First of all, a quick note to transplants: Congratulations on hailing from a state where you commute on ice and snow all the time. We appreciate your keen driving skills, if not your incessant bitching about those who aren’t quite as used to icy conditions as yourself. Please try to find the humanity in the rest of us. THANK YOU!
NOW AN ICE STORM ETHICS QUESTION: When we do get an inch or so of ice and/or snow on the ground, and the sidewalks are slippery, is it okay for people to walk in the street? Apparently, some people don’t think so! Here’s a message from a concerned neighbor at Nextdoor, with the alarming, lengthy title, “Walking in the street does not become safe just because there’s snow on the ground!”:
Someone on Reddit had this reaction to people walking in the street during icy/snowy weather:
Soooooo… what do YOU think?
Portland, where homeowners don’t seem to know what shoveling the sidewalk means…
IMO, it’s always OK to walk in the the street and it’s never OK to drive an internal combustion vehicle in the street.
It is perfectly legal to walk in the street as long as you are on the side facing oncoming traffic, aren’t blocking traffic, and you are not in My Tabor where busybody housewives lose their shit over anyone doing anything they don’t approve of.
Not sure, but what about the ethics of photographing people from your house without telling them? sounds creepy to me.
In my opinion, it’s not okay to walk in the street in these conditions. As a hailing transplant from St. Louis, the slightest braking of your vehicle to slow down for a pedestrian could make you slide. Even at crosswalks, we need to realize that, while its a drivr’s duty to brake, the reaction of the vehicle is not the same. This is posing a big threat to pedestrians who may be unaware. Be careful out there guys!
I think you should fix that glaring typo “A ice storm ethics…” Is this really what the Portland Mercury has come to?
Wait, wait, wait…everyone is mean as hell to folks who move here, ruining OUR MAJESTIC OREGON, and now we suddenly have the gonads ask these same transplants to show some humanity? WTF?
Ok first of all…..did you read this? Also just because you can’t learn to drive in inclement weather, please don’t vilify those “transplants” who can. And are you guys really having a debate about the pros and cons of walking in the street?
RANDYZPDX – It’s Portland where it never snows. Why would anyone here even own a snow shovel? While thanks to Global Warming, this is probably a sign of what our new winters are going to be like, just like our new long and crazy 100 degree summers like we just had, this is the first real snow in Portland proper in decades. So get real with your comments.
And as far as walking down the middle of the road, no it’s not a good idea. But I do see locals (not transplants) doing it all the time. All season long. It’s just MORONIC to do it when there is ice on the ground and cars already have a difficult time to stop. But then again, many have been complaining about the population boom. These morons walking down the middle of the street is a good way to thin the herd. After all, just like bicyclists who run stop signs and get hit by cars, the drivers are not even cited (by law) since the bicyclists are required (by law) to stop at the sign. I doubt anyone would even be cited for hitting these people if they are dumb enough to walk down the middle of the street in an ice storm.
I am of the opinion that the good money spent on sidewalks was done for a reason, for PEDESTRIANS.
Let alone how dangerous it is driving in inclement weather,
these idiots will jog – with their CHILDREN in STROLLERS in the street. I think they obviously must wish for the early death of their child.
If you want to run where you don’t have to jump up and down sidewalks and interfere with your pace, their are trails and 1/4 mile tracks you can run on.
For the safety of all involved, pedestrians belong on the sidewalk – especially in crappy weather like this.
I didn’t see anyone strolling their babies down Hawthorne or Powell, but I have seen some people taking advantage of some smaller side streets during the day, (like the picture) why is this such a big deal? Also, how can any of you squawkers posssssssibly know who is a ‘local’ and who is a ‘transplant’ just by looking at them and where they are currently walking? Y’all need to chill tfo for real.
PDX97215 – it does snow here, and every homeowner / building maintenace guy, commercial building owner, etc. should have a snow shovel (or hell, just a shovel period).
“this is the first real snow in Portland proper in decades”….really? Are you high?
One of the best things about not having a sidewalk is that I don’t have to even think about shoveling snow. Ha!
I would have shoveled my walk but I’ve been renting out my snow shovel as a microloft for $880 a month (utilities not included, no pets). I’m sure everything was fine, I live in Piedmont, where is there to go?