Hey, there! Log in / Register
Citizen complaint of the day: Hey, you kids, get offa my road
By adamg on Sat, 09/21/2013 - 12:00pm
A concerned citizen frets:
Is there something we can do to curb the throngs of BU students from crossing Comm Ave against the walk light? They haphazardly cascade across the street between classes, with no regard for vehicles and bikes. Not only is it unsafe for them, but it creates a dangerous driving situation. Thanks!
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
One or two get run over every
One or two get run over every year but it doesn't seem to change things. Maybe part of freshman orientation should be a pedestrian safety course.
"Pedestrian safety course" = victim blaming
How about we have a safety course for the motorists who are driving lethal weapons?
How about we stop promoting violence against people who are not inside of two-ton steel vehicles?
How about the police finally do their job for once and actually protect people who are walking?
Victim blaming?!
Dude - if you cross against the light and step out in front of a moving vehicle, it is your fault if you get hit. I am a pedestrian more than I am a driver in Boston and I would never claim to never jaywalk but there's a time and a place. I've had drivers aggressively cut me off when I do have the right of way (in crosswalk, have a walk light, driver turning) but the citizen complaint is about people jaywalking without thinking. I've had to slam on the brakes more than once in front of BU. The two thoughts that occur to me then are 1. Why is it my job to keep you alive and 2. Smart enough to get in to BU but not smart enough to cross the street. It is a pedestrian problem, not a driver problem - comm ave is a straight line there. You either drive with a green light or you stop with a red. The only truly evil car this far was in the novel Christine.
I'm far more concerned about jay-driving
No, the original complaint is against students crossing against the walk signal.
Hello? The walk signals along Comm Ave are terribly timed, and there's a humongous number of people trying to cross. The volume is extraordinary. Much more than the number of cars who -- OMG -- have to slow down a little bit instead of barreling down the avenue.
It's victim blaming because when a motorist runs over a pedestrian, the pedestrian is the victim. But for some reason, too many people say that it's the pedestrian's fault and they need more "education."
In few other cases would the victim of a crime/accident be blamed like this. And in those cases, it's slowly becoming less socially acceptable to blame the victim.
"Innocent" victims
When a train hits a pedestrian or motorist, how many claim the victim is innocent and deserving of sympathy? Do you decree that trans need better brakes in order to hit fewer idiots?
If the pedestrians selfishly break the law due to bad traffic light timing, then get the timing fixed.
Clue train bearing down on Mark K
Railroad tracks are not a public way.
And where tracks are laid on a public way, e.g. streetcars, then yes the streetcar drivers need to respect the pedestrians.
Streetcars and people have been successfully mixing since long before automobiles were invented and mass marketed. There is no problem. Heck, they are called "streetcars" because people were expected to board them in the middle of the street (like "E" beyond Brigham, but everywhere).
City streets are not railroad tracks, and they are not railroad property. They are public property. That means everyone may use them.
So, for trains, you indeed blame victims?
So, with trains, you indeed blame victims? Is that what you are writing here?
If laden dump trucks and cement trucks are expected to stop for idiot pedestrians j-walking or otherwise lacking self-preservation skills, why not trains and streetcars? I imagine 6 foot or longer rubber pads forced down from each train car to the steel rails would aid stopping and keep wheels from flat-spotting.
Just to clarify
I realize that you are probably being purposefully obtuse, since you are Mark K. But for others:
The difference is "public way"; a longstanding legal and common term which has certain implications.
A railroad track is not a public way. Therefore, any pedestrians there are trespassing. A railroad at-grade crossing is not a public way either, and is governed according to special rules pertaining to highway/railroad crossings.
A limited access highway is a special kind of road which does explicitly forbid non-motorized travelers. On such roads, a pedestrian is also trespassing.
But a city street is a public way. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that any member of the public may be there at any time. Cement trucks should be driven slowly and safely in such situations, as they do not have a dedicated right of way like freight trains do.
Just to add to the fun: In MA, and other states, private streets are also considered "public ways" in the sense that they are non-excludable. You may not forbid the general public from walking down a private street.
Oh, sweetie, smarts have
Oh, sweetie, smarts have nothing to do with admi$$ion$ at BU.
Uhh... the grandparent didn't
Uhh... the grandparent didn't make a value judgement. He made a factual claim. If you think he was advocating violence against anyone, you're completely nuts.
If you step into a busy street against traffic, you are likely to be struck by a vehicle. If you don't eat, you are likely to get hungry. This isn't a matter of victim blaming.
Your blatant car hate
has finally jumped the shark.
Pedestrian rights are not car-hate
Unless you believe that wanting cars to go slower and not hit people is car-hate.
Unless you believe that pedestrians must always be submissive to cars, and that people should be forbidden from using the public realm that is their heritage, except for 20 seconds every few minutes.
Well, I do know there's a lot of crotchety old timers who believe in cars above all. They love cars more than life. And hey, these are students crossing. It seems everyone loves to hate on students.
But in my view, the streets ought to be safe enough for 8 year olds, and safe enough for 80 year olds. And Comm Ave needs a lot of work still.
Your argument
is that most cars blow red lights (they don't) and that pedestrians should have right of way in a street (they shouldn't)
How is anyone supposed to take you seriously?
I take him seriously
We're talking about Commonwealth Ave. It's not like there are people running across I95 here. The city should be a friendly place where everyone slows down a little and enjoys life more instead of being angry all the time.
Thank you
You put that well. City streets are not limited access highways, and should not be treated as such by motorists.
"Victim blaming?" Bullshit
You step out in front of a moving car, you take your chances. Zero sympathy for the dipshits at BU. The city should put up fences like they do in London for people who are too fucking stupid to figure out which side of the curb the cars are on.
Funny you should mention London
Those people act like cattle on the streets, and bray endlessly about their "right" to "walk anywhere they please".
Very funny to see it when a cop in Spain told them to get their pasty asses and suitcases off the cycle track and back on the very wide sidewalk next to it. Or getting threatened with a jaywalking ticket in Calgary.
Matthew must have been talking to some such livestock for his "ideas" - I don't think he's ever traveled. Yes, Brits have no sense, walk like addled sheep, and need to be fenced in.
It is
It is
Knowing how to cross the
Knowing how to cross the street should be an admissions requirement.
Failed kindergarten
BU students and Matt also seem to have failed kindergarten lessons on taking turns and playing fair. Drivers have their turn and pedestrians have a turn too. Its not always the selfish pedestrians' turn.
It better for the planet to let drivers go and not make them stop for selfish pedestrians and cyclists. Causing drivers to slow or stop and restart produces excess greenhouse gas from the wasted fuel. Diesel vehicles in particular spew out far more particulates as a consequence.
Meanwhile, for pedestrians and bicycles to wait their turn, no extra fuel is wasted or greenhouse gas produced.
Failed logic
It's fun to see Mark trot this argument out again; it can be convincing since the proximate factors make the statement seem true ... just be sure to not look very hard.
Sure, let's reward the people who chose to drive vs. bike or walk because we wouldn't want them to burn more hydrocarbons then they already are. Let's reward them for their selfish, destructive choice by giving them priority. By that logic, gasoline cars should give way to any diesels on the road. Is there anything else we can do to make them feel better about themselves? Maybe complimentary massages and biscuits?
Back in the real world, the tiny increment of pollution caused by making drivers wait a bit is just noise compared to the massive pollution caused when the car is moving or packed in traffic jams caused by everyone else making the same choice. The pollution externality should be covered by gas taxes; if it isn't then that's just another failure of those taxes.
Mark also once said cyclists were lazy for wanting bike racks near the stores they were shopping at. This is a real thing that Mark really said. Sure Mark, let's give the drivers parking spots right in front of the doors to the store (or let them park in the fire lane when there are no spots handy) but those people who pedaled their way there are the lazy ones. Let's wring our hands over the prospect of drivers being dissuaded from shopping because they can't open their car door and step right into the door of the store.
Best idea I ever heard was to
Best idea I ever heard was to pedestrianize Comm Av between Kenmore and the BU Bridge, and to shift Comm Av traffic onto Beacon St, and thence onto a new road (or a widened Mountfort St) built in the Pike air rights.
Yeah, it's not like our
Yeah, it's not like our bridges are too few or other surface roads don't have enough traffic...
No.
No.
Can we do something about these selfish speeders
They seem to think that everyone else in the world should have to wait while one special snowflake who happens to own a car speeds on through. They think they are superior to everyone else who is not in a car*.
The streets are public space, not your own personal racetrack, and the students have just as much right to be there as you.
If you're having a problem it probably means you are going too fast. Be more patient, or use a limited access highway like the Mass Pike to get downtown.
(*) Sometimes bikers develop this bigotry too, and it's sad to see.
But...
This person was talking about people crossing the roads AGAINST the pedestrian light, aka when the CARS have the right of way, not people. It has nothing to do with cars driving too fast (unless they are running their red lights, which, again, is not what this post was about).
But but what?
The lights are designed with only the interests of motorists in mind. They're a relic of BTD's car-only attitude.
Is it a real big surprise that with the sheer, enormous volume of pedestrians there, that most people will disregard the obviously anti-pedestrian signals?
Why all this anger directed at pedestrians? People are not machines. Signals are for machines. I see drivers run through red lights every day, but nobody even bats an eyelash at it.
Heck, just yesterday, I happened to be standing around Union Square, and there was even a squad car nearby watching it all happen. Never moved.
But, when some pedestrians cross against the light, most likely because there's no cars around anyway, that's what gets you all up in arms? Really?
How is wanting to go forward
How is wanting to go forward on a green light indicative of speeding or selfishness?
Because it's a car
And everyone knows that car drivers are the anti-Christ!
The cluelessness of this post is almost breathtaking
It sounds like you must have had a bad experience with a speeder at some point in your life, and I'm sorry for that. It also sounds like you've never, ever been near Comm Ave between 7AM and 10PM, or you'd know what a stupid comment you just made.
I walk Comm Ave between the BU Bridge and Kenmore Square, and I don't see speeders. I see other pedestrians acting like squirrels. I see them running for the T or to a class without looking to see if any cars are coming. I see them following their friends in big herds, blind to the fact that the light's changed. I see them, to use your term, acting like special snowflakes. (And to be fair, 95% of BU students don't do this. But that still leaves a few hundred per day that do.)
I'm on Comm Ave almost every day
I see tons of speeding by cars. I also see large numbers of pedestrians (see pic above).
Why do you believe that the automobiles have a special privilege to the street, and that pedestrians should be submissive to them?
What makes pedestrians a "big herd" that is unworthy of crossing the street, while automobile traffic congestion is appropriate?
I'm aware that my comments are challenging a status quo. I'm also aware of the history of streets, and how the automobile industry successfully lobbied to ghettoize pedestrians and push them out of the street (see: Fighting Traffic by Peter Norton).
I'm pushing back against that mistake of the 20th century. Pedestrians have a right to the street. It is the public realm. It is not a racetrack. If you are driving slowly and carefully, there will be no problem.
Unfortunately, the current design of Comm Ave promotes speeding. But that is something to be worked on.
Rage on Brother!
"I'm pushing back against that mistake of the 20th century. Pedestrians have a right to the street."
You should stage a protest! The world needs to be more aware of the plight of the jaywalker victimized by those exercising their combustion engine privilege. Perhaps walking into traffic while wearing headphones would get the point across. You may be martyred for the cause, but every journey starts with one step, against the light.
i second this
not only do they run for a train against the light, they also do it far away from crosswalks. yeah it is a small number of them, but it is absurdly chaotic when you are driving and dealing with cars that cannot figure out what lane they should be in, and then having to watch out for some student who may dart out in middle of the street.
More to the point, these "special snowflakes"
make it way, way harder for the ones who're not "special snowflakes", if you all know what I mean.
Synch the lights better
I spent many, many years at BU and the reason students jaywalk is that the lights are poorly synched. If the light is red at the Commonwealth and Silber/Blandford intersection, the light will be green at Commonwealth and Granby, but no cars will be coming. If you wait for the light to turn red, you'll stand there for a minute in front of an empty road, and when the WALK sign comes on, have to stare down a bunch of speeding cars slamming on their brakes and stopping well into the crosswalk.
The same goes for the Commonwealth at St. Mary's intersection and most of the intersections out through Allston-Brighton. I know it was an enormous problem at the three intersections where I lived.
Another issue is that out through West Campus, the streets have different crossing "rules." To cross Buick Street, you have to press a button and wait for a walk sign. To cross Pleasant, there's a walk sign but no button- you have to wait for it to cycle. To cross Babcock- no walk sign or button. Each of the three streets are equally dangerous, but are all crossed differently.
Boston has serious problems getting the lights to match actual activity (Boylston and Mass Ave; Huntington and Gainsborough also come to mind) and fixing that would help everyone.
Yes!
I was just thinking about this a couple of days ago, when I had to cross Commonwealth at Babcock, from T Anthony's to the other side. The east- and westbound lights at most intersections on Commonwealth are timed so that if you are crossing from the south side of Commonwealth to the north it takes two cycles to get all the way across. I try really hard not to jaywalk, but it shouldn't take two full cycles for a pedestrian to cross one street.
Axiom #1 of Boston traffic:
Axiom #1 of Boston traffic: The BTD is brain-dead.
Once you realize this, everything else makes a lot more sense.
Can we do something about...
... The complete seeming randomness, in which at least a quarter of the intersections I walk through every day, have, for at least part of the cycle, "Don't walk" displayed at times when no car could legally drive through the crosswalk?
Maybe if the pedestrian control signals were correct more often, more people might start paying attention to them?
yes
That corner in Allston in front of the Model is especially bad for that. When it DOES say walk there are cars speeding through--must have a green arrow or something.
Well
At least cars stop at red lights, bikers not so much.
Cars don't stop at red lights
Open your eyes.
Cars also don't stop at crosswalks. Unless you force the issue. Then maybe.
I stop at red lights
And crosswalks. With crosswalks, I find some pedestrians expect cars to come to a stop for them before they are even in the crosswalk and a driver doesn't yet know their intent. Drivers can't be blamed for not stopping if they don't yet know the pedestrian is going to cross.
Crosswalks
Well thank you for that. And actually, I know I sound somewhat negative, but there are worse places than MA regarding crosswalks. So I guess that's something.
I'm not talking about that. I know what you mean and that isn't expected. I'll describe what I typically see happen with pedestrians who don't know how to assert themselves: the pedestrian takes a few steps into the crosswalk, about even with the parked cars, and looks over. Then a bunch of cars speed by. If there's a gap, then maybe the pedestrian makes a run for it. Or not, there's another set of cars that go by. I have observed this, at times, continue for several minutes.
Once in a while, I will see a driver actually stop for someone who is tentative. Actually, oftentimes it's a taxicab that ends up stopping to let them cross, go figure. But usually, if the pedestrian really wants to assert crosswalk rights, then strong body language is required.
Ya
Ok, you're right most cars blow through red lights.
Pedestrians who
Have their eyes glued to their smartphones don't help the haphazardness.
I had a young woman walk
I had a young woman walk right out in front of me while I was biking, in the middle of the block from between two cars, into my bike lane in Central Sq this evening. She didnt look up from her iPhone once during the whole event.
I walk, bike, and drive my car in Boston. I see abusive behavior from people from all three of those activities. They should ALL be addressed. And yes, the timing of the lights should be adjusted in areas but I dont think that means the road is yours to do as you please with and your safety is the responsibility of other citizens who may be following the rules. We should work on changing the signals in those areas so that it benefits pedestrians as well as drivers.
When the oil runs out
When all the oil runs out, BU students still won't know how to cross streets. If roads then look like 1950s China with lots of bicycles, cyclists will be the ones bitching about all the damn pedestrians crossing against the signals!
As to signal timings, its not all about the cars, its also about all the people on Green Line trains. Timing pedestrian crossing lights so they can cross both halves of Comm Ave is horribly inefficient and a waste of transportation capacity. While a few pedestrians may benefit during a small portion of the day, far more people (driving or riding the T) suffer having to wait for them. Pedestrians crossing in two steps are at least safe waiting in the middle - the most important thing. Issues like these are why flattening roads is a poor, inefficient idea.
Wrong again
Impeding the ability of hundreds and/or thousands of people to get across a roadway because ten people in cars wouldn't feel special if they had to wait is a waste of transportation capacity.
Go back to Texas and/or 1955 please.
Seems everyone's argument is moot
When looking back to the little jingle we learned in kindergarten,
Stop!, look, and listen
Before you cross the street.
Use your eyes
then use your ears
and then you use your feet.
cyclists in danger from student pedestrians
Do cyclists feel endangered by BU students jaywalking? Just curious since that was a part of the original complaint.
Slightly longer answer:
Slightly longer answer: during daylight hours BU student jaywalkers are a problem, and at night when visibility goes down and your friendly local Terriers are slightly less sober and slightly more erratic they can be a real pain.
It has to be said, though, that what really makes Comm Ave a "special" cycling experience during certain parts of the Fall is the combination of BU jaywalkers and the carloads of Red Sox fans who don't really know where they're going, are desperate for a parking spot/bathroom/both, and are so frazzled from their six-hour drive from Western Connecticut with six kids in the van that the last thing on their mind is being slow and careful when they open their car doors.
On top of that happy mix add a few delivery drivers who've parked in the bike lane to run some pizzas into the GSU, a couple of tour busses who don't quite remember how wide they are and whether or not it's legal for their right tires to be in the bike lane, and Mathew slowly walking back and forth across three lanes of traffic blindfolded because that's just the sort of person he is, and you have the full Comm Ave experience for cyclists.
Yes. There are stretches of
Yes. There are stretches of Comm Ave where it's easy to keep up with vehicle traffic on a bike, and having oblivious students dart in front of you when you're going 25 or 30 mph through a green light is pretty scary.
Omnibus response to the anon assholes
Here's a few tips from civilization:
You wouldn't run over people in the market with your shopping cart (I hope) and the same basic decency applies on the street with your car. I don't know why selfishness has gotten into so many of you, thinking that you are entitled to intimidate, bully or even run people over in the street. But it's got to stop.
As someone who knows Comm Ave extremely well (I even have the schematics for the signals on-hand), I know that the infrastructure is not set up to handle thousands of pedestrians crossing every hour. But that is what occurs during the school year.
Perhaps this upsets you because you were really hoping to go 50 mph down Comm Ave. And the presence of people means that you were forced to slow down. Poor you. BU is straddled by two highways. If you feel the need for speed, go to one of them. City streets are not the place for that kind of behavior. You will get along much better if you expect to see people at any moment. Drive accordingly.
Move BU to Dorchester!
The problem of BU in the midst of vital transportation can be solved. Let them pack up and move to say, Dorchester or Roxbury, where land is cheaper! It would help revitalize those areas.
They could move to Lawrence
They could move to Lawrence, as Emerson was considering at one point. We won't miss them.
The infrastructure is not set up
The infrastructure is not set up to handle thousands of pedestrians crossing every hour. But that is what occurs during the school year.
Perhaps this upsets you because you were really hoping to step off the curb without looking, and cross the street wherever the fuck you happen to be, instead of waiting for the light. And the presence of automobiles means that you might be reduced to a red smear on the pavement. Poor you. (etc.)
That's not the argument the assholes are making
They want to attack me violently for crossing the street against the light, even when no cars are coming!
According to the assholes, pedestrians must follow every law -- even the laws that don't really exist, but that motorists think exist.
But god forbid any motorist get pulled over for speeding, or for violating a crosswalk, or running a red light.
It's continually amazing to me that there are really people here completely blind to the routine and flagrant violation of traffic laws by drivers in this city. Traffic law is a running joke.
But these same people think that pedestrians should bear the entire burden of law? That the most vulnerable road users should be persecuted by the most powerful?
There is really no better term for it: these people are assholes.
undiscliplined people
jaywalkers should be fined or required to engage in community service. Streets of Boston are plagued with reckless cyclers, MBTA and bus drivers and jaywalkers
The streets of Boston are
The streets of Boston are plagued by assholes in cars like you. You believe that drivers should be able to break any law that they want without any consequences. Go fuck yourself.
Pedestrians are king. And we're going to continue to use the streets that belong to us too. Slow down.
If you don't like it, leave.
Stay out in the snobby suburbs where you can run over as many people as you like, with impunity.
Actually, you can't do it here, either
I realize you know nothing about the burbs, so I thought I'd just tell you that you can't run over people here, either.
Statements like that just lower any credibility you might have gained from some of your better posts.
Oh no, my credibility
You expect me to roll over while people talk about violence against pedestrians? While people talk about persecuting the weak and vulnerable in favor of the powerful and the protected? Maybe you don't understand me at all.
If anything, my credibility would be shot if I didn't speak up against this injustice. Might does not make right. A civilized society protects the weak and vulnerable.
You are right, though, that we have a problem in the city just as much in the burbs. Motorists who run over pedestrians are largely let off scot-free in either case. As long as they are not drunk, and they do not leave the scene, the police fall over themselves to be nice to the perpetrators.
This problem is indicative of an anti-urban attitude that has sadly infiltrated into our city. A hundred years ago, police were the leading force in protecting pedestrians from dangerous motor vehicles. They upheld the centuries-old understanding that the public streets were open and free to all members of the public, not just the special few in motor vehicles. Judges even wrote about the importance of children's freedom to play in the streets. In between then and now, a radical change overcame those in power, as they began to suburbanize their attitudes. They stopped treating the street as public realm, as free and open as the Boston Common, and started treating it like a sewer for cars. All other past uses of the street became submissive to this new mission.
A few generations have been raised believing that streets are only for cars. As you can see some from of the comments, many people believe that I somehow don't know this. They think I'm "stupid" for not knowing what everyone is "taught in kindergarten." Of course I know this stuff. I'm pushing back against it, because "what everyone knows" is actually relatively recent propaganda that was created by the automobile industry to try and keep people from walking in the streets. The notion of "jaywalking" didn't even exist in 1913. That was cooked up in the 20s and 30s as a way to "shame" people out of the street. And you can see it in action here. All the trolls in this article have been trying to "shame" me into being submissive to cars. They think that way due to a longstanding and well-documented* propaganda campaign by automakers eager to sell cars.
What they don't realize is that I'm wise to their strategy. I'm perfectly capable of judging speeds and distances with my eyes, and I don't need unreliable signals to tell me what to do. I know how to assert my right to the street, and how to do it safely. I'm not a robot. I am not a machine. I am a free and rational human being and citizen who is not going to be intimidated out of making use of the public realm that our ancestors have passed down to us. You are not going to take away my rights. You are not going to take away any of our rights.
If you think that you were going to attack me, bully me, into giving up my right to use the public way, think again.
* Seriously, read "Fighting Traffic" by Peter Norton. He's documented this history very well.
Once we get rid of them
Once we get rid of them newfangled jaywalkin' laws, everything will be just peachy.
Question
How do you feel about windmills?
Windmills
They can be attractive (e.g. Dutch windmills) or useful (wind power).
:-P
Whoa, bit of an overreaction
Slow down, Matthew.
I was just making a comment about your burb comment - that's it. And you even agreed with me.
I was not questioning your passion for the way you think a city should be run with respect to cars vs. bikes vs. pedestrians. Even I, a guy in the burbs, agree with a lot of your points.
But, I have no idea where this statement came from:
Bully? Not my intention, not even close. My point was that if you make cheap shots like the burb comment, it cheapens your credibility. Anything you say after that is regarded a little less seriously. Whether you care about that is your own issue.
Plural "you"
I was addressing the mob of commenters in general there.
But regarding the urban/suburban distinction: the rationale behind that is the fact that I can almost always tell the difference between an urban location and a suburban location by counting the number of pedestrians.
Out in the burbs, so to speak, the sight of a pedestrian is rare and drivers do not expect to see them. The most dangerous situation on the road is a surprise. In the city, it should be no surprise to any responsible driver when they see a pedestrian crossing the street.
I wonder if most of this "controversy" is ginned up over the fact that the drivers on Comm Ave don't "expect" to see pedestrians for whatever reason. I have to wonder, given that people walk in the streets freely throughout most of urban Boston. The deal seems to be that BTD sucks at pedestrian accommodation and in return, Bostonians ignore BTD's signals. Yet, I seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest here by pointing out that this "bargain" applies to Comm Ave just as much as any other street.
Or maybe it's just anti-student bias.
Not True
Seems like driving over somebody in a fit of utter incompetence in Wellesley is a sacred act.
Pedestrians are king?
Get over yourself dude...seriously. Bet it's hard to believe...but us poor people, sometimes we have cars too! A lot of us, actually! Also, there is a difference between crossing the street against the light with no traffic and people darting across the street in the middle of traffic. NO ONE is talking about flying down Comm Ave at 50 mph. But god forbid pedestrians and cyclists have to obey the laws too! But sounds like it's all the same to you. You sound absolutely deranged, and no one should take you seriously.
Who is Deranged?
You just disqualified your own comment, right there. I find it very hard to believe that you are at all familiar with the area, given this statement.
Thanks for playing, though.
There are definitely lots of
There are definitely lots of clueless pedestrians who wander out into traffic without looking or caring, especially when the have a Don't Walk signal. On the other hand, crossing the street legally by BU is ridiculous because of the signal timing. To get all the way across in many places, it takes two light cycles and up to 3 minutes. That's just to cross Comm Ave. And when the T is coming, and who knows when the next one will show up, it's no wonder why people make a run for it.
Something Not Yet Mentioned Here
I once asked a BU student staying in my MIT residence for Spring Break why BU students were always playing coed frogger on Comm Ave.
The answer: they only get 10 minutes to get from one class to the next, and that often entails crossing Comm Ave. If they waited, they would never make it.
This has to be factored in as a considerable part of the mass-jaywalking/headless sheep rambling problem.
BU should give students a more reasonable amount of time, like 15 or 20 minutes to navigate a sprawling campus with a highway/trainway through it, and Boston should lengthen and coordinate the walk cycles to accommodate the dominant traffic stream, i.e. the large number of pedestrians.
And BU students should go to "jaywalking school" and re-learn how to cross the street.