Crossing the Street Shouldn't Be Deadly (but it is)

"The black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the godwit genus, Limosa. [...] The black-tailed godwit is the national bird of the Netherlands." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-tailed_godwit

The thing that messed me up with cross walks here in the Netherlands, as an American, is the readiness for cars to stop for you, because it's just easier for them to do so than to try to rush past you. I am standing there at an unsignalized cross walk, waiting for cars to pass, but instead of passing, the cars just.... stop.... And I'm free to cross the street. Waiting at unsignalized cross walks is so normal to me, I've had a couple Dutch drivers get angry that I didn't just cross and that I was waiting.

Jaywalking is a classic example of Americans' approach to problems: blame the victim and go about your day. The auto industry understood it and politicians today understand it.

I attended a wedding in Normandie a few years back and spent a week in a village there. I rented a car because I enjoyed exploring the countryside but in town it was actively useless. The streets were narrow cobblestone, with a laundry 30m from the door and two markets within 100m. I had a similar experience in Graz, Austria but with the added joy of a tram into down town for the farmers market and all the best restaurants. We didn't bother with a car at all. The funny thing is trying to explain this to my fellow americans. They recoil in horror at being "deprived" of their three ton shopping cart and being "forced" to shop daily for fresh veg. I have come to the conclusion that this "freedom" they bang on about is really not having to talk to other people or even stand too closely. We're not brave and free, we're terrified and trapped.

An interesting addition to this is, that if the roads are much safer, then there's a good chance that drivers also walk a lot, and thus have a much easier time empathizing with pedestrians, being careful around them, and yielding to them.

"Physics works better than signs". A good quote.

Traffic engineers should really be required to walk, bike, and use transit on all roads they work on. How can you design a street that is usable to everyone if you only have the perspective of a car? Amazing video as always.

Watching this made me emotional. I was crossing the street on my light when a car made a left turn and hit me on my way to work and it changed my life. I had to get metal and screws through surgery and I haven't gotten over how unsafe I feel crossing the streets in NYC to the extent that I avoid going out unless necessary. I am considered one of the lucky ones since I survived and many have died in the same situation. I am looking to relocate to a place where I can feel safer. Thank you for advocating for the safety of pedestrians.

I've never heard of the flag thing before, and if that isn't the most deranged and condescending way to "help" pedestrians I don't know what is.

I've heard numerous older people complain about how "kids these days" never walk anywhere, blaming it on everything from laziness, stuck on the computer, to overprotective parents afraid their kids are going to get kidnapped. I never had the ability to explain the reality beyond "I just don't want to die." This channel has given voice to all the dangers I implicitly felt.& experienced growing up in a stroad-heavy suburb relying on walking or biking (very long treks because of course points of interest are built in clusters very far from your house) without fully understanding WHY walking or cycling anywhere felt so flippin stressful! Thank you for illuminating the issues with North American car-dependent design and showing the possibilities for safer pedestrian infrastructure. It gives me hope that some day it could be better.

15 years ago, I nearly got run over on one of those yellow crossing in Toronto, when I walked to school. The driver opened the window and yelled at me "DO YOU WANT TO GET YOURSELF KILLED". At first I thought maybe I didn't press it firmly. However, as I walked away from the crossing, the light was still flashing, whereas the driver already took off. He never paid any attention to what is flashing at him and if flashing things are not enough to grab your attention, you deserve to have your license revoked, since a car is a weapon in your control.

I am an 8th grader who takes his bike to school every day, the school is 4 miles away but here are some problems: -There is no bike path, I have to go on dirt -my neighborhood is just a random suburb in the middle of the desert, so it’s hot, and it’s far away. The cars go really fast despite the fact I’m sure that they can see me.

"Pedestrian fatalities" sound like an euphemism for "killed by car".

As an American that just moved to the Netherlands, let me share a quick intersection story. I was crossing a wide street and reached the first island. There was a tram (or metro, still figuring the difference) that had just finished picking up some passengers 10 feet to my left. My American instincts kicked in and I started to wait as I expected the tram to start moving. When the operator noticed I wasnt moving, they tooted the horn to signal for ME to start walking first. I was fairly shocked since that would never happen in the States. Also, you are famous at work. Whrn i mentioned i had been watching some YT videos to help prepare for the move, they all chimed in with "Not Just Bikes?!"

I think it's very important to talk about how car infrastructure affects pedestrian mentality. I live just half a mile away from a grocery store + mall area, but to get there I have to go through the intersection of a 4 lane stroad and 6 lane stroad. This intersection is so scary that I just drive the half mile so that I don't have to worry about dying every time I need groceries.

Most insane thing in American infra? The signs at signalized crosswalks with a list of instructions including such tips as "cross quickly" and "thank the driver" who didn't kill you.

I find that the blame mindset also affects driver behaviour a lot. Had an American move to NZ , they got so annoyed at people just crossing the street and said they should be more careful or they’ll get hit. We were shocked and said you will go to jail if you hit them, Pedestrians in NZ have the right of way.

Another thing the stats don’t tell you - how much drivers harass you as a pedestrian in car centric places. In Las Vegas, as a pedestrian, people would often scream and jeer at me when I was just on the sidewalk minding my business. Once, someone threw a drink at me from their window. And that’s as a man. It’s orders of magnitude worse for women who are often catcalled on top of that. These days, living in a more walkable community, I would never walk in a place like Las Vegas.

Fun fact: I got arrested and went to court for Jaywalking. Had to pay a fine for it too. I lived in Utah, which is ironically one of the few places I praise for not needing a car. I was simply walking to the store but the only 2 crosswalks were about a quarter mile apart. One right at where I turned onto the road which is a tiresome wait and the other at the end of the road far beyond the store I wanted to go to. I had waited until there were less than a handful of cars between the lights and took off to the other side of the road. Unfortunately, one of the cars on the road was a cop who was apparently having a bad day. Wonderful to know where all the tax money is going. Could've been doing something about the guy in my apartment complex selling meth out of his house but instead saw it more appropriate to punish someone for crossing the street. So far I have more fines from walking than I do from driving. God Bless Murrica.

I moved from Germany to the Netherlands about two weeks ago and even as an avid viewer of this channel and Germany not being so far removed traffic-wise from the Netherlands as North America, I am still astonished. Watching the masses of pedestrians and cyclists crossing streets on my way to work in the morning, is just incredible. It made me realize that planning for pedestrians and cyclists is a posirive feedback loop, since saver roads will attract more people walking/biking and more people walking/biking make it saver. It is just very hard to overlook 15 bikes and 30 pedestrians crossing the street than a single person.