matter how or in what they are in motion. Otherwise there's no getting along in this world if every person in some group thinks they are privileged in some way and better than the next guy.
Enforcement of failure to yield violations is badly needed. But we also need to look at intersections where the signals are sending conflicting messages such as these and redesign them so they don't encourage this type of situation.
The intersection at Broome and Lafayette featured here desperately needs a 4-way walk, or at least a walk across Broome at the west side of Lafayette that doesn't coincide with the green light that allows traffic from the Williamsburg Bridge to turn into it. It's a terrible situation, and it happens every single time the light changes.
Similarly, Canal street needs to be re-imagined at nearly every intersection between the Holland Tunnel and the Manhattan bridge. The traffic cops that are out there at rush hour generally do a good job (I've seen them yell at box-blocking cars and jaywalking pedestrians alike) but they can only do so much.
Both situations, ironically, are side-effects of the cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have shunted through-traffic away from city streets (and completely destroyed Soho in the process). So the reality is that most of these drivers are likely passing through from Long Island to New Jersey or vice versa, and wouldn't be driving through Manhattan if they had another choice -- or rather, if a congestion pricing fee on the bridges made the other choices that already exist more appealing.
Portland, OR, is only somewhat better. Last time I was there (a few weeks ago) I was almost hit by a twit of a driver, who failed to see me from the other side of an intersection even though I was in the middle of the crosswalk. She did not stop (law requires her to do so), she just kept going, almost hitting me. She was paying attention to what other motor vehicles, not pedestrians or bicyclists.
That has happened to me frequently in the town I live in, Newport, OR. Small tourist town on the coast. Iknow kids of 12 & 13 who will not cross the "highway" that goes splits the town in two--even at a light. They're scared--they've watched pedestrians almost get hit or get hit too many times. In Newport--especially w/some of the RV, pickup & SUV drivers, "right on red" means, you barely slow down as you turn and you sure don't look --or stop-- for a pedestrian in or out of a crosswalk.
This behavior is a great contrast to the driver behavior (of locals) when I first came to western Oregon many years ago (over 20)--I was ready to inch my way across 101 (4 lanes through town, w/painted crosswalks & traffic lights)--during the off season (which doesn't really exist anymore)--the way I'd get across the street in LI, put my foot down into the cross walk and every vehicle from either direction that was approaching the crosswalk came to a dead stop.
That kind of universal respect for OR's strict pedestrian crossing laws is pretty much gone. Some towns are better than others. A couple of years ago, the local police in the county mounted a number of stings in the several small towns along this part of the coast. They handed out warnings & tickets--and netted both locals and tourists. But I still have to cross the highway at a crosswalk, lane by lane, because some drivers will just keep going, even if another 2 lines of traffic are clearly stopped to let a pedestrian cross.
Bicyclists are often not treated well either.
As for how Portland bicyclists do--well, try reading the online version of the Oregonian for about 3-4 months to get an idea of how well they get along. You'll read of bicyclists hit, hurt, sometimes killed, of bicyclists getting into fights w/motorists (or "cagers" as they are sometimes called), of drivers who complain bitterly about bicyclists not obeying basic traffic rules.
The little experience I've had in CA as a pedestrian in the last couple of years suggests that CA is pretty good. I was in downtown Oakland last month & marveled at how much more polite & considerate of pedestrians the drivers were. Also in the small part of downtown SF I walked through. Corvallis, OR, is also fairly good.
I agree w/the commenter who stated that you change when you drive. I notice the difference in how I feel when I walking, taking a bus/train, bicycling or driving. No question I am more impatient when I am driving--although I've worked at becoming more careful & aware of bicyclists since I almost hit one I didn't see coming--that it was someone riding on the sidewalk (not legal in the city I was in) when I was coming out of a parking lot wouldn't have made me or the rider feel any better if I'd hit him.
In contrast to some other people commenting, I feel safer walking in most parts of Manhattan than I do in much of Newport. Mostly because there are so many other pedestrians. Not so easy for a driver to pretend he/she didn't "see" a pedestrian when there are 100 of them.
As for the narrator's tone--whoever criticised it hasn't spent much time in NY. That's just how many people there talk or did when I lived there--yes, people in NY actually get excited about wrong-headed & dangerous stuff & talk loudly about it.
As I recall, during Guiliani's administration (I didn't like the guy or most of his policies), drivers were getting ticketed for sitting in the "box" and honking. I remember visiting NY during his tenure, & being amazed that I wasn't hearing the usual honking and the intersections stayed clear. At least in the parts of town I was walking through, usually from Penn Station to midtown, to museum mile, crosstown & to the upper '80's.
Too bad Bloomberg didn't get his congestion pricing rule through.
I think the film documents some long standing problems--they're so long standing that I hardly think about them anymore when I'm in NY. In a way, I appreciate the film--for making me more aware of them.
Oh yes, this behavior is rude, but it is also extremely dangerous. As a full-time transit user/pedestrian (and parent), I would easily classify this as more frustrating and stressful than just about any other pedestrian inconvenience.
I will say, though, that this kind of thing will continue to happen until there is a more substantive change in the way pedestrian/car integration works. I find that intersections with "all way" walk signals are much safer and more usable than the standard "walk while the cars go" model.
A good summary of drivers behaving rudely http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVJNiG7_op0&feature=player_embedded
Makes me think of
http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2009-10-19
I would like to see someone design a ring specially made to scratch cars when they misbehave. I know I can run faster than most drivers, and what are they going to do? Chase me for blocks while their car blocks an intersection?
I know some of you will think this is no way to react or is dangerous but nothing else has worked. How much longer can pedestrians and bicyclists ask nicely? When is the time to DEMAND our rights? And if they are not given we should take them!
oh please, come produce a chicago version of this.
There is same situation in Hungary
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ172Cdq7TM
1164 accidents/42 pedestrians killed when crossed the road on pedestrian crossing
Folks,
We have been overwhelmed by the response to our video worldwide. Please keep the comments (pro & con) coming.
this is ridiculous.
this is new york city. this is how it is. get over it. if you are so scared to cross canal street stay home. if you can't handle new york city's fast moving street life MOVE BACK TO NEBRASKA.
The maker of this video obviously has never driven regularly in nyc. If he did he'd be screaming about all the rude jaywalking. A car edging through a crowd at 3 mph isn't going to injure anyone and it's an unfortunate necessity sometimes.
The kind of guys that make these videos tend to be self-absorbed with feelings of entitlement. Instead of realizing that the driver has somewhere to go, he dilly dallies across the street and gets angry when the driver seizes the moment. A authentic member of generation "me."
HAHa this vid is pretty unintentionally hillarious. It's RUDE! He's being RUDE! This is RUDE! I like the spooky music too cause he is in the crosswalk hahaha it's not like he is about to rape a puppy. Love it!
Isn't entering an crosswalk with a pedestrian in it illegal? What are the rules for NYC?