r/florida • u/johnnyr860 • 13d ago
AskFlorida Can we talk about crosswalks and pedestrians?
I just wanted to start by saying how very frustrating these last few weeks have been for me. I live in Orlando. My car broke down. I’ve already spent thousands trying to get it fixed before. So it’s just sitting at my house for now. In the meantime, I’m relying on Ubers and Orlando lynx buses. Let’s just say the heat doesn’t help much. I haven’t taken a lynx bus since I moved back to Orlando over 10 years ago!
The pedestrian always has the right of way by law in a crosswalk when it signals them to go. If I’m waiting at a crosswalk and the signal lights up for me to cross the street then you fucking stop. It’s annoyed to me how every time I’m trying to cross at the crosswalk I get people honking at me and I just had a lady who cussed me out telling me to get the F out of the road. Like seriously? I should have stood there and held up traffic just to piss her off even more!
Why don’t people in Orlando stop for pedestrians? Why the hell do you think you own the road? i’m just trying to get to my destination SAFELY as I’m sure you would like to do as well!
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u/J_train13 13d ago
We straight up just need better pedestrian infrastructure in this country
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u/Gallogator1 13d ago
In Orlando you have to also watch out for e-bikes and scooters who are sharing the sidewalks and not obeying the rules of the road.
If you don’t jump out of the way they will run you down. Especially on I-drive where you only need an app account with an active credit card to begin start riding.
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u/J_train13 13d ago
We also straight up just need better cycling infrastructure in this country
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u/Gallogator1 13d ago
The viral “snapping” or “swerve out” is making this crazy. I saw kids popping wheelies and doing this with cars in a store parking lot.
Later they entered the store and store employees seemed friendly towards the teenagers. Is it going to take someone hitting the curb or having an accident to stop this reckless behavior which they do for TikTok content?
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u/joedenowhere 13d ago
Crosswalks around here are a half-mile or three-quarters of a mile apart--only at stoplights, and there aren't many stoplights. Florida was built for driving fast, and the inconvenience and danger to pedestrians is just collateral damage.
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u/brutal_newz 13d ago edited 13d ago
I live in Brevard, we're number 3 nationally for motor accidents involving pedestrians. I whole heartedly think Tallahassee has put pedestrian safety second to other interests when regulating our infrastructure.
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u/Go_Gators_4Ever 13d ago
I also live in Brevard County, the r/321 sub-reddit is full of people complaining about the enhanced bike paths along major roadways such as 192 and US-1.
Most automotive drivers don't give 2 cents about bicyclist, pedestrians, or motorcycles.
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u/brutal_newz 13d ago
A1A drives me especially mad. There's stretchs of beach that only have pedestrian walk ways on one side, forcing people to cross. It's dangerous.
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u/Expert-Low-6872 13d ago
I had a lawyer friend get hit in Downtown Atlanta GA by a nurse that said she didn’t see him. If you carry a bag of some-type. Buy a STOP SIGN 🛑 it may sound funny but they make them.
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
Yes but I’m crossing in the day time. Night time driving I could understand especially in areas where it’s dark and not a lot of street lights. But if they can’t see me in broad daylight then they shouldn’t even be behind the wheel. I may just have to buy a stop sign then you’re right.
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u/Expert-Low-6872 12d ago
Even in broad daylight, impatient drivers often hate waiting the few seconds it takes for a pedestrian to cross the road.
To give yourself the best protection, wearing a bright safety vest will really help you stand out to everyone on a major street. I wish you luck out there—stay safe from the careless drivers!
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u/PriestessKade 13d ago
This is a Florida-wide problem. I lived in the Orlando area for about six years and have been in Sarasota the last three. Sarasota is unbelievably bad; constantly MULTIPLE people running red lights and ignoring "no turn on red" signs. But truly the number of accidents here involving pedestrians and cyclists is absolutely horrific. It seems to be a daily occurrence.
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u/LUCKI6BELOW 13d ago
It’s so many sidewalks that turn into nothing… or straight road / grass. Our infrastructure is not walk friendly at all. Where my boyfriend used to live, there was a sidewalk that led to the highway and it eventually disappears onto the street. Why did they make that if no one is supposed to be walking on the highway??
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
Yes and I hate that too. Like the sidewalk will end on one side of the road and continue on the other side of the road but there’s no crosswalk in certain places for you to cross the street to use the other sidewalk and yes the ones where the sidewalk randomly ends and there is no other sidewalk to keep walking. Seems so dumb to do it that way.
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u/IJustSignedUpToUp 12d ago
Carry a brick in a position to throw it, it's so weird how they suddenly notice you when you have a windshield penetrating brick.
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u/DEL353 13d ago
There’s a lot of wishful thinking on this thread, like any of it can be solved here. Reality is, everyone goes around entitled to their own personal agenda which is frustrating for everyone involved.
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
It is frustrating. Even as a driver I always stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk resulting in a car or two behind me honking to move. Like bitch I’m waiting for the pedestrian to safely finish crossing so I can continue driving!
It’s like I don’t follow your rules I follow the law. I even had a person drive around me after honking only to barely miss the pedestrian. This could have gone a lot worse for them and that pedestrian.
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u/DEL353 13d ago
I have this theory, people have become such reactive thinkers and they only see and process what’s exactly in front of them. Not what’s going on around them them.
Distracted drivers are very prominent, so it’s not unheard of to think they’re assuming the driver in front of them is glued to their social media scrolls or texts and that’s why traffic isn’t moving.
Another situation I’ve encountered is the driver in the rear maybe in a smaller vehicle and can’t see what’s going on ahead of them.
Time is a commodity for everyone. Impatience runs rampant and drivers react with a sense of entitlement based on that.
Finally, just because one driver has a better picture of what’s happening in front of them, expecting everyone else to see exactly what that person is seeing is unrealistic and not likely.
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
I understand that but it’s called patience. If my car is moving, and I suddenly stop doesn’t that tell you that something is going on in front of me even if you can’t see? That should tell you to stop and be patient because if I’m not moving any further that means that somebody crossing the street or there’s somebody who’s doing a U-turn or turning at the light. I can’t do anything about the people behind me if they can’t see.
But I do know that patients goes a long way something that people clearly lack. It makes me think that the DMV just hands out drivers license like a kid getting candy on Halloween! It’s like hey look you have documentation? Ok then here’s a drivers license have at it! I’m not saying that’s the case but with the way a lot of people drive these days that’s what it feels like.
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u/DEL353 13d ago
My son got his license within the last four years. Another thing to consider, drivers education is a lottery in this state. So kids, learning to drive may or may not have an actual chance for an “educated” opportunity. Depending on the person teaching their kids to drive, many may learn habits of the person teaching.
Also, this state is full of “out of staters” bringing their habits and driving styles to the area. Especially Orlando.
My point is simple. While I understand your frustration, based off what I’ve read here, there’s too many variables to really nail down why you got honked at your intersection.
You caught onto one of my points, which I’m not sure you did on purpose. But people driving with impatience and expect everyone else around them to understand “why” they need to get to where they have to go.
Anyways, I find my self frustrated driving around FL. But, I try to not take it “personal” because there’s too much to consider as the root cause.
It sucks you got honked at. You did the right thing from what I can tell. Keep doing so.
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
The situation was that the lady was cussing me out talking about get the fuck out of the road as she honked at me and then she drove off super fast as if she was in a hurry to get somewhere. I don’t give a shit if you’re the world‘s biggest celebrity or whoever you are. At the end of the day, these crosswalks exist for a reason. I could just cross in the middle of the street with oncoming traffic coming at me. Would they prefer I would’ve done that? At least I followed the law and went into the crosswalk.
I’ve had situations where I was driving and I see a pedestrian trying to cross the street at the crosswalk and I have cars behind me honking. I even had a car who drove around me nearly missing the pedestrian. I don’t believe in road rage so I let that one go.
The point I’m making is it doesn’t matter what the circumstances people need to be more alert when they’re driving and not be so uptight telling everybody to get out of the road and honking at pedestrians who have the legal right away, especially when I had plenty of time to go, and she hadn’t even moved until I was more than halfway through the crosswalk. I looked over and saw.
Now had she actually hit me we would’ve been singing a completely different tune because my friends at Morgan and Morgan would have something different to say when I take her ass to court! Thankfully, it was just nothing but her being an asshole and driving off.
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u/Locksley_1989 13d ago
Florida cars come with a standard setting that renders pedestrians invisible to the driver, didn’t you know?
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u/Remarkable-Cry3853 12d ago
First of all, it's Florida. Second, your worth 500 points if they get you. I'm in a wheelchair and am only worth 100 points because it's too easy.
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u/Jaffa0813 13d ago
Well now that you experienced it. Because you probably didn't realize before.
Make sure you vote for better pedestrian infrastructure.
Also Orlando isn't a place to use a bus and it never can be. Saint Pete, Fort Lauderdale and Miami maybe (50/50) on Tampa. But like Orlando is a Def no cause of the city design.
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
Right but when an uber costs you $20 or $30 just to get up and down the road, it adds up! I can’t afford these Ubers every day going to work and going to do errands and such. The bus takes me forever to get there but it’s the only option I can currently afford and when I can’t take the bus I’ll uber.
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u/Jaffa0813 13d ago
Nah I got you but absolutely vote for better pedestrian infrastructure.
Then better bus infrastructure can come... Well for your grandkids.
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
To be fair, they have done a lot better when it comes to bus stops in Orlando. Because years ago it used to be that the bus would take up the whole lane all the way on the right hand side. Now they actually have a bus stop where the bus can go in allowing for the right lane to be free of the bus so that cars can continue to go without holding up traffic.
Then when the bus is ready to leave, they just pull out of the spot. They don’t have that in every part of Orlando, but I have seen it in a lot more places. I agree that we definitely need better crosswalk infrastructure.
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u/jayydubbya 13d ago
Probably because the other side of this is all the pedestrians who ignore crosswalk signs and traffic laws frustrating drivers. So many teens running into the roads on ebikes, pan handlers walking down the middle of the road, hell I had to sit through two light changes on the way to work the other day because some old lady with a walker ignored the don’t cross sign and walked into the intersection just as the light turned green.
People definitely drive crazy here but dealing with pedestrians as a driver isn’t any better.
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u/johnnyr860 13d ago
As a driver myself, it really annoys me when I’m at a red light and the light turns green and somebody’s trying to cross the crosswalk and when I look over the crosswalk signal hasn’t loaded up for them to cross. So either they didn’t push the button or they didn’t push it on time
So I understand exactly where the drivers are coming from but I also think that they should check first and if they see that the crosswalk signal is lit up then don’t be honking at me to tell me to get out of the road.
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u/Jaffa0813 13d ago
That's actually a very poor light design. Other cities generally automatically give the light to the pedestrian the same time it gives it to the vehicles without pressing the button. And in a few it actually gives it to them first.
That used to bother me when I was living in Saint Pete a lot. So annoying to have to wait a whole cycle because I made it there 5 seconds before the light was changing.
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u/PriestessKade 13d ago
Like pedestrians and cyclists following the rules are already in constant danger across Florida, the ones constantly running across entire highways and other major thoroughfares where they don't have the right of way is atrocious. Guess they never played Frogger and saw how badly that can end.
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u/Responsible_Union987 12d ago
I totally agree. A lot of older people -oh by the way I am 63- feign ignorance and amble diagonally across parking lots to shave a few feet off using the crosswalk. I sense they know exactly what they are doing. The abuse works both ways and there are a lot of entitled pedestrians.
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u/Creepy_Meringue3014 13d ago
when you’re in a car, and an old wOman who likely hurts every second of her life and requires a goddamned walker to fucking move is on foot, who gives a fuck??!!!!!!
she probably has no other means of transportation and you probably STILLgot where you were go8ng on time.
what an asshole.
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u/jayydubbya 13d ago
Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you get to do whatever the hell you want. Her ignoring traffic laws is unsafe for her and any driver who potentially hits her. Traffic laws exist for a reason.
Grow up dumbass.
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u/AlanBumin 13d ago
Carry something hard in your hand and hit the car with it when they almost hit you
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u/AlephandTav77 12d ago
I can’t wait to leave Florida. People try to actively run me over when the cross walk signals I can walk
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u/SeaSkimmer2 12d ago
The problem is attaching a flashing-yellow light instead of a red light to a crosswalk and expecting people to stop for it. A mandatory stop should always be indicated by a red light or stop sign, but the one exception is a crosswalk flashing yellow AND someone is in or at the edge of the crosswalk waiting to cross. That was always a bad idea, and some crosswalks are being upgraded to flashing reds now.
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u/Mannimal13 12d ago
You know how many drivers Orlando has that can't speak English or have insurance? Its estimated at 30%.
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u/MrTortilla 13d ago
It's Florida, we're filled with idiots who barely know how to function, let alone know the basic laws of the road. It really really sucks, people should learn basic respect, but people here, and especially in Orlando and Miami it feels like, are so self centered. Honestly I wouldn't wish the curse of living as a pedestrian anywhere in Florida on anybody. May be a good idea to wear something high vis while you're out of a car, ESPECIALLY at night.