What pisses me off? People that play with traffic.

I have been amazed recently at the ridiculous number of pedestrians that have an absolute death wish and play with traffic. In fact, it doesn’t just amaze me, it really pisses me off.

On Monday, I was about to take a right turn at a busy intersection, the light had turned green and the pedestrian sign was red and right as I went to accelerate a young man decided it was perfectly fine to just walk across without looking for cars or taking any notice that the arrow was green and the “little man in the box” as my grandson calls him, was red.

I’ll tell you what, he’s lucky I was wearing my glasses that day or otherwise he would be as flat as a freshly printed broadsheet newspaper.

On Wednesday, I was driving down Brisbane’s James Street, a heavy pedestrian area, and I came to a stop at a zebra crossing as their was a young group of women standing half on and half off the road. I watched and waited as two of them slowly stepped out further out on the road and one stayed on the footpath. I had been sitting at the crossing for about a minute and a half when two of the girls walked half way out and then ran back to the footpath and their other friend giggling.

This really frustrated me.

There were about eight cars behind me and some were even beeping! Could the girls not see they were holding up traffic? Or were they too amused by their giggling to realise they were standing on a zebra crossing.

Now, I know I sound like a whinging old lady, but I promise you, I’m not. I am more than happy to wait at zebra crossings. If there’s someone walking across slowly that is more than OK, I am totally happy to wait. But, when it is ignorance holding me up that is when I get really annoyed.

Just yesterday I was driving through the city, a place filled with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings everywhere, when I had to stop abruptly because a flurry of business men just couldn’t walk an extra 40 metres to the nearest crossing. They walked out from all directions all around the car as if they were immune to the pending car crash that came close.

I understand that people are in a hurry, but when pedestrians do things like this, it is just downright rude, annoying and most importantly dangerous. They say that drivers are the biggest problem on our roads, but if it’s to be a safer place, the pedestrians need to be safer too.

So, I ask all people, to stop playing with traffic, because sadly one day, it will play with you. And I’m sure that won’t have a nice ending.

How do you feel about pedestrians not doing the right thing? Do you think we make our own roads unsafe when we walk aimlessly and mindlessly? Tell us in the comments below…