Pedestrian Safety

[rescueme]

For most, a quick trip to the European autobahns will cure them of driving in the left lane.

Amen to that! They understand that slower traffic keeps to the right, and if you are in the left lane (and flick your lights) you pull over to the right to let them pass.

Good manners on those roads ...

 

[Koolau]

Amen to that! They understand that slower traffic keeps to the right, and if you are in the left lane (and flick your lights) you pull over to the right to let them pass.

Good manners on those roads ...

It's been a while since I've been on a mainland interstate that it made much difference which lane you drove in. Both (or all) lanes are usually occupied and if someone were to edge up behind you (as if wanting to pass) there is no place for you to pull over into the right lane. If there were and you did pull over, then the "passing" car would simply box you in and force you to slow down behind a car in the right lane. You might be there for hours. Point is, we've reached saturation of much of our roadways. Here in Paradise? Fugiddaboudit! H-1 through town is a nightmare at most any time of the day and rush hour is worse!

We kill many pedestrians and cyclists here because no one has found a good way to mix cars with slower moving people or vehicles. On an island, with central mountains, all traffic is eventually funneled onto coastal roads of 6 to 8 lanes. Speed limits are typically 35, but traffic moves at 40 or 45 or comes to a stop. Nothing in between. How do you cross 6 to 8 lanes of traffic on foot (especially without a traffic signal - I'm serious)? Easy - you pass a law that drivers must stop for pedestrians crossing in front of the 6 or 8 lanes of traffic. Works (almost) every time. A few times a year it doesn't work and someone dies. A hundred times a year, it doesn't work and someone is badly injured. That's in addition to the other scenarios mentioned earlier in the thread. For instance, turning left, without an arrow available, against 3 lanes of approaching traffic tends to make you forget something as "insignificant" as a pedestrian who (most likely) is walking against the "wait" signal AFTER you have started across the oncoming lanes. Oh, the many joys of Paradise! Not complaining. Just saying...

 

[Martha]

I walked to work for a number of years and had some "interactions" with drivers who were ignoring me. I walked along a main street crossing various side streets, most without signals. One problem was the driver pulling up to the main street, who looks left for oncoming traffic, and then turns right. Right into the pedestrians walking across the street from the driver's right. I have had that one happen to me a number of times. Most often it is where there is a turn signal in my favor with the driver making a right turn on red. They don't even come to a full stop, they are just looking for traffic from the left that might impede their turn.

More rarely, I have had cars from the main street take a turn onto the side street I am walking across without paying any attention that I am crossing. Once a guy almost turned right into me. He then opened his window to yell at me! I was so ticked off I yelled some of my favorite curse words back. Probably not a wise course of action.

I walked to work in the dark but all the incidents happened in full daylight, when walking home.

Years ago I used to ride my bicycle to law school, I lived in Minneapolis and went to school in St. Paul. Once a truck ran me off the road up over a curb, flattening a tire and ruining my wheel in the process. People did not want to share the road with a bike. Hope that has changed in the last 25-30 years.

 

[TromboneAl]

I struggle with this issue, cycling-wise as I often ride on the freeway or on roads with dangerous sections. It's hard to know where to draw the line. Lying in bed at night it seems worse than it does when I'm actually on the road. My life depends on strangers paying attention when they drive.





The red-arrow section is very slanted. You can ride on it, but when it's wet your tires can slip. I've fallen once.

The big RV drivers tend to crowd you more than the logging truck drivers.

I have a very bright blinking rear light which I highly recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-3...1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1285780348&sr=8-1-fkmr1

It's bright even in sunshine, and reportedly drivers give you more room when you have one.

I'd thought it might be nice to ride a bike on Oahu, but when I saw the roads I decided it was not an option.

 

[Nords]

I'd thought it might be nice to ride a bike on Oahu, but when I saw the roads I decided it was not an option.

I guess I'm glad to hear you say that, because I've been envying your rides and frustrated at trying to do the same here. But outside of the bike path from Pearl Harbor to Waipahu, and the roads/bike paths around Waialua-Haleiwa-Sunset, bicycling is not a state priority. Maybe it's better on the neighbor islands.

It's a shame, too. When I used to commute to Pearl Harbor from central Oahu I could put more miles on my bicycle than my car. That stopped when we moved a couple miles farther north and my new route included a narrow two-lane 75-year-old bridge with no bike path or shoulders.

Bicycling downtown or on certain roads (Farrington Highway, Kunia Road, most of Kamehameha Highway) is just rolling the dice on the inevitable.