Zombie law coming?

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There are two rules:
Don't hit anything.
Don't put yourself in a position where you can be hit.

Some people don't bother with the second rule, as it's a fuzzy one, and over rely on others to respect the first.
 
mimico_polak said:
100% agree with you here. Had an interesting exchange with some people on Reddit/Toronto regarding this issue and these guys hate the car with a passion and basically the conversation went "doesn't matter if pedestrian / cyclist gets into the right of way of the car, the driver MUST be 100% aware and be fully responsible for hitting anyone" I couldn't believe the ******** they were spewing. I gave up.

Anyway this law won't make much difference, same as the laws for texting and driving haven't seen much traction either. "It won't happen to me" is the attitude and the almighty "I'm more important than all of you" will always win out.
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A friend was on a business trip to some banana republic and being driven around by a local sales agent. A drunk stumbled into the road in front of the agent's car but he was able to stop without hitting the guy. He was sweating bullets because he would have ended up supporting the drunks family for the rest of their lives. Toronto 2030?

I don't know how some stuff ends up being videoed but there was a clip on Styoupidtube where a woman jaywalks out from in front of parked car pushing a baby stroller. The woman was in the clear but the stroller was two feet into traffic and got clipped by a car. The kid was OK but the stroller was wrecked.

What is municipal voter turn out? I'm guessing the holier than thou crowd uses their votes strategically.
 
I dunno why you guys seem to think anyone would ever leave their safety in the hands of complete strangers, it's like all those people all of a sudden get depressive and suicidal when they're walking around. I mean it makes for a funny tale at the bar and it justifies your sense of superiority, but it's not reality.

Next time someone walks in front of you seemingly oblivious, try encroaching on their personal space with your car. I mean don't hit them, obviously, but you can bet they'll see you and move. You can also expect to get an earful and maybe some slamming the hood or whatever. But they know you're there.

The thing is we can see 210 degrees around us without even moving our heads. A slight turn adds a lot to that field of view. As opposed to the informal rules of traffic where we make eye contact to communicate our intentions, pedestrians don't do that. That's ALL that's happening here. They know you don't want to run them over but they're prepared to move out of the way if you're the one being the zombie.

The issue of cell phone distractions is just a proxy for all your resentment against pedestrians who don't signal their awareness of you. It's not any more of an issue than reading or looking at the scenery while walking, it happens. File it under people do stupid things. As I've pointed out already this thread is a perfect example of that.

Maybe there needs to be a law against zombie threads.
 
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I've had a few close calls walking across intersections where someone either blew a red or decided to turn left while I was a few inches away.
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I believe I might have been the one to mention that actually, and in neither case was I looking at my phone. If I were I'd probably be dead right now.

For the left turning one, it was at Bloor and Spadina, and I actually had to stop walking and stand in the middle of the road. I think I even had to take 1-2 steps backwards to prevent my foot from getting run over, but it was close enough I could have punched his mirror. Once he went, 2 more idiots decided to go as well, and so I had to stand in the middle of the road and wait a good 20-30 seconds for them before I could keep walking on my green/walk light.

For the red light one...light was already red for a good 10-20 seconds. 4 lane road with an additional turn lanes (so up to 5 vehicles). I'd looked both ways, started to cross. Got half way across, and then between a car waiting to turn left and another one waiting at the light, a compact shot up the middle and skidded about 20-40 feet through the intersection. If I didn't notice them out of the corner of my eye they would have hit me at about 60-80km/h. I had looked both ways, but didn't consider the need to keep looking both ways the entire time I was crossing. Now I do that for any lane that might cross my path, be it a green or red in front of them.

In contrast, I still remember years ago sitting in my car on Bloor waiting to turn north on Bay. Was just sitting at the red (about 30 seconds in), when someone on their phone walked partially into my front bumper, then continued to flip me off and say I almost hit them. Meanwhile my car hadn't moved an inch in the last 30-60 seconds (about 10-15 people had already walked across in front of me too before this idiot walked into me).
 
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I find the nanny state tiring. Looking after other people's children and other children's parents.

It's like the guy / gal at work that gets all their work done then gets told to help a slacker out because "You're caught up."

Eventually bearing the burden of every slacker on the planet takes its toll. Indifference or hostility become the norm. If you walk, pedal, ride or drive like you're the only important person on the planet don't be surprised if there are no good Samaritans around when you need a little compassion.
 
We don't need a law punishing people for being stupid, but something along the lines of "if both parties didn't do what they could to avoid the collision, the party that didn't try is not able to collect damages from the other" is a start. If a person is distracted and walks in front of a vehicle and gets hit, that's all on the pedestrian and they can deal with the fallout on their own without wasting other people's money in the process.
 
Maybe Private Pilot can elaborate on stuff that will come up regarding the 400 crash.

When I went for hazardous goods training many years ago there were some stupid loopholes. Don't quote the numbers as they are examples only but....

A certain hazardous product would be considered a hazardous load if the shipment was over 200 pounds and require placards etc. If a driver picked up 400 pounds from warehouse A and delivered it to client B it would need all the hazmat gear.

If however the driver picked up four 100 pound packages from warehouse A and delivered 100 pounds to four different destinations the shipments would be classified as under the limit even though the truck would be carrying the same load as the former example.

Other than a hazmat certificate does an A licensed driver need any special certificate / endorsements to haul gasoline?

The hazmat course I took dealt only with the rules and regs. Nothing was covered pertaining to things an experienced driver would take into consideration with specific goods. You didn't even need a driver's license.

There were some comments regarding special training for fuel haulers. Do those requirements exist?
 
One report I saw said one of the tankers was carrying diesel. Not sure about the other one or any training requirements. That explains the length of burn, I would think gas would have burned out faster.
 
GreyGhost said:
One report I saw said one of the tankers was carrying diesel. Not sure about the other one or any training requirements. That explains the length of burn, I would think gas would have burned out faster.
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For one fire test I was vaguely involved with an open diesel flame was required. Gas was sprinkled on top of the diesel to get things started. Sounds like we had the combo.
 
nobbie48 said:
For one fire test I was vaguely involved with an open diesel flame was required. Gas was sprinkled on top of the diesel to get things started. Sounds like we had the combo.
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The trailer that wasn't completely burned had a 1203 placard, which if I understand correctly is gasoline.
 
fastar1 said:
The issue of cell phone distractions is just a proxy for all your resentment against pedestrians who don't signal their awareness of you.
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So there's absolutely no videos on YouTube of people on their cell phones walking into poles, signs, parking meters, bus shelters, fountains, other people, parked cars, trees, open manholes, doors, curbs................
 
Are you going to defend your statement or deflect, as usual?
 
Deflecting is what you did.

The proposed law isn't meant to address any of the situations you mentioned.
 
I almost hit a pedestrian last night.

As I approached an intersection to turn right I had the green light and he had the walk signal. He was standing on the corner talking on his phone. I saw him push the walk button to cross in the direction that currently had the walk signal *spidey senses were tingling*

He ended his phone call as I came up beside him. I stopped to see what he was doing as he stared off at the horizon. He didn't go, so i started to go, then he noticed he had the walk signal and jumped out in front of me.

SMRT.
 
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caboose56 said:
I almost hit a pedestrian last night.

As I approached and intersection to turn right I had the green light and he had the walk signal. He was standing on the corner talking on his phone. I saw him push the walk button to cross in the direction that currently had the walk signal *spidey senses were tingling*

He ended his phone call as I came up beside him. I stopped to see what he was doing as he stared off at the horizon. He didn't go, so i started to go, then he noticed he had the walk signal and jumped out in front of me.

SMRT.
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It is all part of the Me Me Generation. The unfortunate part is that it would have been your fault. So run the F@#%#r over anyway. I know we all wish. Lol. What a first class idiot.
 
cycling said:
It is all part of the Me Me Generation. The unfortunate part is that it would have been your fault. So run the F@#%#r over anyway. I know we all wish. Lol. What a first class idiot.
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Heavy traffic, wife driving coming out of a parking lot. Let the babe walk by and watch for traffic from the left. About to go and the babe makes a U-turn. No contact but we got the evil eye.

You can run over squirrels.
 
I wonder who would get the blame if a car hit a bicycle while swerving trying not to hit a jaywalker or vice versa.

Just kidding. I know who.
 
Same person who would be blamed if a driver hit a biker while swerving to avoid another car or vice versa. Crazy huh.

Of course my scenario never happens.
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