Have you ever been sitting at an intersection in downtown Sacramento and had a pedestrian dart out in front of you unexpectedly? Or perhaps you have started going through an intersection only to have to slam on your breaks because someone in cross traffic was failing to yield right of way? If this has happened to you, you're not alone.
This happens in cities all over California, regardless of whether the other driver or pedestrian has the right of way. But even though it may be instinctual to get mad at the other person, it might be better to consider what they were thinking prior to acting so recklessly yourself. If you can put yourself in someone else's shoes and see what they saw, then you may be able to react better if the same situation happens again. You may even be able to avoid an accident as well.
Let's take for example a pedestrian darting into traffic or crossing the street where there isn't a crosswalk. If you look at the situation from the pedestrian's perspective, they may have thought they had more time to cross the street or maybe the location they chose to cross was actually a safer location than the legal crosswalk. By paying attention to our surroundings and perhaps where pedestrians frequently cross, our readers can help avoid turning situations such as this into serious pedestrian accidents later on.
Now let's look at other drivers. Speeding to make a yellow light or making a quick right turn on red might seem like a reckless decision to you (and it is); but if you consider the other driver's point of view, they might have thought they had more time than they actually had. In situations such as this, it may be better to reduce your own speed instead or wait a second before accelerating through a green light. These simple steps are easy ways to avoid an intersection crash and greatly reduced your chances of suffering injuries or causing someone else to suffer them.