Holding only the driver at fault for all pedestrians "in" the marked crosswalk is a disastrous law because of this:
When there are two lanes in one direction, and the pedestrian has just stepped into the crosswalk in the lane closest to the curb.....if there is a vehicle (not bicyclist) in the curb lane, vehicle drivers approaching in the left lane cannot always see a pedestrian in the crosswalk when the vehicle in the right lane is blocking the view of the pedestrian .
In that situation, when there is no stop light at the crossing, there is no reason for a car driver approaching in the left lane to automatically stop for a pedestrian, and this dumb crosswalk law encourages the pedestrian to get hit by blindly walking into the center lane in front of a car approaching in the left lane.
It's also a disaster where there is vehicle right turn allowed on red light, and just as a driver sees all is clear to turn right and starts the turn, a pedestrian wanders out into the crosswalk about 3 feet in front of the driver's bumper. The driver should not be "always" at fault for that pedestrian's dopey, unsafe entrance into the crosswalk.
People are now stepping out into the crosswalks while never looking up from their phones, to the extent that in Germany or somewhere, a city put bright blue lights IN the pavement entrance to the crosswalk, so that people who never look up from their phone have the bright light warning in the concrete. This is enabling stupidity on the part of the walker.
I think that drivers are blameless in some of these situations, and that pedestrians should be the ones at-fault when they wander into the crosswalk without looking or without being able to see what's coming on the left when a vehicle in the curb lane is blocking view. I see this happening all the time and it is scary.
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