Don't blame, just use caution

Last week, I ran into a car. It wasn't really a car accident though, because I was on foot. Now, before anyone makes judgements about my eye sight, coordination skills, blood alcohol or intelligence levels, let me explain.\nI was approaching a crosswalk with a friend of mine. The sign had read "walk" for quite a while and still read "walk" by the time we reached it. I stepped onto the road, fully intending to cross, when a silver Jetta cut in front of me. It happened so fast, I couldn't stop, and before I knew it I had walked into the Jetta. \nYes, you read that right. I walked into a car. But that's not it. After I backed away from the Jetta, stunned, my friend pointing and laughing at me from the curb, it paused briefly, and made a right turn. \nAll the Jetta wanted to do was make a right turn. Couldn't it have waited until two girls crossed the road? He did have a red light and the sign read "walk." Or couldn't he have been more cautious since pedestrians are at nearly every crosswalk on campus during the day? Even if the driver was in a hurry or late for something, had I been walking faster and had he not stopped in time, he would have been even more late, because he would have to stop his vehicle so I could slowly roll off the car hood. I do realize that pedestrians don't always have the right of way, but in this situation, I did because not only was I within the crosswalk, the sign read "walk." \nIt has always been dangerous to cross roads; collisions involving pedestrians didn't just come up this year. Drivers are not always at fault; the pedestrian right of way is a tricky concept. A pedestrian cannot cross the road just anywhere with the excuse of the right of way. \nTitle 7 of the Indiana Code (traffic) has many chapters, including "right of way in crosswalks," which explain in detail when the pedestrian has the right of way. Section 7.73.02 of this code states "the vehicle shall yield to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the half of the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling." But not everyone crosses the road within the crosswalk, or even at a traffic light. Because there are so many different circumstances where blame can be put on either the vehicle or pedestrian, it is difficult to keep track of when each party has the right of way. \nBut even when pedestrians have the right of way, they still should be cautious, because they can still be injured. Keep in mind that although you may have the right of way in a certain situation crossing the street, cars and buses are bigger than you in size, speed and strength. Especially in traffic, drivers don't always want to wait for people to cross the road if they just need to make a right turn, the traffic light is going to change soon, etc. There were 43 bicycle/pedestrian accidents in Monroe County in 1999.\nThis just proves that everyone should be careful where he crosses, when he crosses, how fast he drives and everyone should keep an eye out for a biker darting in front of a car, or a bus turning the corner where you're crossing the street. And to that silver Jetta: Hope I didn't damage your car.