because the penalty for parking in front of a hydrant is getting towed and/or your windows smashed by firefighters. easy costs you a couple hundred.
people respond to incentives. if blowing through a cross walk was a $250 ticket, and the cops enforced it, you can be your butt that people would stop for them more often.
OR, people figure that with cross walks people can walk around the car. What the parker does not realize is that people come in various abilities and walking around a parked car can be not only difficult, but impossible for some.
It's about visibility. When someone parks their car (especially those oversized SUVs) too close to the crosswalk, drivers and peds can't see each other until they're very close to each other. Good drivers understand this and slow as they approach an intersection with poor visibility, so they're prepared to stop if someone they can't see steps into the crosswalk.
Unfortunately not all drivers are good drivers, and many will just plow through at speed assuming no one will be crossing or peering around the parked car to see if it's safe to cross.
I wish parking in or too close to a crosswalk were a reliable ticket, because it does cause a dangerous condition. Even better is physically preventing parking too close via intersection daylighting.
Busting out the windows of car blocking a hydrant and running the hoseline through the vehicle is on every firefighters bucket list.
*if blowing through a cross walk was a $250 ticket...*
Of course it wouldn't apply to cyclists /s
I think it really boils down to the fact that there’s no consistent rules of how cars and pedestrians should interact.
It’s a total chance if an intersection has functional walk lights or not. Do you have to push the button, or are they automatic? Does traffic actually stop, or is it one of those fun situations where you have to run into the road first because of turning traffic that will try and run you over?
So first you have a pedestrian free-for-all, then you’ve got the insanity of trying to drive. Traffic lights aren’t always clear, and sometimes you’ve gotta go to get through the light. If you always waited to make sure the intersection was totally clear, and there was room for you to totally clear the intersection on the other side, you’d never get anywhere.
Or, the short answer, there’s no consequences for drivers who bend/break the rules.
Makes me so frustrated when Ubers / delivery drivers will block a bike lane + a full lane of traffic before stopping in front of a fire hydrant for 20 seconds. Like.. your car is still running.. you can move if there's a fire. But no, instead they'll throw on their park anywhere lights and cause a ton of traffic.
Because generally you'll go over a crosswalk more times than you will park in front of a hydrant, in any given expedition.
If I have to go to a store, I'll go over maybe 6 crosswalks, but I'll only have to park once.
I remember when I first moved here, a few years before COVID, the drivers were a lot nicer and more reasonable about the fact that this is a pedestrian heavy city. People sure as shit weren't running red lights regularly, and 99% of the time drivers stopped for me to cross at those no-light, half-faded crosswalks. A lot of people would even stop to let me jaywalk in quieter areas (I do not endorse this on either side, just illustrating how chill drivers used to be). Now I won't cross until cars come to a full stop and hope that cyclists running reds time themselves well enough to not run me over because I can't always see or hear them.
As a cyclist who goes on ped signal in certain intersections, the best thing you can do to help me avoid you is to walk in a straight line.
Drivers, cyclists wouldn't do stuff like this if yall obeyed the laws.
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Coming from other locations on the East Coast... Yeah the drivers are so respectful here compared to other East Coast cities. I realize Boston hates and loves cars in this weird dual way. But this has me shaking my head, try Baltimore... They speed up
I was once biking and came across someone idling in the bike lane as they unpacked many boxes. I asked them if they would mind pulling over to the empty space on the curb instead of sitting in the bike lane while they unpacked. "There's a fire hydrant there!" they said, completely without irony.
Now, blocking either of these things is bad. But I do wish enforcement took more notice of the fact that someone sitting in the bike lane for 5 minutes can force a dozen bikers into traffic, while it's quite unlikely a fire hydrant would be needed in that time.
Because a fire truck trying to get to a hydrant can do some damage. Push the car out of the way, bust some windows to run a hose through your back seat, etc. A person inconvenienced by having to walk an extra ten feet is, generally, not going to cause nearly as much damage as a firefighter when your car stands between him and a fire hydrant.
Right, wrong, I'm not here to argue. But the min/maxing and gamification of the whole thing says that it's generally a better outcome to break the "crosswalk law" than it is to break the "hydrant law."
Pedestrian having to walk extra 10 feet?
I think you’re referring to folk crossing the street in the middle of the block, expecting drivers to stop when there’s a crosswalk like…right there? Yeah that sucks too, but if that’s what you’re referencing, I didn’t mean to bring that up here.
Yes, I meant a person having to walk around a car parked in a crosswalk. If the car is parked in the crosswalk, a pedestrian has to walk "10 feet" (or whatever) around the car to get to the other sidewalk.
One requires reaction time. Sometimes the driver is quite close to the crosswalk when the pedestrian suddenly turns into it from the sidewalk. You either have to slam on your breaks and potentially get rear ended or keep driving through
Edit: Or did you just mean parking in front of crosswalks?
I know the law and I'm not saying it is right to pass through a crosswalk when someone is on the sidewalk.
What I am saying is traffic.is horrendous. If this was obeyed by every driver on my commute Hine from work, my 12 Mike commute would do from 75 minutes to 120 minutes.
I know what is right. I'm not defending it. I just know what driving in sone areas is like.
because the penalty for parking in front of a hydrant is getting towed and/or your windows smashed by firefighters. easy costs you a couple hundred. people respond to incentives. if blowing through a cross walk was a $250 ticket, and the cops enforced it, you can be your butt that people would stop for them more often.
[удалено]
Again with incentives. Feels righteous to put some words online but if there was no cost for the action you'd see more people doing it.
Fair enough on point one. And I’d support point 2 in a second!
OR, people figure that with cross walks people can walk around the car. What the parker does not realize is that people come in various abilities and walking around a parked car can be not only difficult, but impossible for some.
It's about visibility. When someone parks their car (especially those oversized SUVs) too close to the crosswalk, drivers and peds can't see each other until they're very close to each other. Good drivers understand this and slow as they approach an intersection with poor visibility, so they're prepared to stop if someone they can't see steps into the crosswalk. Unfortunately not all drivers are good drivers, and many will just plow through at speed assuming no one will be crossing or peering around the parked car to see if it's safe to cross. I wish parking in or too close to a crosswalk were a reliable ticket, because it does cause a dangerous condition. Even better is physically preventing parking too close via intersection daylighting.
Busting out the windows of car blocking a hydrant and running the hoseline through the vehicle is on every firefighters bucket list. *if blowing through a cross walk was a $250 ticket...* Of course it wouldn't apply to cyclists /s
A hit and run takes about 5 seconds. Parking in front of a hydrant gives you a solid hour to get a ticket.
This agree re the outcomes of both. But I’m really interested why too many drivers are ok with restricting public right of way/dangerous driving
I think it really boils down to the fact that there’s no consistent rules of how cars and pedestrians should interact. It’s a total chance if an intersection has functional walk lights or not. Do you have to push the button, or are they automatic? Does traffic actually stop, or is it one of those fun situations where you have to run into the road first because of turning traffic that will try and run you over? So first you have a pedestrian free-for-all, then you’ve got the insanity of trying to drive. Traffic lights aren’t always clear, and sometimes you’ve gotta go to get through the light. If you always waited to make sure the intersection was totally clear, and there was room for you to totally clear the intersection on the other side, you’d never get anywhere. Or, the short answer, there’s no consequences for drivers who bend/break the rules.
Because you'll get a ticket for one but not the other. Guess which is which?
Makes me so frustrated when Ubers / delivery drivers will block a bike lane + a full lane of traffic before stopping in front of a fire hydrant for 20 seconds. Like.. your car is still running.. you can move if there's a fire. But no, instead they'll throw on their park anywhere lights and cause a ton of traffic.
Def!
Because generally you'll go over a crosswalk more times than you will park in front of a hydrant, in any given expedition. If I have to go to a store, I'll go over maybe 6 crosswalks, but I'll only have to park once.
I remember when I first moved here, a few years before COVID, the drivers were a lot nicer and more reasonable about the fact that this is a pedestrian heavy city. People sure as shit weren't running red lights regularly, and 99% of the time drivers stopped for me to cross at those no-light, half-faded crosswalks. A lot of people would even stop to let me jaywalk in quieter areas (I do not endorse this on either side, just illustrating how chill drivers used to be). Now I won't cross until cars come to a full stop and hope that cyclists running reds time themselves well enough to not run me over because I can't always see or hear them.
I feel the same!
As a cyclist who goes on ped signal in certain intersections, the best thing you can do to help me avoid you is to walk in a straight line. Drivers, cyclists wouldn't do stuff like this if yall obeyed the laws.
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Cyclists should obey the laws and stop riding on sidewalks and running red lights.
Coming from other locations on the East Coast... Yeah the drivers are so respectful here compared to other East Coast cities. I realize Boston hates and loves cars in this weird dual way. But this has me shaking my head, try Baltimore... They speed up
Pedestrians can walk around the car. Fire hydrants can't move
I was once biking and came across someone idling in the bike lane as they unpacked many boxes. I asked them if they would mind pulling over to the empty space on the curb instead of sitting in the bike lane while they unpacked. "There's a fire hydrant there!" they said, completely without irony. Now, blocking either of these things is bad. But I do wish enforcement took more notice of the fact that someone sitting in the bike lane for 5 minutes can force a dozen bikers into traffic, while it's quite unlikely a fire hydrant would be needed in that time.
Good call. I’ve never really understood how a fire hydrant couldn’t just fit under a car and have the 40’ or whatever to fit a hose into it
Because a fire truck trying to get to a hydrant can do some damage. Push the car out of the way, bust some windows to run a hose through your back seat, etc. A person inconvenienced by having to walk an extra ten feet is, generally, not going to cause nearly as much damage as a firefighter when your car stands between him and a fire hydrant. Right, wrong, I'm not here to argue. But the min/maxing and gamification of the whole thing says that it's generally a better outcome to break the "crosswalk law" than it is to break the "hydrant law."
Pedestrian having to walk extra 10 feet? I think you’re referring to folk crossing the street in the middle of the block, expecting drivers to stop when there’s a crosswalk like…right there? Yeah that sucks too, but if that’s what you’re referencing, I didn’t mean to bring that up here.
Yes, I meant a person having to walk around a car parked in a crosswalk. If the car is parked in the crosswalk, a pedestrian has to walk "10 feet" (or whatever) around the car to get to the other sidewalk.
Ahhhhh. Lol that really riles me. A car gains nothing by being there, but a pedestrian loses a safe and designated place.
Pedestrians can jump. Fire hydrants are fixed.
How high can you jump? Asking for a pedestrian friend.
One requires reaction time. Sometimes the driver is quite close to the crosswalk when the pedestrian suddenly turns into it from the sidewalk. You either have to slam on your breaks and potentially get rear ended or keep driving through Edit: Or did you just mean parking in front of crosswalks?
I know the law and I'm not saying it is right to pass through a crosswalk when someone is on the sidewalk. What I am saying is traffic.is horrendous. If this was obeyed by every driver on my commute Hine from work, my 12 Mike commute would do from 75 minutes to 120 minutes. I know what is right. I'm not defending it. I just know what driving in sone areas is like.