Pedestrians always have the right away, especially on a campus. My college was also smacked in the middle of traffic too, I used to have to run to get to the other side safely. Accidents like these happens cause drivers/pedestrians don't wanna yield to each other. They both go at the same time, expecting the other to yield. Drivers should always be alert, they're the ones with the 1 ton weapon.

 

Pedestrians always have the right of way, period. The reason being as stated above. A collision is somewaht final for the pedestrian. I'm sure it's hellannoying in these school areas for you guys, but you just gotta expect it and watch out for it.

 

Pedestrians do not automatically have the right of way. From what planet are you?

Pedestrians are often limited to crossing at crosswalks and, many times, only when given a "WALK" signal. Pedestrians do not have the right to walk anywhere, anytime. Pedestrians are often required to walk against the flow of traffic if there is no sidewalk/designated walking area. They have to respect the rules of the road as much as any car.

Now, there is an UNWRITTEN rule that the pedestrian takes precedence over the car. That's a measure of the sanctity of human life, not a legal requirement. It's a good way to think and act but let's face it, if someone dashes across a superhighway with traffic moving at 80 mph, the person driving the vehicle that hits them is almost certainly NOT liable.

 

Only if they're driving a motorcycle, moped, or bicycle. Everyone else is driving closer to a 2-ton weapon.

 

downshift on pedestrians!

 

Weapon it's not, bigger than a pedestrian it is!

Common sense tells me if a bigger person,horse, elephant or a car is headed my direction to wait just a sec so that they'll miss me.

 

i dunno

on my campus, it's a given that students crossing in the designated crossing zones assume the right of way, and traffic should yield; i'm not saying it's "the law", just what we do. when i'm driving through campus, i stop even if someone is on the sidewalk waiting for traffic to pass, because i like to be given the same courtesy when i'm walking

 

That's your choice but it's not required nor do they have the right-of-way, unless specified by your campus.

A campus is also a very different situation than a city road. On campus, speed limits are often 25 mph or lower (sometimes as low as 5 or 10 mph) so even if someone steps out in front of you, you can probably stop pretty fast (20 ft or less). Hitting a pedestrian at 10 mph isn't going to be fun for them but they should easily survive it.

 

This is why I slow the **** down around schools. Kids don't pay attention to traffic. When I was in high school we had maybe 4 kids die through road related accidents. It's especially sad to see kids die in avoidable ways like this, so much lost potential.