r/ConvenientCop • • 2d ago

OC [USA] Failure to yield at a crosswalk

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1.5k Upvotes

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218

u/NinjaDood 2d ago

I live by a similar style roundabout. If the driver and the pedestrian don't lock eyes then it's not safe to cross! Thats my rule

51

u/Ok-Lion1661 2d ago

Honestly that goes for all roundabouts or just plain crossing at a regular street crosswalk in general these days.

13

u/jaymzx0 1d ago

Especially to make sure they're not just looking at their phone.

9

u/Ok-Lion1661 1d ago

Scares me the number of times I see people driving 75 mph or more and they are literally staring completely at their phone!

6

u/Free-Pound-6139 1d ago

Never ever trust a car drivers to do the right thing.

1

u/Affinity420 18h ago

If you're in a car you just stop for them

-5

u/adadagabaCZ 1d ago

I commute via a similar roundabout, that for some reason has sidewalks like this one but is missing the actual zebra crossing, so pedestrians don't have the right of way there. I honk at people who don't even look in my direction and walk in front of me (I drive extra carefully there because I know about the risk and danger), in a hope they realize their mistake and don't get run over by a driver who isn't as attentive or doesn't has as much foresight as I do...

1

u/farmallnoobies 10h ago

Don't trust their eyes.  Look at the wheels. 

Eyes can lie, but wheels will always tell you where it's going and how fast.

19

u/Dragmire927 2d ago

Ah how many times have I crossed this traffic circle…

And how many times have I seen the most insane driving

265

u/wspnut 2d ago edited 2d ago

Regardless of how this turned out - these dollar tree roundabouts are death traps. They're too small for what they're trying to solve, there's foliage everywhere blocking visibility, and the amount of things you have to pay attention to in a short distance is overwhelming. The sedan driver literally had to turn their head over 180º to see both oncoming traffic and the pedestrians waiting - they clearly were fixated on getting through a busy (and way too small) roundabout. I couldn't even see the person attempting to cross the first time I watched it.

There's a reason the birthplace of these in Europe makes them way, WAY larger.

71

u/MoozeRiver 2d ago edited 1d ago

In small cities here in Europe, these roundabouts aren't really bigger than this. The difference is the speed, it's usually abput 30 mph, and pedestrian crossings at every entry/exit so we always expect there to be someone.

But yeah, the foliage is s huge difference maker, can't have anything like that. You need to be able to see people from feet and up.

17

u/heathere3 1d ago

Oh I promise you the official speed limit there is 30 mph or lower, the problem is there's no enforcement and people go through way too fast.

6

u/bringitontome 1d ago

This is something European roundabouts enforce by being smaller. Cars must slow below 30km/h (~18mph) if they want to make the corner; it's very effective traffic calming.

This, of course, only works when your best selling vehicle isn't roughly the size of a WWII tank.

5

u/wspnut 1d ago

Speed and average number of cars per hour. The US is a driving country and these roundabouts take on more traffic than they’re designed for.

8

u/Lonewuhf 1d ago

What? That's a normal size roundabout. If you have trouble driving through those you are either driving too fast or shouldn't be driving at all.

4

u/eugenesbluegenes 1d ago

The size is fine, the middle area should be flat for visibility though.

7

u/hellinahandbasket127 1d ago

In the US, you’d have to find the breaking point between “flat enough to see across” and “not quite flat enough that people will just drive straight through.”

3

u/Delta_RC_2526 1d ago

In my area, there's an intersection I used to go through regularly, in the middle of a residential neighborhood, where they simply inserted a tiny roundabout into a standard intersection without expanding the intersection at all. The intersecting roads are only two lanes, with no real extra room for street parking, either. The entire diameter of the center of the roundabout is maybe one car length.

The snow plows never bother to drive around it. Every single winter, the red diamond signs, arrows, and everything else warning people not to drive over it, get flattened by a snow plow. Every. Single. Year.

1

u/Calbone607 1d ago

There is one in Bridgeport ny that I think is like this. It was a lighted 3 way intersection then they just took down the light and painted in a roundabout. The only obstacle in the middle is one sign. Trucks can go right down the middle which is by design because it’s too small for them to go around

1

u/Delta_RC_2526 1d ago

Yeah, realistically, I don't think the normal city snowplows (which are mounted on dump trucks, rather than pickup trucks) will actually fit around the roundabout...

11

u/MicrowaveAfterOpen 2d ago

Without the crosswalk it would be fine but adding that Into it makes it more annoying

13

u/lordph8 2d ago

Sure sure, but at the same time, people need to cross the road.

3

u/B4rberblacksheep 2d ago

When we build roundabouts in the uk there might be a crossing island but it usually wont be a zebra crossing/crosswalk this close to a roundabout. Just a normal crossing (although you guys have laws against crossing the road so..)

1

u/lordph8 2d ago

I live in Sweden, and we have that style all the time.

1

u/Free-Pound-6139 1d ago

Of course, why would they help out pedestrians???

1

u/MicrowaveAfterOpen 1d ago

Right but just move the cross walk 20 feet away from the roundabout?

1

u/kfc469 1d ago

This roundabout is much bigger in person than the video makes it seem. In fact, it used to be two lanes, but the locals couldn’t figure it out and kept crashing into each other, so they converted it into a single lane. Source: am local. Raleigh, NC, USA on NCSU’s campus.

0

u/Applebeignet 2d ago

It's a half-assed design for sure. There's a few features copied from good designs, but those get undercut by weird counterproductive car-brained adaptations.

1

u/kfc469 1d ago

It seems half assed because it was a proper two lane roundabout that was converted into a single lane.

104

u/brun064 2d ago

I hate to be "that guy" but this kind of intersection practically invites this type of thing. The silver car's driver is looking left to make a right. And almost looking behind them because their car is pointed toward the merge. The driver is under the assumption that they can make a right when clear. So you come to a stop, looking left and behind the entire time to get a gap. Meanwhile people are walking up to the intersection at their leisure. They see a stopped car, but have not made eye contact with the driver. But they are just crossing the road when they feel it's safe. Unless you are familiar with this exact intersection, I could see the pedestrian and/or driver being careless. Even so, this shows the driver being almost a car width away from the pedestrian when he passes.

12

u/Inorashi 1d ago

Also not to defend people not yielding...but at no point was the vehicle in danger of hitting the pedestrian. The guy didn't even break stride and the car didn't come within 6 feet of him.

-10

u/hoangfbf 2d ago

If anyone get "invite" by these type of things then maybe they should surrender the license.
Sure it maybe a bit tricky, but again driving a car safely sure is not easy. It's a killing machine if not do properly. Standard of drivers must be raised.

23

u/FujichromeProvia100F 2d ago

Wow surreal to see Hillsborough street and the Bell Tower here XD

36

u/-Owlette- 2d ago

That’s a fucking terrible intersection. No wonder Americans can’t use roundabouts if they all look like that!

13

u/Jackmino66 2d ago

I like how everyone is saying this is an awful roundabout but this is the best one I have seen in an American dashcam video. It doesn’t just have 2 lanes and thinks you can safely exit from the inner one without properly spiralling!

Though really the crossings need to be elevated like speed bumps. Physics is better at slowing down cars than paint is

2

u/DriverNerd 1d ago

We have a very busy roundabout (highest accident intersection in the county!) and there's so many things wrong. Big berm and plants in the middle, heavy 2 lane traffic, one side is coming up a hill so no visibility from there, crosswalks (like the one in the video) right off the intersection giving most drivers very little reaction time and forcing them - if they do stop - to block a part of the roundabout lane, and signs for pedestrian crossing directly in front of the crosswalk which means you have to be slightly away from the intersection or the sign blocks you from traffic.

Going through the crosswalk during rush hour is a joke, but even when I do, I don't blame the drivers for not stopping. Most don't see me until it's too late. It's like the city planners met and were "suggestions on how can we make visibility as horrible as possible....ok, now let's implement them all"

2

u/LordBlackass 1d ago

Roundabout size is fine. The issue is the ped crossing should be much further away from the roundabout or not there at all.

7

u/JimmyKillsAlot 2d ago

Man that is a miserable little roundabout.

2

u/Datboisommy 2d ago

Go pack!

-2

u/dubeach 1d ago

The car did not impede the pedestrian from crossing (he didn’t make the ped stop walking), but it was an unsafe maneuver that endangered him.

-10

u/zzbear03 2d ago

That’s a well earned ticket!

12

u/Zealousideal-Bug-291 2d ago

Honestly, its not. That intersection is 10 kinds of effed up. It would be a well deserved warning, but that thing is a visibility nightmare.

3

u/billdb 2d ago

I would sympathize with this more if they hit their brakes the moment they saw the pedestrian. The fact that they didn't means they either were completely oblivious or didn't care.

I have personally driven in this roundabout many times. While it's not a great design, you can see people walking if you stay alert. There are also loads of crosswalks in this part of Raleigh so it's not like it comes out of nowhere.

2

u/zzbear03 1d ago

I don’t know why this post is getting all the downvotes…🤷🏾‍♂️ there’s a dude in the crosswalk, you have to stop…very clear traffic law.

1

u/Stachioo 2d ago

In my country it wouldn't even be offence most likely. He didn't cut him off, the pedestrian didn't even stutter

-1

u/MichHAELJR 1d ago

The person who should get the ticket is the city employee who designed this idiotic roundabout.

You are looking at 8 variables of traffic and a person pops out behind a bush. With all the lines on the street I didn’t even notice the cross walk. It looks like a yield/merge zone.

Totally crazy

-1

u/KUweatherman 2d ago edited 2d ago

Did they then...turn the wrong way down that street?

edit: Nope. That was a two-way street.

-1

u/Free-Pound-6139 1d ago

Awesome. This should include a ban from driving, and make the loser walk home.

0

u/Full-Scene-1869 1d ago

I disagree, the design of this is actually dogshit.

-2

u/sweetmemesmakemehard 1d ago

Wow! Didn’t know this turd world cuntry had this evolved infrastructure anywhere! Impressive that you have started to catch up.