Why are they so (apparently) hated? People seem to dislike the fact that they have to wait for the lights to cycle before they can cross the road. But isn't this literally how they work in other normal parts of the world??Also why are they called this? Because you have to "beg" cars to be able to cross the road? Do Americans really?
Presumably because cars don't have to beg, the timer simply assumes that eventually a car will want to go, whereas with the beg button, the ped signal will never show walk, unless you press. Of course that's not strictly true, some areas have those detector things that flip the light if a cage is hovering over a loop or something. You used to be able to tell, back when GPS and accelerometer bike computers weren't the default, and at certain intersections, without moving, the bike computer would suddenly display a random and unlikely speed like 67mph (I forgot exactly the number)Anyway, it's a little more complicated, because some beg buttons now will emit audible signals for blind people to know when to walk, and if you press them aggressively they'll be like "wait" or something.But knowing urbanists and the yimby crowd, they'll be getting rid of those soon, because urbanists want to eliminate anyone who isn't in the NSDAP catalogue of "productive people" and seeing blind people around is bad for muh property values.
>>1993266I've never once heard the term "beg button”. Is that industry argot or are they actually commonly called that?
>>1993328its american for 'i am being mildly inconvenienced and I DONT WANNA'
>>1993331uh huh
>>1993270In the old times, when lights were on a timer, 2 minutes green in one direction, 2 minutes red in the other, the button forced a switch to make one red. If you waited, then you could cross the street either way.The new "smart" intersections for vehicles will not waste time with a red cycle if there's no one on the opposing side, but that's not as obvious for pedestrians, because there's no way to tell which way pedestrians want to go or if they want to just hang out at the corner and beg, spin signs, or otherwise draw attraction.
>>1993266just jaywalkit's that easy
I just hit it since I don't want to be half way across the cross walk when the light turns green and a cage runs me over.I don't want to wait in the car lane since no one is in it, and being there may not trip the light so 9/10 times it's quicker for me to hit the crosswalk button.Beyond that even if I am going to be first to the light I don't trust cagies to not run me over, since that's very common for motorcycle accidents is to get rammed from behind.I also try and avoid using crosswalks by riding on the bike trail, sidewalk, or taking routes that are mostly right hand turns for training.Another play is just using a less busy section of the road to cross. I find this leaves me less interactions with drivers too.
>>1993266>Why are they so (apparently) hated?Because it's annoying to have to do an extra step to cross. Sometimes people forget. Sometimes people are running to catch the light. There's an infuriating thing here where the "open" crossing counts down in anticipation of a window to start a red light, but if you don't hit the button or the car detector in time, it will abort the red light and reopen the crossing. So yeah, you can literally see that your opportunity to cross is about to happen, run to try to hit the button, only to see the timer run out before you get there and lose the red light.Also, all these beg-button intersections with car-detectors are SHIT at detecting bikes. They put little markings on the pavement where you are supposed to put the bike for maximum sensitivity or whatever (which will already piss off drivers, because now you are blocking a car that wants to turn). I have literally never had a detector meant for a car pick up my aluminium folding bike. Not once.Picture how infuriating it is if you were in a car waiting at a red light, and it literally never turns green. You can even see the cross walk count down and think, "oh, here comes my green light—WHAT THE FUCK??? IT RESET?" You have to get out of the car and hit the beg button, cagey.>>1993270>Anyway, it's a little more complicated, because some beg buttons now will emit audible signals for blind people to know when to walk, and if you press them aggressively they'll be like "wait" or something.>But knowing urbanists and the yimby crowd, they'll be getting rid of those soon, because urbanists want to eliminate anyone who isn't in the NSDAP catalogue of "productive people" and seeing blind people around is bad for muh property values.My city kept the buttons and the audio, but that's now the only role for the buttons. The crossing activates regardless of whether the button is pressed, but if the button is pressed then the audio cues for the intersection are activated.
I don't understand. This is literally the normal function of a pedestrian crossing.>be pedestrian>want to cross the street, but the cars are all going>push button>wait 20 seconds for the lights to cycle>lights stop traffic, I can cross the road>timer counts down for pedestrians before it goes red>traffic goes againhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7N3M4OcoNs
>>1993266>Why are they so (apparently) hated?Because in most cases they aren't even used. So you have to know if that specific crossing is configured to listen to the button or not.In other words, you're most likely waiting for cycle to change anyway and pressing button wont do shit.
>>1993517It's not a problem to normal people. But bicyclists and urbanists are typically very bored and that results in them having plenty of time to think of new ways in which they are victimized, so you get terminology like "beg buttons," "stroads," and so on.
>>1993519Depends where you are. Some only give you enough time to cross half the 4-6 lane road before giving cross traffic the green. Others are slightly better in that they just let people do left turns while pedestrians are still crossing. I've had two drivers nearly hit me this way so far this year when I still had the walk signal. Rarely you get scramble crossings, which are best for pedestrians, that stop all traffic and allow pedestrians to cross in any direction.
This is a much more pragmatic solution that speaks to the mindless cage creature in the only language that it understands - violence.>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8kP6R0clBGY
>>1993266>But isn't this literally how they work in other normal parts of the world??https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQheHhUUs6sIn most of the world you make eye contact with the coming driver and give her.
>>1993623I am a fan of this method desu
>>1993623Thanks, but I already carry a gun.
>>1993636Do you brandish it at vehicles while crossing the street?
>>1993338>In the old times, when lights were on a timer, 2 minutes green in one direction, 2 minutes red in the other,Yeah. The old days.Now with car sensors, the light timing can be much shorter than that. So the crossing buttons bump up the minimum time in order to let your Aunt Milly to cross without getting slaughtered by a bus.
>Walk up to crossing.>On the opposite side a pedestrian is already waiting. Nice no have to push button.>Watch an entire cycle go by but no pedestrian light.>Look at the guy on the opposite side, try to see if you can spot any indication of realisation on his face.>Sigh, press the button and wait for the light so both of you can cross.Now don't get me started on a left turn dead red when on the bike.
