[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

I think you might need to be more specific about how you were "almost hit"

Also, "approaching", "waiting", and "in the crosswalk" are very different things.

If a pedestrian is "approaching" the crosswalk, he has only one obligation----to stop at the street and wait for all vehicular traffic to pass. Motorists can "ignore" him

If he is "waiting", he has fulfilled his obligation, but motorists should watch him carefully lest he does something stupid.

If he is in the crosswalk, the motorist must stop and allow the pedestrian to cross. The pedestrian cannot however jump into the crosswalk when traffic is approaching and expect the motorist to brake into a skid.

Some jurisdictions have a statute that states motorists must yield to pedestrians in their half of the crosswalk. That seems a bit cavalier to me

Well said.