Crime In The Heights

[west20th]

You know what? I think you're driviing recklessly on Heights. If you had to brake twice to avoid joggers in a single evening, you're probably driving too fast and pedestrians don't see you comming. My experience on Heights doesn't come close to yours, and maybe it's because I drive carefully, expecting that neighborhood hazards might present themselves to me.

Wrong. I usually get a lot of horns on Heights because I usually drive a little less than the speed limit at night. The issue is the neighborhood hazards can't be seen soon enough because they think it is a good idea to jog at night in dark clothes.

Edited October 21, 2011 by west20th

[marmer]

It's just as bad around the Rice campus. Joggers in dark clothes act like they don't know or don't care they're invisible. Bicyclists, too.

[Subdude]

Now the question is, who has the proper right of way?

If you are in a car, assume that pedestrians always have the right of way, regardless of the rules.

[Ross]

If you are in a car, assume that pedestrians always have the right of way, regardless of the rules.

That's pretty much my assumption when I drive, especially in the Greater Heights area. However, when a stupid pedestrian darts into a traffic lane from behind a car, or a tree, or other obstruction, and doesn't look for cars, there's not a lot a driver can do. I am also appalled by the number of joggers that think the street is an appropriate place to run, and the parents that push a stroller in the street. My other pet peeve is the parents around Harvard Elementary who get their kids out of the car on the street side instead of the sidewalk side. Whatever happened to thinking before acting?

[barracuda]

I am also appalled by the number of joggers that think the street is an appropriate place to run, and the parents that push a stroller in the street.

It depends on the street. Many of the side streets in the Heights have haphazard or missing sidewalks, and sometimes the sidewalks are blocked with overgrown plants that property owners don't bother to prune. I'm tempted sometimes to prune them myself. I see nothing wrong with walking or running to the side of the street in these cases. But on a busy street like Heights where there is a clear running path and navigable sidewalks, I agree pedestrians should be using those.

[ricco67]

If you are in a car, assume that pedestrians always have the right of way, regardless of the rules.

"Regardless of the rules?"

So we are supposed to disobey the laws that are written on the books? Next then you know we'll have people roaming the streets at will clogging the traffic.

Whatever.

[OutfieldDan]

"Regardless of the rules?"

So we are supposed to disobey the laws that are written on the books? Next then you know we'll have people roaming the streets at will clogging the traffic.

Whatever.

If disobeying the rules means that your right of way allows you to run over a human being with impunity, then you are the problem. I guess running joggers down will teach them a lesson. Maybe this is what happened to the dead runner at 11th St.

Edited October 22, 2011 by OutfieldDan

[kylejack]

"Regardless of the rules?"

So we are supposed to disobey the laws that are written on the books?

Why would it involve disobeying a law? I'm not seeing how plowing through a pedestrian intentionally because he didn't have the right of way is helpful in any way.

[ricco67]

No, but that shouldn't excuse the pedestrian for being in a roadway to begin with and then look at you for being a moron for barely making him an organ donor.

[kylejack]

No, but that shouldn't excuse the pedestrian for being in a roadway to begin with and then look at you for being a moron for barely making him an organ donor.

That isn't what was said. The legal system already decides who had the right of way. The comment is that when someone is in their car, they should always yield to a pedestrian.

[TheNiche]

That isn't what was said. The legal system already decides who had the right of way. The comment is that when someone is in their car, they should always yield to a pedestrian.

Think about maritime law on the subject. Pretty much any vessel under way is required to give way to a vessel not under command. Then think of stupid pedestrians as those not under command of their own faculties. Give way.

[ricco67]

Sound pretty iffy to me.

I might have a text I'd need to answer and can't really be bothered to keep an eye out for another distraction.

[Subdude]

"Regardless of the rules?"

So we are supposed to disobey the laws that are written on the books? Next then you know we'll have people roaming the streets at will clogging the traffic.

This wasn't saying that people should disobey laws, but people are people and at times they will. It is just a lot easier to watch out for pedestrians than to sit around and fret about rules being broken.

[ricco67]

This wasn't saying that people should disobey laws, but people are people and at times they will. It is just a lot easier to watch out for pedestrians than to sit around and fret about rules being broken.

Awesome, I'll keep out for them between text msgs.

[TheNiche]

Awesome, I'll keep out for them between text msgs.

That's all the Dude asks of you...

[JJxvi]

I am also appalled by the number of joggers that think the street is an appropriate place to run, and the parents that push a stroller in the street.

Off topic perhaps, but one of my greatest pet peeves (I live on Nicholson) is driving behind the handful of cyclists that are apparently too cool to use the bike path.

[kylejack]

No pesky pedestrians on the street.

[little frau]

In our neighborhood, mothers like to push their strollers in the street. The middle of the street.

I understand why they like the streets because the sidewalks are not uniformly even but why do they have to walk in the MIDDLE of the street?

We have lots of joggers too but they do seem to stay to one side of the street or the other. And, maybe it's just because I'm in the east end but I don't see a lot of joggers out after dark. Thank goodness. Wearing dark clothes at night, walking or running, is just dumb. (I know, I know, sometimes it is unavoidable as if you're just getting off the bus after dark etc. so we don't need to go there)

The story that prompted this thread was such a sad one but I do wonder if it served to educate any of the Heights area joggers at all. From some of the prior posts here, I kinda doubt it.

[SilverJK]

Off topic perhaps, but one of my greatest pet peeves (I live on Nicholson) is driving behind the handful of cyclists that are apparently too cool to use the bike path.

Half the time that i longboard the bike path cars are blocking the path (houses on Nicholson where their driveways cross the path.)

Also, a lot of families use the path in this area, a fast rider would probably want to opt for riding in the street to aviod a collision. Bicycles are traffic.

[JJxvi]

Half the time that i longboard the bike path cars are blocking the path (houses on Nicholson where their driveways cross the path.)

Also, a lot of families use the path in this area, a fast rider would probably want to opt for riding in the street to aviod a collision. Bicycles are traffic.

I'm sure there are all sorts of excuses.

[ricco67]

i'd suggest you call traffic enforcement to ask them to drive by the hood from time and see what they would say.

They're operating 24hrs a day from what i've seen.

[MOpens]

Off topic perhaps, but one of my greatest pet peeves (I live on Nicholson) is driving behind the handful of cyclists that are apparently too cool to use the bike path.

Not sure what you mean by "cyclists," but I do not see the bike path as a credible option for anything more than a leisurely bike ride. And besides, those cyclists that you are stuck behind have as much of a right as you do to be on the street.

[kylejack]

Right, there is no obligation to use the bike path and the street is a perfectly legitimate option. Bike paths and sidewalks can actually be more dangerous than the streets in certain circumstances. Sometimes drivers check streets for cross-traffic, but nowhere else.

[RedScare]

In our neighborhood, mothers like to push their strollers in the street. The middle of the street.

I understand why they like the streets because the sidewalks are not uniformly even but why do they have to walk in the MIDDLE of the street?

We have lots of joggers too but they do seem to stay to one side of the street or the other. And, maybe it's just because I'm in the east end but I don't see a lot of joggers out after dark. Thank goodness. Wearing dark clothes at night, walking or running, is just dumb. (I know, I know, sometimes it is unavoidable as if you're just getting off the bus after dark etc. so we don't need to go there)

The story that prompted this thread was such a sad one but I do wonder if it served to educate any of the Heights area joggers at all. From some of the prior posts here, I kinda doubt it.

It has educated neither joggers nor mothers with strollers. Not only do these people insist on jogging or strolling in the street, they go the wrong direction. And, as you also noticed, sometimes in the middle of the street. I try to give these people lots of room, but the self-centered arseholes take up so much space that I sometimes can't. It is all I can do to keep from cussing them a blue streak.

For those who insist on walking the streets, let me point out two statutes. One: It is illegal to walk in the street when there is a sidewalk next to the roadway. Two: When walking in the roadway, the pedestrian shall walk in the lane FACING traffic, not with it. For cyclists, the opposite is true.

I don't even know why I wasted my time typing that. These people think the world revolves around them. They certainly would not follow the rules of the road.

[s3mh]

It has educated neither joggers nor mothers with strollers. Not only do these people insist on jogging or strolling in the street, they go the wrong direction. And, as you also noticed, sometimes in the middle of the street. I try to give these people lots of room, but the self-centered arseholes take up so much space that I sometimes can't. It is all I can do to keep from cussing them a blue streak.

For those who insist on walking the streets, let me point out two statutes. One: It is illegal to walk in the street when there is a sidewalk next to the roadway. Two: When walking in the roadway, the pedestrian shall walk in the lane FACING traffic, not with it. For cyclists, the opposite is true.

I don't even know why I wasted my time typing that. These people think the world revolves around them. They certainly would not follow the rules of the road.

Just try pushing a stroller down the sidewalk on any street in the Heights without having the baby pop clean out of the stroller and go rolling into the drainage ditch. Ok, a bit of an exaggeration with the babies popping out of strollers, but it is a fact that it is next to impossible to get down the sidewalks with a stroller because the sidewalks are all in terrible disrepair in the Heights. That is why moms and joggers all take to the streets. If the sidewalks were in decent shape, no one would risk getting hit by some impatient arsehole who can wait a few extra seconds to get around pedestrians in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

[RedScare]

The sidewalks in my area are fine. The people in the streets near my house do so for reasons other than bad sidewalks. And, what are those $300 strollers with the bicycle wheels for? Oh yeah...looks. Nevermind.

[Ross]

If the sidewalks are too bad to use, complain to the City to force the property owners to obey the law and fix them. In the meantime, stay out of the street.

[ricco67]

This is where being a minority REALLY sucks, but I can't care about their stereotyping me as I berate them for walking in the middle of a street with a baby stroller while THEY are talking on the phone.

Let them call me whatever and acting like a typical mexican, at least my blood pressure gets lowered when I unload at them.

[JJxvi]

Yeah, yeah I get it with all the excuses.

Edited October 24, 2011 by JJxvi

[RedScare]

Yeah, yeah I get it with all the excuses.

Don't forget, these are the people that complained when the City tried to redo Yale Street, filed lawsuits against the City for an agreement to redo Heights and Yale around the proposed Walmart, and complained about an agreement to redo the streets around the proposed Kroger. Some even complained about spending money to repave 11th and Studewood. If word gets out that the City is repaving the sidewalks surrounding neighborhood schools (last month they redid Pecore), they'll probably complain about that too.