How Walking With Smartphones May Have Changed Pedestrian Etiquette

An anonymous reader writes The phenomenon of 'distracted walking' — pedestrians who walk while using smartphones — has raised civic attention in the last few years, with Utah issuing fines and cities in China creating dedicated 'smartphone lanes' for walkers who need to keep up with Whatsapp on the move. This article argues that smartphone users have become so accustomed to other people getting out of their way that they will no longer negotiate for sidewalk space even when not using their phones.

Comments

Take your space

[ADRA]

Too many people period are idiots about not negotiating equitable space that I just bowl them down. I'm taller and large bigger than most, so if I think they're being oblivious or careless, down they go! Being a dick about sharing a laneway is a dick move and the only ONLY way to punish it is to not yield.

If you wanted to be an uber dick, you'd pick up their phone and throw it away, but that's too much for me =) Oh, that goes double for movie theatre texters! Die in a pit of hell assholes!

Re:Take your space

[TWX]

When my wife and I were fairly new as a couple she would get annoyed when I would precede her through crowds. What she came to realize though, was that since my work takes me into secondary schools and I have to navigate halls between periods, I've had to become a master of the Morpheus Walk, referring to the scene in The Matrix where Fishburne's character is teaching Neo of the risks of agents in the Matrix, and the crowd parts for him while Reeves' character is colliding with all of the simulated people. I'm also fairly tall, and I'm able to put on a demeanor that usually gets people to move out of my way.

Once she saw how much easier it is to navigate a crowd that way she has been a lot happier in crowded situations to let me go first. If she sticks close behind then she can follow easily and we end up where we want to faster.

Re:Take your space

[nitehawk214]

I am with you on this. If you have a place to go, walk with determination. Don't look like you are in a hurry, just go. If you are just aimlessly wandering around, pretend you are trying to get somewhere. Obviously I am not being a dick and running people over.

Being over six feet tall does help, but anyone of any size or gender can do it. Works great at concerts too.

Though sometimes the lady in red grabs my attention and I walk face first into an agent... doh!

Re:Take your space

[Anonymous Coward]

But the female place is behind the male (except for the minefields etc) - everybody knows that, so why was she upset?

Re: Take your space

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a special snowflake just like you. It's okay for us to use cellphones when driving but not anyone else. We are special and know how to do it safely. Rules are for other people.

Re:Take your space

[Aighearach]

If they maintain their lane, and just follow the traffic rules robotically then there is no problem. When I was a kid I'd walk and read a book at the same time, no problem. The problem is that people aren't following the traffic rules when they are paying attention, so when they're not paying attention they're just sortof stumbling into the street without knowing what the state is. If they're practiced in following the rules, they can do that on autopilot and they'll wait for the light to change before crossing without consciously even realizing they had stopped for it. And they'll maintain their lane, too.

Re: Take your space

[Aighearach]

Actually, it is the best way to get through a rough neighborhood. If you can walk tall, confident, but not swaggering or strutting, you can pass right through almost anything. You do have to weave around gang-bangers, you can't crash into them, but if you maintain the right walk they usually won't even see you, you're just background. If they're also walking, they always make room for me, I only have to weave around them when they're loitering. I've done that in most major American cities, and I've never had a problem.

In fact, the places I have had problems have been small towns, usually without sidewalks. Places where it doesn't matter how you walk, because there isn't enough traffic for it to matter.

As somebody who lived in rough neighborhoods as a teen, one thing I picked up on: You're actually less likely to get shot/stabbed or randomly assaulted there. A lot of people have some means of self defense. Picking a fight could get you shot, so people don't pick fights unless you're obviously walking scared. You're unlikely to get robbed in a drug neighborhood, for example, because most people either don't have anything to steal, or have a weapon, or will fight to the death over their last $2. There are people getting robbed, but the perp knows the victim, and knows they have drugs, or knows they have money that they're trying to buy drugs with.

The neighborhood where you might get stabbed over stupid shit is usually a University Neighborhood, the same place where you're likely to be assaulted by strangers. Those high crime neighborhoods, they're stabbing/shooting people that they know, and have a real dispute with. Don't borrow/loan money, don't borrow/loan drugs, don't arrange drug deals that might go bad, etc., and they probably won't involve you.

Re: Take your space

[Anonymous Coward]

Take it easy there little fella. Boasting about your gun isn't gonna make your dick stop being small.

Cellphone morons

[technical_maven]

I love walking in to people like that on purpose and then saying, "Oh... Sorry..." I secretly hope they drop their damn phone!

Re:Cellphone morons

[nitehawk214]

Learn from hockey. Lead with the shoulder, if you are a bit taller crouch down a bit to catch them in the chest. If you are short, jump a bit right at the moment of contact, the refs will never call charging on the short guys.

Re:List of folks with permanent rights of way

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you think cyclists feel entitled to their right of way to the point where they are oblivious to oncoming collisions?

Yes.

Re:List of folks with permanent rights of way

[ATMAvatar]

3. Bicyclists

That one goes both ways. I see plenty of entitled cyclists asserting right of way when they don't have it, but I have also seen a number of times where drivers are either oblivious or malicious to bicyclists, nearly running them down. This includes cases where there are bike lanes and the cars feel the need to cross into said lanes for nothing more than getting around another car or running through crosswalks despite the signal and despite having a red.

tl:dr: people are dicks, especially on the road

Last week ...

[Martin S.]

Last week when I was driving to work as was approaching a traffic light that turned from red to green as I approached. I noticed a youth crossing the other side, head phones in and face down in his phone, slowed down in anticipation of him walking out in front of me. He did, I braked and blew my horn in warning and stopped and stepped backwards onto the central refuge and launched into a tirade of abuse and offensive gestures. Despite the fact I'd just saved him from serious injury at minimum as a result of his own stupidity.

You just cannot help some people.

Re:Last week ...

[Anonymous Coward]

I am not the gpp you responded to...

I am a native Californian who was taught both that pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks and that it would be shameful to walk out into one against the lights, including entering with the flashing don't walk sign that is equivalent to a yellow light for drivers. People who crossed randomly in mid-block would be ticketed for jay-walking if observed by a cop, and found at fault if they were run down by a car. As a bicyclist I was taught that I should ride in the roadway and follow vehicle rules including direction of travel, signaling turns, and observing traffic control signals and right-of-way rules.

Continuing to live in California now in my forties, I observe so much behavior that is counter to what I was taught and obeyed. I don't know if it is all immigration with newcomers having learned different rules. Or, it might just be a general erosion of a sense of civic responsibility. Or I might just be turning into a cranky old man who complains about kids these days.

I frequently bicycle to work using a circuitous route that links scenic paths and bike lanes to minimize my time sharing lanes with cars. I have seen more close calls in the past few years than I saw in my entire life before, with cars clearly running red lights, overtaking and swerving across bike lanes with no concern for cyclists occupying the lane, etc. I have also seen so many cyclists and pedestrians doing equivalently careless things like crossing against lights, ignoring direction of travel rules, and mindlessly entering and leaving the roadway without looking.

Re:List of folks with permanent rights of way

[chmod a x mojo]

He's saying the truth. 8-9 / 10 asshats on bikes don't follow the rules of the road that they are legally required to. Just a few things:

1: don't stop for stop signs... many times not even slowing down, then expecting traffic to magically not hit them. I have personally witnessed several tickets being handed out to them since my city is FINALLY starting to crack down on them, they will even do it right in front of a cop....
2: riding on sidewalks instead of using the apparently wasted bike lanes, and hitting people walking ( you know the ones that belong on the sidewalks ). Happens with different asshats several times a month in my city alone, and I doubt it is a fluke since you see all the other asshattery anywhere you go. Hell because of #1 I have been hit by a stupid ass biker in a fucking crosswalk with the light in MY favor.
3: they observe speed limits worse than 4-wheel car drivers. School zone? Still going as fast as possible, on the sidewalk where they don't belong. They should be ticketed just as if a car was speeding ( this does occasionally happen, just needs to more often).

There you go, took mere minutes to come up with just a few things that 80% of the observed bike riders do to make everyone look down on bike riders. Sucks for the last 10-20% that actually are courteous, but then maybe THEY should start bashing heads of the rest if they want their image to look better.

Re:List of folks with permanent rights of way

[Aighearach]

In Idaho bicycles can treat stop signs as yield signs. When a bike does a "rolling-stop" through a stop-sign, it is called an "Idaho stop." Many states are legalizing it. It passes most places it is considered. Expect it to be the norm in 20 years. Just like, there was a time where only a few states allowed a right turn at a red light; now it is nearly universal. Because it works. My dad told me a story about driving in the midwest when he was a kid, and they didn't have that rule yet. He made a right turn on red, and had people shouting at him for just brazenly running a light! lol "it just seemed so natural"

In my State bicycles are allowed to use the sidewalks. Also, vechicles with 3-or-less wheels that are hardware limited to 15mph or less are considered bicycles, and can also use the sidewalk. (this was to allow Segways without going into the weeds and endorsing specific wheel configurations) Luckily, pedestrians have the right-of-way and the bicycles are required to always yield.

The speed limit applies to the street, not the sidewalk. They'll beat that ticket. However, many places have a rule that bicycles on the sidewalk have to go walking speed, so there might be a different non-speeding ticket they can get. Most cyclists don't actually go over the 20MPH of a school zone, certainly not over 25 which is the normal real speed. (limit+5 is standard for cars, except in places where it is limit+8)

There are real problems with cyclists that ride poorly and don't follow the rules, but I'm not convinced you know the rules well enough that you're driving according to them. ;)