Sometimes people are nice. Monday I was on my way to my health care

[Obamanaut]

provider in my neighboring town. Part of the route was in town, six lanes of traffic (three each direction) with a median.

An older fellow decided he needed to cross all six lanes, without benefit of an intersection. Had a cane, and a very pronounced limp.

He stuck his free hand up and started across. All six lanes stopped as he limped his way across. No horns blew, no one inched ahead, everyone just patiently waited.

I was on my motorcycle, and could see many of the faces in the cars around me. No grimaces, no expressions of exasperation. No one started moving until the guy was safely on the sidewalk - not even the ones in the three lanes on the other side of the median.

It was very nice to see.

[itsrobert]

1. All is fine and dandy until a semi jack knifes into the back of all you guys

but otherwise nice story. Despite the potential for multiple deaths and destruction.

[Obamanaut]

2. But it didn't. And as heavy as the traffic was, and as close together as the

traffic signals, there was ample time for a semi to stop.

Potential death and destruction is everywhere, especially for doom/gloom mongers.

[dtexdem]

3. And the fault for any such disaster would be that of the semi driver.

All lanes of traffic can be, and more or less often are, stopped by any variety of reasons. It is every driver's responsibility to be cautious and aware of stoppages ahead. That it's a guy with a cane limping across the road has nothing to do with it, nor with your perceived risks.

[itsrobert]

4. So Jaywalking laws are unnecessary?

Should we rescind them?

[Obamanaut]

8. No, a cop should have jumped out of the bushes and tazed the old

guy, then we could see some indignant posts about mean law enforcement officers picking on senior citizens.



:sarcasm:

[saras]

12. It's not jaywalking unless it's "between two lighted intersections" - it's legal and normal.

[itsrobert]

15. So crossing over a 6 lane road with median is not jaywalking?

okay, :sarcasm:

[JoePhilly]

5. I have to agree with some other ... this is how people driving other cars get killed.

Some years ago, I was in a car with a friend when she decided to STOP and let a merging care go first. She Stopped on a major highway.

The car immediately behind her stopped, as did the next ... and the one after that crashed and pushed them all forward, almost hitting my friends car.

My friend caused the accident. She stopped when she had full right of way. And the cars behind her were screwed.

The cars in the back, those who can't see what is going on, they are the ones that crash.

[Obamanaut]

7. The cars in back don't need to see what is going on. They DO need to see

that the vehicle directly ahead of them has slowed and/or stopped.

[digonswine]

13. There is no winning this-

I always assume that, when I merge, it is my job to be sure to do it right. If I fuck up, I sit at the side of the road until I have clearance. But I live in BFE, so I never need to deal with it. The fact is, we have fallible humans behind the wheels. I think--if everyone drove like me-there would be no problem. But I assume we all think this way. (But I am right!)

[Suich]

6. My son and I were driving down a busy street,

4 lanes plus a turn lane, and I saw a very small, about 4'10" elderly woman with a cane step off the curb. (She was at the corner but the crosswalk wasn't marked.) My son said "pull over," and he ran over to help her. Same thing happened, nobody honked. She walked very, very slowly, holding onto my son's arm, and spoke really loud (hard of hearing) about how hard it was to cross this street. I hope she made it home safely after she finished her shopping!

:)

[pintobean]

9. It's a nice story. Thank you for sharing it.

There was a hell of a lot more class on that street than there is in this thread.

[abelenkpe]

10. Awwwww, sweet story nt

[bigwillq]

11. Nice post.

K and R

[RebelOne]

14. A similar event happened here in the Atlanta area on I-75 yesterday.

A dog slipped its collar and jumped out of a car. It raced back and forth across all the lanes of traffic while the owner was frantically trying to catch it.
All the cars in both south and north lanes stopped. The dog was finally caught in a yard off the expressway. But all the drivers stopped to avoid hitting the dog.