Be careful walking in parking lots
 

Yesterday my wife was leaving the Petco store at Spanish Springs. She looking both ways when leaving. There was a woman in a black suv stopped at the crosswalk. After she started walking across the black suv started driving toward her and made no attempt to slow down, she had to increase her pace to avoid being run over. The driver continued on looking straight ahead without slowing down.

Walking behind parked car pulling out the real danger IMO.

Never assume a driver sees you unless you make eye contact...

and even then...... don't trust 100% !

It was at the Spanish Springs at the Publix or Winn Dixie a few years back where a couple walking in the cross walk from the store to their car in the parking lot were both killed. Actually they were in the "right", Florida law does require drivers to stop for people in the cross walk rather they are " right or wrong". So sad that being in the "right" can end with you being "dead right".

Courtesy, attention to driving over texting and talking, not being constantly driven to "show them" (those who offend you) whose the boss of the situation, would all help reduce the needless pain, suffering, and death... and it would "cost" us such a tiny tiny bit of our own egos !

if i read the title and the post correctly, leaving Petco and walking across the road in front of stores back into the parking lot?

or what am i missing?

I just wait for no cars or someone stops if there are cars. . too many idiot, stoopids and drunks out there these days

Ditto
 

Same EXACT thing happened to me at a mail center, only I was riding my bicycle. The older woman in the vehicle would have run me over had I not taken evasive maneuvers.

And that ladies and gents is the reason you should never park directly in front of our golf shops to check in. Other golfers have to walk between the parked carts to get to the parking lot. Each day I work I see numerous golfers ,who are difficult to see walking between two carts, have to stop to avoid getting hit by another cart/car.

I'm a native New Yorker, being so you expect to be runover, you never rely on another person's judgement.
Especially here whereas we get older are minds wander, the driver could be looking straight at you and their mind could be on a beach in France.

My experience, here, is that the parking lots are truly dangerous. People drive in them like they're on a highway. Other people walk down the center of the roadway never watching right and left or being aware there may be a car behind them. Also crossing from a store/restaurant is very dangerous. You have to have your head on a swivle. Backing out.....if you're hit by another car, you will be in the fault of it and not the other way around. However, I thought that once a car backing out is 3/4 of the way out that the other car should stop and let you proceed from your parking spot instead of swerving around you. Never, never, ever assume anything here.

NEVER walk in front of a moving car. Ever. Even if in a cross walk. You may have the right-of-way…but you’ll be dead right. I don’t even trust eye contact anymore. Just easier to walk behind them…

The posts in my SUV are so big, that if someone is walking up a lane doing the same speed as me, and I'm driving across the top..... I will lose them behind the posts. I was driving in front of a Publix, slowly, and a man literally stepped out in front of me at the top of a parking lane....... I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him, he glared at me...... I wasn't not paying attention, he was literally hidden. When I was a little kid I was taught not to step in front of moving vehicles, granted it would have been my fault, but the man assumed I would stop and if I didn't have good brakes it would have been bad,

A Pillar Problem
 

Yes - this can be a big problem - drivers need to move their head and shoulders left and right while in pedestrian areas to look around their A pillars.

all our years of living here it amazes us that people just walk out without looking all the time. Why?
I am not condoning cars not paying attention but more
Likely than not The villagers just walkout without regard for anything.

When I was a little boy, my mom always told me to look both ways before crossing the street.

It's wild that 60+ years later, that's still true.

You have to be aware of your surroundings at all times... Don't assume they see you, and never trust a golf cart with it's blinker on...

Too many under the influence
 

Woman was in the CROSSWALK people. Drivers should yield.

Happened to me as well a couple of months ago in the Colony Plaza Parking lot. Had to jump out of the way actually. Can't trust the cars to stop...

There was a woman in a black suv stopped at the crosswalk.

Car supposedly was not moving at the crosswalk.

True! But folks don't always do what they "should "!
Be Careful!

One should always kick a body panel of a car that whizzes by a crosswalk. If they call the cops to b!tch then they get a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian. And they hit you.

In today's world and the faith I have in mankind I now look both ways twice on a one way street!

The driver was stopped before my wife entered the cross walk and she started driving thru as my wife was walking thru almost pushing her out of the way.

My wife did look, both ways. The only vehicle was the suv and it was stopped at the crosswalk. The driver started moving after my wife started across.

Why I hate tinted windows, seeing the driver gives me a better sense of what might happen.

My wife did wait. The suv was stopped to let her pass. After she was in the cross walk the driver started moving thru and almost pushed her out if the way

I agree. However, I've been told that police CAN NOT ticket a driver for not stopping at an occupied crosswalk (yielding to pedestrians), not stopping at a stop sign in a parking lot, not even for speeding there. Only enforced infractions are: Handicapped parking, parked (unoccupied) in a fire lane and parked (unoccupied) too close to a fire hydrant.
Reason: the others mentioned are on private property and only warnings can be issued for those.

Any ex-cop out there know this to be true? Perhaps varies by state laws.

Skip

When walking in public I always let the moving car go. I don't like when they stop for me, just go. I'll be fine when they move and pass by where I am. I'll even slow my walk or pretend to stop before I get to the spot where I anticipate them stopping. Being hit by a car can be a life altering event that I don't want. I try to be aware of everything going on around me when I'm walking. I'm a fast walker in general, but I can slow down and look casual when needed. I can always look at my phone in a safer spot.

Last week I was in the crosswalk outside Ay Jalisco on Paige Place. A car coming from the square on Main decided to turn left when the light turned green. I was already IN the crosswalk, almost halfway across. The waitress from Ay Jalisco had run out to give me my sweater which I left on the back of the chair. She saw this white car almost run right into me and came rushing over to yell at them.

I didn't get to see who the driver was, but thanks to the waitress I was able to get out of the car's way. Ay Jalisco staff are - just so awesome. And my waitress was my hero that day!

Because they feel privileged!

My wife was paying attention. The suv was stopped at the crosswalk and she looked both ways and at the driver of the suv

My wife did look both ways and the suv was stopped. It started moving when she was in the crosswalk!

IMO mail center parking lots are the most dangerous spots in villages. Especially 3 to 6 PM.

She could have been in A pillar/mirror blind spot?

Then you would be the aggressor, and subject to arrest for assault.

I look directly at them and wave and smile, then cross.
At night if it's particularly busy I use my phone's flashlight and wave it around as I cross.

So, you're saying that the SUV was stopped when your wife entered the crosswalk? :thumbup:

Yes

Thanks for clearing that up...;)

When I am on a bike, I only take back streets that have low traffic. I even look in the rearview mirror and come to a complete stop off the street on a driveway or CLOSE (but not on) someone's grass as the vehicles pass me . I know to serious bike rider's this would seem TOO extreme, but I think that some of the drivers of the cars and trucks are TOO extreme - they are TOO distracted, they speed, they have bad eyesight and reflexes. I also know that many bicyclists are HIT by cars very often in The Villages.
.........I know that the serious cyclist has decided that THEY have a right to their part of the road. I agree on a theoretical basis, but personally, until a bicycle is invented that has an IMPENETRABLE force field around it, I will use my strategy. I am retired and in no hurry and I can get just as much exercise in a swimming pool or jogging at a track or inside of a softball field. I use my bike merely to go from point A to point B as a change from going by car.
........When I lived in a western state, I often rode an off-the-road bicycle where I could completely avoid automobiles and see a lot of nature. I live in the northern section of The Villages and NOT near any multi-use path. So, I only take low-traveled streets. I understand that there are bike-only paths in the newer southern areas and that The Villages plans on widening the existing multi-use paths, but those don't benefit me.
......PS I would NEVER ride even CLOSE to a mail center because the vehicle drivers will be EXTRA distracted. It would not be worth the danger to me, personally.