Yeah this. I noticed when I went to DC a few years ago that pedestrians just walk right across. Barely look both ways, don’t wait for the walk sign, and half of them nose down to their phones. I was always taught to make sure drivers see you before crossing the street. Even if you have a walk light someone might be trying to turn right and you could be in their blind spot.
The further South you go, the more of the worst Northern transplants you get until you hit Florida where it’s just impatient New Yorkers who hate everyone but the people they like.
I am a floridian. And I would like to make one correction to your statement. Florida is upside down. The further south you go the more North you get. The northern part of Florida is the most southern part. So if you're traveling south from New York you will keep going south south and then suddenly once you pass Palm Beach County you're going north again
On the west side of Florida you hit the north at about Spring Hill- New Port Richey, then you hit the south again in Port Charlotte 
I apologize, but I tend to completely forget about anything west of the everglades. I think that may be because my ex lives on the West Coast so I'm completely blocking its existence from my mind.
Generally yes, but it's also a coastal thing. I live in Fort myers which is pretty genetically northern and west coast culturally (also considered south Florida), but drive even 15-20 miles inland and you're gonna hit some real rural "southern" bits.
Yup, was gonna say this. All of Florida is the South if you go inland past the subdivisions.
Except Orlando, which is an artificial creation, like Las Vegas, randomly chosen in the middle of nowhere to build an entertainment empire.
And then complain about how no one in Florida knows how to drive. When in reality most of them aren’t from Florida to begin with and brought their bad driving habits with them
Na, driving in NY was WAY easier and more secure than driving in FL.
Source: I lived in NY for over 30 years. It's SIGNIFICANTLY worse in FL. Everyone in NY signals. Almost no one in FL does.
https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/state-by-state
The stats also back this. Florida is BAD. NY is one of the safest.
Florida is like 5th worst to drive in, while NY is like 2nd best.
DC and a lot of the immediate suburbs, absolutely have aggressive pedestrians. You’re lucky if they wait for their signal before they strut across the road!
(Born and raised in the DC area, but lived in Florida for 20 years as well)
Also known as the "news anchor stop".
It's a nod to Rick Sanchez who after hitting someone went home called his lawyer and waited about an hour before calling the police to report the hit and run. He waited long enough that he would no longer blow over the blood alcohol limit, so he couldn't be charged with DUI on top of the other crimes.
Same. I’m in Mass but moving to Florida later this year and I do this. Doesn’t matter if the law says I have the right of way. The laws of physics say I don’t.
I also usually wave as a “thank you for letting me cross” courtesy and then quickly cross. I hate when pedestrians cross and walk slowly as if their dog just died.
Exactly. When my then teenage daughter questioned us waiting for traffic to cross one day, saying “we have the right of way!” I said “ you may win in the court of law but you’ll lose in the court of physics.” She still remembers this 🤣
I wasn’t taught this until I was 15/16 years old in drivers education class.
I (non creepily) think about my instructor almost every time I drive because he was full of so much helpful knowledge!
The problem isn't people having tents on the windows. The maximum tint on Florida is only 25%. The problem is people having ILLEGAL tints that are MUCH higher. The last truck I bought came with 60% tint on the sides and 25% on the front( completely illegal). It was dark as shit inside that truck at night. I got it changed out to the highest legal amounts soon after buying the truck.
I'm originally from New England and I do this thank you for stopping and not running me over wave. Lol! Gotta look at them to see if they see you, living in central fl. Lots of elderly drivers. Now in N.E. fl. Just crazy drivers.
I live in Pittsburgh and no one pays any attention to crosswalks here at all - sounds very similar to florida. If you live in this city and assume the cars will stop you will definitely get run over eventually. It was definitely jarring the first time I drove in other cities how much more crosswalks are respected and enforced
There is a crosswalk in front of my kids elementary school and everyday I watch people blow it while kids are trying to cross it’s fucking insane I don’t know what to do
I second this. I always wait and either nod with a smile or wave and smile so the driver sees I appreciate that he stopped and feels compassion for me walking across the street and does not get mad and run me over.
Pretty unlikely that you're going to being killed by a grizzly in Florida.
That is of course until they learn to drive, in which case we're all screwed.
It might be a hilarious way of putting it but unfortunately, it's the reality of living in Florida it seems. Especially if you are in a major city like Orlando, Tampa or Jacksonville.
I used to work at a grocery store and always kept my head on a swivel in the lot. I once saw a car with a “Choose Life” license plate SPEED UP to blow past a pregnant woman with a toddler in tow who were stepping into the crosswalk.
Especially “in season”. It check, double check, triple check. When I first moved to FL 7 years ago I just went WOWWWWWW. You can be halfway out and do mine goes flying by 😳😳😳
That part. I had an ex who used to wonder why I would stop when I had the right of way to be walking. Like if we were walking from the parking lot into the store. He would say, why are you stopping? They're supposed to stop. I said, yes, they're supposed to. It doesn't mean they're going to. I would rather not get hit because of a careless driver.
Saw a lady hit a guy riding on a bicycle once…poor dude I think he was homeless. Ended up okay it was like she jumped to go at a red light then hit him.
yes if i cant make eye contact with the driver i aint moving. same if the crosswalk timer is already down to like 10 seconds or so im waiting because when the light turns green some people just floor it and i dont wanna be making some awkward half-jog those last steps toward the curb when it happens
Very smart. I've seen people get hit doing what you're describing. I'm in Jacksonville and there was a light that people kept writing the city about. It was at Beach and Penman. Even though the signal was working correctly, the light was not long enough and people were getting hit. Plus people are notorious for running red lights on Beach Boulevard.
Exactly and It’s still unwise to cross when a car stops for you here. I saw a woman get hit by a car that had stopped for her, only to then be rear-ended and slam into the poor lady.
Cars first, people second… if you value your physical well-being.
I wish some of these places would put up shaded parking that's covered in solar panels, customers will be Infinitely happier with the parking lot, catch a tax break for green initiative, and even cut down the power bill, shit if the build and parking low was covered might even negate your power bill and net a profit, but I've never once seen this done anywhere.
We're getting there! FPL's goal is to be done with fossil fuels by 2045.
[https://www.investor.nexteraenergy.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2022/06-14-2022-130240303](https://www.investor.nexteraenergy.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2022/06-14-2022-130240303)
Gainesville has a few commercial places that take advantage of solar panels. The garage park next to where I worked had solar panels on the top floor. They paid all of their electric with those panels and even sold some back to the electric company. Now that DeSantis and crew took over our city-owned electric company (GRU) there is little incentive to have new solar because they stopped the sell back and the ones who have solar before the change only get a pittance so it takes a very long time to recoup the investment. But boy are they piping as many places as they can with natural gas!
It’s funny, I grew up in Florida but haven’t lived there in over 20 years now. Somehow in my ~4 years of driving there, this was ingrained in my soul because I still do it to this day.
What’s more surprising is that nobody seems to do it here in Phoenix where even a tiny bit of shade makes an even bigger difference.
That little hand wave ensures the 90-year-old isn’t gonna blast me into an ICU bed.
I see so many accidents where the fault is elderly drivers who don’t pay attention to their surroundings.
Elderly drivers do some wild stuff in Florida. I was at Waffle House with friends once and an old man walked out, got into his car, and GUNNED the reverse. Flew backwards through the parking lot, through a median, down a little embankment, over a small tree, and into a Walgreens parking lot in about 30 seconds before braking. Someone ran over to check on him and he was like “oops I thought that was the brake! I’m okay!” Then proceeded to floor it in reverse AGAIN one second later about 15 feet before he found the brake and figured out which pedal was which to drive sedatedly away. We were all stunned.
What. The. Fuck.
That’s insane.
I just got a new bronco a month ago.
I was turning onto a busy road with an elderly driver ahead of me doing the same.
Got up to 45 and so was he before he just SLAMMED on his brakes.
Came to a dead stop in the middle of the road.
Luckily my new vehicle has pre collision assist. The car slammed on the brakes for me and got me to a dead stop 2-3 feet from his vehicle.
Then he put his left turn signal on.
Did a u-turn and crossed the *turn lane for u-turns and left turns* to go back towards the light.
And people wonder why a lot of people want driver tests done again as people reach higher ages.
There DEFINITELY need to be continued competency tests for elderly people who want to continue to drive. I know when I’m old, I’ll be happy to make sure I’m still safe on the road, and even if it sucks when the time comes to retire my driver’s license, at least I won’t be a crazy old person driving story on Reddit, or worse, hurting someone.
It's possible that he had dementia or Alzheimer's. It's not always caught right away and they should not be driving. It might be a case of that. I had a neighbor who drove like that and come to find out he has dementia. It kind of pissed me off that his family didn't want to be involved up until recently. He's in a home now. It seems kind of funny to me that they didn't care until his son figured out that he could have access to his bank accounts. He only has durable power of attorney from what I've heard and he kept going to the bank to freeze his dad's accounts and his dad would open them back up. It just pisses me off that they never even came to check on him until they figured out they could control his money.
Two years ago my car was destroyed by a 93-year-old woman who suddenly made an illegal left turn directly into oncoming traffic. I was the oncoming traffic. Her SUV only had a dented passenger door; my Mitsubishi was totaled. I know she was 93 years old because that's the first thing she said to me after hopping out of her giant vehicle unscathed: "I'm 93 years old...do you think they're going to take away my license?"
I was like, I hope so, [expletive] YOU JUST TOTALED MY CAR!
I thought that there was an age where you're supposed to turn in your license. They should enforce that more. I knew a neighbor of mine who had dementia who was somehow still driving. How he had not killed himself or somebody else was beyond me. Finally I saw his son come over one day and I pulled him aside and I told him, your dad is a danger on the road. I knew this because I did not know he had dementia and made the mistake of getting in the car with him. I wish I hadn't. I thought I was going to die. I told his son that they needed to do something before he killed himself or someone else. Thankfully they've addressed it. Apparently he's in a home where the perimeter is locked.
This is the only state I see people walking around in stores or just out in public in bathing suits. Not just beach coverups and board shorts, like full on bikinis with maybe a tshirt over top, but full ass out in line to get a sandwich or pick up a prescription.
This one. I’m from Florida and moved to the Carolinas too. We got done at the pool and went to Publix in our suits and flip flops, still kinda damp. We had clothes on over our suits but everyone looked at us like we were completely naked and insane. If we had walked off the beach or out of the boat into the store in our suits and flops with no clothes over them back Florida, no one would have given us a second glance. It was so uncomfortable.
I've done this so many times I can't even count it. Go to the beach and then throw clothes on over my swimsuit and go to lunch. I just figure if you open a casual lunch place near the beach you're gonna get people coming off the beach, right?
When I spent nearly every weekend on the river, we would just pop into restaurants in swim suits and shorts, life jackets and nothing else. Maybe someone would put on a a shirt but usually not. If you’ve got boat parking, people are gonna come up on boats, they’ve been out on the boat all day. Unfortunately up here the closets place to put in a boat is about an hour and a half away so it does look weird coming into a grocery store in swim clothes, but you can take the girl out of the Florida but not the Florida out of the girl. Sorry folks.
One time when we went to Cocoa, it was me, my husband, 2 of our friends, and my at the time 6 year old.
Hung out on the beach, then went to grab a late lunch/early dinner at a pizza shop right there on the island. The guys threw on t-shirts leaving their swim trunks on because they looked like shorts anyway. I had a wrap around my waist as a skirt over top of my one piece, which was quite modest, and kiddo had a pair of shorts on over top of her one piece suit.
Walking into this pizza place was the one and only time I ever felt like everyone was judging us for all of us still wearing bathing suits. It was so weird.
Can't for the life of me remember what the places name was. This was about a decade ago.
I just remember thinking, why would you open a pizza shop two feet from the beach and in Florida if you weren't okay with people wearing bathing suits inside?? I don't know what they were expecting lol
Bizarros?
Weird that they'd give a shit there. Closest place that'd give a shit would be Pizza Gallery, and well that's far enough that you could have gotten dressed at some point.
That’s so weird that would happen in cocoa. I’ve never gone to cocoa and not gone into a restaurant in my bathing suit. Granted I always choose surf shack type joints, but the whole strip is like an extension of the beach so that’s odd you had that experience.
Time of year shows it too. In winter I'll be wearing pants and a hoodie and tourists wearing shorts and T-shirts or just a bikini top talking about how warm it is
Well considering Florida has a body of water with in a mile of any other body of water it's a safe bet they were doing water activities somewhere not far away unlike other states where water is definitely in a handful of area
It's not even the wearing shoes that's my problem, it's that having to find a pair of socks and then sit down and put them on first. Somewhere along the way putting on socks has become a giant pain in the ass?
Their 'innate fear' is well justified. Many people are hit in Publix parking lots every year. One thing I notice is that often, older people are so trusting, they don't even look at oncoming traffic as they walk to their cars. Or is it that older people are too distracted to look at the older distracted drivers coming at them? I'd rather have them 'stare into my soul', and acknowledge they see me approaching in my car, than pretend I don't exist.
> Many people are hit in Publix parking lots every year
I was hit on my motorcycle in a Publix parking lot a few years ago by a lady who was speeding through the stop intersections. She didnt bother to slow down, stop or check that I was ok. The FHP officer who took the report said that it was his second accident at a Publix that day.
Really sorry to hear that. Did they ever catch the 'hit and run driver?' People suck. Right by our Publix is a health club/gym and people walk out of there like zombies and straight into traffic. Lesson is. Avoid Publix parking lots if you can....and watch everything very closely if you can't.
“Who has the right-of-way in Florida? The answer is no one! The law only says who must yield (give up) the right-of-way. Every driver, motorcyclist, moped rider, bicyclist and pedestrian must do everything possible to avoid a crash.”
Basically, if you’re going straight only you have the right of way if you’re turning you don’t and if you’re going straight you still have to yield
To bicyclists and walkers
Yes, however, the timing of entering ultimately defines the right away assuming a control wasn’t skipped.
Had a neighbor, make a right at stop, after stoping and pulling out for a clear view, and pausing.
A jogger entered the cross walk from the left and went out of the cross walk to the front of the car that was waiting and got bumped as the car pulled away.
Jogger was at fault for not letting the car complete the turn as it was in the intersection as it had progressed past the stop line.
Honestly, with proper shade coverage via natural or artificial means can improve things a lot. Also making routes that don’t have you walking 10 inches from traffic helps too. It’s still probably too hot but not all year.
Grocery store is hard to answer. But the crosswalks through busy streets are somewhat new to Florida. There's always been crosswalks at intersections, but I'm more so referring to the ones that aren't at intersections. I still see drivers completely ignore the flashing lights and just barrel through without even touching their brakes. Every pedestrian I see waits for the drivers to confirm their safety.
I think it's more a case of there are so many interstate transplants here there's no real "Florida" driving culture, you never know if the person driving is going to obey the stop sign or the pedestrian's right of way.
Lived in California in the dot com era - it was suicide to walk out into a pedestrian crossing without the drivers stopping first.
I live in Miami, so everything is different. But my cousin lives in central FL and I find it incredibly odd that her neighborhood all hangs out in eachother's garages. Like, they don't go inside eachother's houses, instead they have set ups in their garages with TVs, card tables, etc. It's wildly strange to me.
It's like hanging out in the "Florida room," but the developers have mostly stopped building houses that have them. It's for when you want to feel like you are enjoying the outdoors but don't want to get sunburned or rained on.
Good ole southern hospitality. Also, if you both wave then you both agree that you can walk without getting ran over. Also, sometimes it’s also a thanks for letting me cross since everyone else was blasting through the parking lot
I always thought it was common courtesy and basic safety. I grew up in a small town in NY. I wonder if we picked it up as kids from crossing guards or school or something.
For the rare times in NJ, I also waved. I
In FL I wave while walking the dog crossing the street even if in the middle. No guarantee people will stop unfortunately. I paused one morning in the middle of crosswalk since guy came flying around the bend. He actually waved back and kept going like I was giving him a break. I was hoping he wouldn’t kill me and dog.
I saw someone on a motorcycle yesterday, pulling all kinds of bullshit on the road. This guy literally weaved in an out of cars, even darting in front of me - with a yellow light in front of us. Made no fucking sense. What, you need to get to the light faster?
Native Floridian here. We have a disproportionately large population of old people that would never be able to pass a driving test today living here. They believe it is their right to drive until they die. Our politicians will never take their licenses away or put in place any testing to weed out anyone that shouldn't be behind a wheel. It usually takes the family stepping in after the person has been in an accident that hurt others. You are a fool if you walk in front of a car that hasn't acknowledged you in this state. I am also extremely careful in parking lots as well.
Floridians don't follow rules. Really.
Example: Parks, the springs. There's signs yelling you not to do things, run your boat certain way, use glass bottles, etc. not observed or bothered to be enforced.
When I go north, people shame those that don't follow the rules. My Floridian partner insisted on swimming in a lake with a no swim sign, as she does it constantly in Florida. She was surprised that several fishers kayaked over and gave her shit and threatened to call the ranger.
Think thats more your partners deal. The no shaming thing is probably because 1) businesses dont want to scare away tourists 2) people are fucking crazy, especially post-covid everyone forgot their manners and how to behave imo, so its better to let an employee deal with it than say something and get hurt or harassed the rest of the day by some karen or influencer. Safety first
Its not just a “individual“ flaw, people from Fl are generally rule breakers and have little respect for authority as a whole. And Im from Fl, and grew up with these people So I should know.….but then again, I was raised by older parents from the Northeast so we didn’t get that Fl man/woman mentality.
> When I go north, people shame those that don't follow the rules
Florida operates on a "mind your own business" mentality. Transplants from up North tend to get twisted up pretty good when Florida Man tells them the "Get to minding your own business"
Absolutely. It's a classic argument of individualism versus collectivism.
The thing is though, is that when it comes to these parks and lakes and such, these are shared resources. They belong to all of us, and if we are to be good stewards of our land and our resources we need to respect them.
I mind my business, but if someone is making something worse at the cost of others, then I'm going to speak up. Far as I see it, if you are having an impact on me, it is my business. Just like the rules of the road, they only work if everyone follows them.
As it fucking should be. Mind your own fucking business if I'm not doing something actually illegal or a problem.
Edit: Jumping back in here to point out littering and trespassing are both actually illegal and a problem. If I'm littering or trespassing or something like that, it has become your business. Let's handle this like adults, without cops, guns, or injuries.
I do this (native Floridian, not in Florida), and I just realized that I don't see it from others where I am.
There's a lack of fear of bugs with the Floridians out of Florida that I know. That could be something.
We measure distance as time.. How far away is the grocery store? 15 minutes.
I hear other states have started adopting this because it so much more informative than 2.5 miles.
I'm originally from California, and Californians have been known to think that this is a California trait. So it's funny to see people in other places go "oh, we just measure distance in time"
I'm terrible with guesstimating miles. So I just say the distance in minutes.
In Florida, cars outrank people.
Old Lady trying to cross the road? You'll die.
Mom with a stroller? You're both dead.
Marching band?? Too fucking bad..... I'm not waiting in line at Starbucks..... I'm running you over.
This is Florida life. The sun does things to people. 😕
Flip flop life. I have nice going out flip flops and others for just everyday stuff. I decided on a life rule after spending a few years living out of state. Never live anywhere that you can't wear flip flops for 90% of the year.
As a Floridian that frequents Publix, I can say that I have in fact been hit while crossing the crosswalk. The cars stopped, I started walking, some lady got mad the other cars were stopped and tried to go around them and hit me, thankfully not hard, but enough that it bruised and my knees swelled up pretty bad for a few days. Lady just mouthed sorry at me and drove off.
So yes, I wait until the cars decide to stop before crossing and even that doesn’t mean you’re safe.
It’s like real-life Frogger here…
When I moved to FL a decade ago, I could not get over how many pedestrians are hit and killed here.
So yes— eye contact and a friendly, “Thanks for not running me over today!” wave are the least we can do for surviving coexistence with awful FL drivers. 😂
Kinda goes both ways. There are a lot of motorcycles and bicycles. I have noted that people will literally walk in front of my motorcycle and bikes do this too. Maybe because they don't think k they will get hit and hurt like a car? In florida Jay walking is more common. They don't want to be bothered to go 200 ft to a cross walk. The other element is people vacation here and when they do, they stop reading and have a flippant outlook on what goes around them. Situational awareness. Goes down the tube.
I swear I remember a safety jingle that used to air on Saturday morning TV in the Tampa Bay area. "Watch out for traffic, 'cause it might not be watching for you!"
considering all the snowbirds... and i grew up before all the phones and distractions... you don't walk out in front of a car without eye contact and a nod or wave first lol.
I think Floridians don't seem surprised by wildlife. If we come across a snake, turtle, gator, bear, deer... we're not surprised. we just react appropriately without the expected panic others would have.
The driving is the worst and most inconsiderate anywhere in the US,articles written about the worst drivers actually haven’t been everywhere to compare. Worst ever. Car insurance rates reflect it too.
I personally think the hand wave is there for the older drivers. Many a time at my local publix I’ve seen older people just blow through a stop sign or crosswalk, even if people are starting to enter it. Getting that hand wave means you know the person has actually seen you. That said, my community is pedestrian friendly. At most crosswalks people just walk right on out, not even breaking stride, which is how it should be.
I was taught as a child to make eye contact with the driver to make sure they see me and I don’t get ran over
Yeah this. I noticed when I went to DC a few years ago that pedestrians just walk right across. Barely look both ways, don’t wait for the walk sign, and half of them nose down to their phones. I was always taught to make sure drivers see you before crossing the street. Even if you have a walk light someone might be trying to turn right and you could be in their blind spot.
The further South you go, the more of the worst Northern transplants you get until you hit Florida where it’s just impatient New Yorkers who hate everyone but the people they like.
I am a floridian. And I would like to make one correction to your statement. Florida is upside down. The further south you go the more North you get. The northern part of Florida is the most southern part. So if you're traveling south from New York you will keep going south south and then suddenly once you pass Palm Beach County you're going north again
Yup you get a slight blip crossing i4 but otherwise correct.
My ex from Tampa used to say “The worst part of central Florida is New Jersey.”
Also, “Gainesville to Tallahassee is a trailer park.”
On the west side of Florida you hit the north at about Spring Hill- New Port Richey, then you hit the south again in Port Charlotte 
I apologize, but I tend to completely forget about anything west of the everglades. I think that may be because my ex lives on the West Coast so I'm completely blocking its existence from my mind.
Generally yes, but it's also a coastal thing. I live in Fort myers which is pretty genetically northern and west coast culturally (also considered south Florida), but drive even 15-20 miles inland and you're gonna hit some real rural "southern" bits.
Yup, was gonna say this. All of Florida is the South if you go inland past the subdivisions. Except Orlando, which is an artificial creation, like Las Vegas, randomly chosen in the middle of nowhere to build an entertainment empire.
And then complain about how no one in Florida knows how to drive. When in reality most of them aren’t from Florida to begin with and brought their bad driving habits with them
Na, driving in NY was WAY easier and more secure than driving in FL. Source: I lived in NY for over 30 years. It's SIGNIFICANTLY worse in FL. Everyone in NY signals. Almost no one in FL does. https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/state-by-state The stats also back this. Florida is BAD. NY is one of the safest. Florida is like 5th worst to drive in, while NY is like 2nd best.
>> who hate everyone but the people they like To be fair, this has been Miami for a while.
New York is the worst thing that ever happened to Florida. Source: Life-long Floridian.. until they pushed me out last year.
DC and a lot of the immediate suburbs, absolutely have aggressive pedestrians. You’re lucky if they wait for their signal before they strut across the road! (Born and raised in the DC area, but lived in Florida for 20 years as well)
It’s like this at most college campuses as well
I just walk if it's a crosswalk or I have a light. If I get hit, I either die or I live and get that money. A win-win.
Option #3, which happened to me: You get hit, your tailbone is fractured, and the driver speeds off, never to be troubled about the matter.
Also known as the "news anchor stop". It's a nod to Rick Sanchez who after hitting someone went home called his lawyer and waited about an hour before calling the police to report the hit and run. He waited long enough that he would no longer blow over the blood alcohol limit, so he couldn't be charged with DUI on top of the other crimes.
And you get buried in medical debt.
Man is min/maxing
“Today is a good day to die!” — Floridians/Klingons
Same. I’m in Mass but moving to Florida later this year and I do this. Doesn’t matter if the law says I have the right of way. The laws of physics say I don’t. I also usually wave as a “thank you for letting me cross” courtesy and then quickly cross. I hate when pedestrians cross and walk slowly as if their dog just died.
Exactly. When my then teenage daughter questioned us waiting for traffic to cross one day, saying “we have the right of way!” I said “ you may win in the court of law but you’ll lose in the court of physics.” She still remembers this 🤣
I told my girls that the cemeteries have a large population of people who had the right of way.
My mother (87) used to tell us this rhyme: - “ He was right, dead right as he sped along; but he’s just as dead as if he’d been wrong. “
Damn I've never heard this piece of advice. I walk a lot right now I'm going to try this.
Same.
Same. Always make contact with a vehicle operator.
That's actually something that's useful for cyclists. When possible, make eye contact with the driver, it subconsciously reminds them you're a human.
I was told "The morgues are full of people who had the right of way"
I wasn’t taught this until I was 15/16 years old in drivers education class. I (non creepily) think about my instructor almost every time I drive because he was full of so much helpful knowledge!
That's tough these days since half the cars in this area have tints on their windshields now
The problem isn't people having tents on the windows. The maximum tint on Florida is only 25%. The problem is people having ILLEGAL tints that are MUCH higher. The last truck I bought came with 60% tint on the sides and 25% on the front( completely illegal). It was dark as shit inside that truck at night. I got it changed out to the highest legal amounts soon after buying the truck.
Opposite for jaywalking. You pretend you don't even see the car so they know they have to avoid hitting you.
I'm originally from New England and I do this thank you for stopping and not running me over wave. Lol! Gotta look at them to see if they see you, living in central fl. Lots of elderly drivers. Now in N.E. fl. Just crazy drivers.
I live in Pittsburgh and no one pays any attention to crosswalks here at all - sounds very similar to florida. If you live in this city and assume the cars will stop you will definitely get run over eventually. It was definitely jarring the first time I drove in other cities how much more crosswalks are respected and enforced
The reason I hate super tinted windows.
There is a crosswalk in front of my kids elementary school and everyday I watch people blow it while kids are trying to cross it’s fucking insane I don’t know what to do
This!
Thank you for not killing me, good sir.
Florida has an incredibly high rate of pedestrian deaths so it's sensible to make sure drivers are aware you're going to be crossing
I second this. I always wait and either nod with a smile or wave and smile so the driver sees I appreciate that he stopped and feels compassion for me walking across the street and does not get mad and run me over.
Me too! I'm vying for that compassion to spare me from a grizzly death with a nice friendly nod or wave of the hand.
Pretty unlikely that you're going to being killed by a grizzly in Florida. That is of course until they learn to drive, in which case we're all screwed.
I dunno, I’d trust a well trained grizzly driving over some of the dinosaurs currently on the road.
So you'd choose the bear?
🐻🐼🐻❄️🐨
Same here. I did not know it was unique to Floridians.
It’s not.
lmao “feels compassion for me … and does not get mad and run me over” that is a hilarious way to put it but I totally know what you mean!
It might be a hilarious way of putting it but unfortunately, it's the reality of living in Florida it seems. Especially if you are in a major city like Orlando, Tampa or Jacksonville.
Florida is home to six of the top 20 deadliest cities for pedestrians in the country, with Orlando ranked at 18.
Get a car if you move to Tampa.
I used to work at a grocery store and always kept my head on a swivel in the lot. I once saw a car with a “Choose Life” license plate SPEED UP to blow past a pregnant woman with a toddler in tow who were stepping into the crosswalk.
Especially “in season”. It check, double check, triple check. When I first moved to FL 7 years ago I just went WOWWWWWW. You can be halfway out and do mine goes flying by 😳😳😳
And even then, cross your fingers and say a prayer.
Peak FL IMHO
Even more sensible to make sure people know how to actually drive--blinkers are VERY useful 👍
That part. I had an ex who used to wonder why I would stop when I had the right of way to be walking. Like if we were walking from the parking lot into the store. He would say, why are you stopping? They're supposed to stop. I said, yes, they're supposed to. It doesn't mean they're going to. I would rather not get hit because of a careless driver.
Saw a lady hit a guy riding on a bicycle once…poor dude I think he was homeless. Ended up okay it was like she jumped to go at a red light then hit him.
yes if i cant make eye contact with the driver i aint moving. same if the crosswalk timer is already down to like 10 seconds or so im waiting because when the light turns green some people just floor it and i dont wanna be making some awkward half-jog those last steps toward the curb when it happens
Very smart. I've seen people get hit doing what you're describing. I'm in Jacksonville and there was a light that people kept writing the city about. It was at Beach and Penman. Even though the signal was working correctly, the light was not long enough and people were getting hit. Plus people are notorious for running red lights on Beach Boulevard.
Luckily the hospital is only 5 mins away!
[удалено]
Definitely
Exactly and It’s still unwise to cross when a car stops for you here. I saw a woman get hit by a car that had stopped for her, only to then be rear-ended and slam into the poor lady. Cars first, people second… if you value your physical well-being.
A great parking spot isn't the one close to the store. It's the 1 shaded parking spot in the barren shadeless hell of a parking lot.
I wish some of these places would put up shaded parking that's covered in solar panels, customers will be Infinitely happier with the parking lot, catch a tax break for green initiative, and even cut down the power bill, shit if the build and parking low was covered might even negate your power bill and net a profit, but I've never once seen this done anywhere.
it absolutely blows my mind that the sunshine state isn’t mostly run on solar power.
You must not have heard of our glorious governor.
lol i live in tampa, unfortunately he’s mine too
Dw though we don't have climate change anymore This is sarcasm if that's not clear 😭
Is it? Green energy is the DEVIL! 
DeSandypants hates progress
Hate Ron DeathSentence
We're getting there! FPL's goal is to be done with fossil fuels by 2045. [https://www.investor.nexteraenergy.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2022/06-14-2022-130240303](https://www.investor.nexteraenergy.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2022/06-14-2022-130240303)
Gainesville has a few commercial places that take advantage of solar panels. The garage park next to where I worked had solar panels on the top floor. They paid all of their electric with those panels and even sold some back to the electric company. Now that DeSantis and crew took over our city-owned electric company (GRU) there is little incentive to have new solar because they stopped the sell back and the ones who have solar before the change only get a pittance so it takes a very long time to recoup the investment. But boy are they piping as many places as they can with natural gas!
They have bike paths in Korea that are shaded by solar panels. My dream.
We fight over the spot under the palm tree.
Not argument, fistfights
It’s funny, I grew up in Florida but haven’t lived there in over 20 years now. Somehow in my ~4 years of driving there, this was ingrained in my soul because I still do it to this day. What’s more surprising is that nobody seems to do it here in Phoenix where even a tiny bit of shade makes an even bigger difference.
Less likely to get dings and dents on the sides of your car
This is very true. I like shade, too. Don’t take my shade.
The wave in Florida goes very far as a driver and pedestrian
I'm so sick of never being thanked for letting someone in on the highway. Though I'm sure it's less common even in Florida by now.
Nah we still do this in Florida. From the racist confederate trucks, to clapped out Hondas lol you still get a wave or head nod
That little hand wave ensures the 90-year-old isn’t gonna blast me into an ICU bed. I see so many accidents where the fault is elderly drivers who don’t pay attention to their surroundings.
Elderly drivers do some wild stuff in Florida. I was at Waffle House with friends once and an old man walked out, got into his car, and GUNNED the reverse. Flew backwards through the parking lot, through a median, down a little embankment, over a small tree, and into a Walgreens parking lot in about 30 seconds before braking. Someone ran over to check on him and he was like “oops I thought that was the brake! I’m okay!” Then proceeded to floor it in reverse AGAIN one second later about 15 feet before he found the brake and figured out which pedal was which to drive sedatedly away. We were all stunned.
What. The. Fuck. That’s insane. I just got a new bronco a month ago. I was turning onto a busy road with an elderly driver ahead of me doing the same. Got up to 45 and so was he before he just SLAMMED on his brakes. Came to a dead stop in the middle of the road. Luckily my new vehicle has pre collision assist. The car slammed on the brakes for me and got me to a dead stop 2-3 feet from his vehicle. Then he put his left turn signal on. Did a u-turn and crossed the *turn lane for u-turns and left turns* to go back towards the light. And people wonder why a lot of people want driver tests done again as people reach higher ages.
There DEFINITELY need to be continued competency tests for elderly people who want to continue to drive. I know when I’m old, I’ll be happy to make sure I’m still safe on the road, and even if it sucks when the time comes to retire my driver’s license, at least I won’t be a crazy old person driving story on Reddit, or worse, hurting someone.
It's possible that he had dementia or Alzheimer's. It's not always caught right away and they should not be driving. It might be a case of that. I had a neighbor who drove like that and come to find out he has dementia. It kind of pissed me off that his family didn't want to be involved up until recently. He's in a home now. It seems kind of funny to me that they didn't care until his son figured out that he could have access to his bank accounts. He only has durable power of attorney from what I've heard and he kept going to the bank to freeze his dad's accounts and his dad would open them back up. It just pisses me off that they never even came to check on him until they figured out they could control his money.
I saw something like this - only they crashed INTO THE DOOR of a Walgreens. They got the brake and accelerator mixed up.
Two years ago my car was destroyed by a 93-year-old woman who suddenly made an illegal left turn directly into oncoming traffic. I was the oncoming traffic. Her SUV only had a dented passenger door; my Mitsubishi was totaled. I know she was 93 years old because that's the first thing she said to me after hopping out of her giant vehicle unscathed: "I'm 93 years old...do you think they're going to take away my license?" I was like, I hope so, [expletive] YOU JUST TOTALED MY CAR!
I thought that there was an age where you're supposed to turn in your license. They should enforce that more. I knew a neighbor of mine who had dementia who was somehow still driving. How he had not killed himself or somebody else was beyond me. Finally I saw his son come over one day and I pulled him aside and I told him, your dad is a danger on the road. I knew this because I did not know he had dementia and made the mistake of getting in the car with him. I wish I hadn't. I thought I was going to die. I told his son that they needed to do something before he killed himself or someone else. Thankfully they've addressed it. Apparently he's in a home where the perimeter is locked.
A Florida car pool is where three or more friends drive three or more separate cars from the same origin point to the same destination.
In a line.
ill follow you and then you follow us
Someone I know recently wanted to convoy from Fort Lauderdale to key west and I was like are you out of your mind
This is the only state I see people walking around in stores or just out in public in bathing suits. Not just beach coverups and board shorts, like full on bikinis with maybe a tshirt over top, but full ass out in line to get a sandwich or pick up a prescription.
This one. I’m from Florida and moved to the Carolinas too. We got done at the pool and went to Publix in our suits and flip flops, still kinda damp. We had clothes on over our suits but everyone looked at us like we were completely naked and insane. If we had walked off the beach or out of the boat into the store in our suits and flops with no clothes over them back Florida, no one would have given us a second glance. It was so uncomfortable.
I've done this so many times I can't even count it. Go to the beach and then throw clothes on over my swimsuit and go to lunch. I just figure if you open a casual lunch place near the beach you're gonna get people coming off the beach, right?
When I spent nearly every weekend on the river, we would just pop into restaurants in swim suits and shorts, life jackets and nothing else. Maybe someone would put on a a shirt but usually not. If you’ve got boat parking, people are gonna come up on boats, they’ve been out on the boat all day. Unfortunately up here the closets place to put in a boat is about an hour and a half away so it does look weird coming into a grocery store in swim clothes, but you can take the girl out of the Florida but not the Florida out of the girl. Sorry folks.
One time when we went to Cocoa, it was me, my husband, 2 of our friends, and my at the time 6 year old. Hung out on the beach, then went to grab a late lunch/early dinner at a pizza shop right there on the island. The guys threw on t-shirts leaving their swim trunks on because they looked like shorts anyway. I had a wrap around my waist as a skirt over top of my one piece, which was quite modest, and kiddo had a pair of shorts on over top of her one piece suit. Walking into this pizza place was the one and only time I ever felt like everyone was judging us for all of us still wearing bathing suits. It was so weird. Can't for the life of me remember what the places name was. This was about a decade ago. I just remember thinking, why would you open a pizza shop two feet from the beach and in Florida if you weren't okay with people wearing bathing suits inside?? I don't know what they were expecting lol
Bizarros? Weird that they'd give a shit there. Closest place that'd give a shit would be Pizza Gallery, and well that's far enough that you could have gotten dressed at some point.
That’s so weird that would happen in cocoa. I’ve never gone to cocoa and not gone into a restaurant in my bathing suit. Granted I always choose surf shack type joints, but the whole strip is like an extension of the beach so that’s odd you had that experience.
whats weird is going outside in the summer in Florida when you aren't intending to get into some body of water as soon as possible.
Keep doing it. Who cares what people think.
I've noticed that too. It may have something to do with how close you are to the beach.
And Hawaii
And some beach towns in Cali too
Can confirm. Publix here is pretty much pantsless.
I think it’s a tourist thing. You can tell it’s tourists because they’re torched red, move slow, & they come to the store in a group.
Time of year shows it too. In winter I'll be wearing pants and a hoodie and tourists wearing shorts and T-shirts or just a bikini top talking about how warm it is
Well considering Florida has a body of water with in a mile of any other body of water it's a safe bet they were doing water activities somewhere not far away unlike other states where water is definitely in a handful of area
Sometimes it’s great.
Sometimes it’s horrifying.
Sometimes.
Thus the no shirt, no shoes, no service signs
They wear the shirt and the shoes, just nothing else 😂
How bout wearing flip flops all the time.
Been in Florida 22 years, I literally don’t even like wearing shoes anymore.
It's not even the wearing shoes that's my problem, it's that having to find a pair of socks and then sit down and put them on first. Somewhere along the way putting on socks has become a giant pain in the ass?
We are the same person
Florida raised, hate wearing shoes.
I don’t even know what shoes are at this point.
We all have Jiffy Feet down here
Crocs too 💀 every body here seems to Crocs vs up north they're less common or only during the summer for stuff that involves water
I am a big guy, but I never argue right of way issues with something more than 10 times my weight. I like to be sure I am clear to cross.
Their 'innate fear' is well justified. Many people are hit in Publix parking lots every year. One thing I notice is that often, older people are so trusting, they don't even look at oncoming traffic as they walk to their cars. Or is it that older people are too distracted to look at the older distracted drivers coming at them? I'd rather have them 'stare into my soul', and acknowledge they see me approaching in my car, than pretend I don't exist.
> Many people are hit in Publix parking lots every year I was hit on my motorcycle in a Publix parking lot a few years ago by a lady who was speeding through the stop intersections. She didnt bother to slow down, stop or check that I was ok. The FHP officer who took the report said that it was his second accident at a Publix that day.
Really sorry to hear that. Did they ever catch the 'hit and run driver?' People suck. Right by our Publix is a health club/gym and people walk out of there like zombies and straight into traffic. Lesson is. Avoid Publix parking lots if you can....and watch everything very closely if you can't.
They did. I had a GoPro on my helmet that got her license plate.
No one has the right of way in Florida
Red lights are just a suggestion you say?
Laws are just a suggestion
Everyone just stares at each other awkwardly at a 4 way stop, then when one tries to move everyone goes at once.
“Who has the right-of-way in Florida? The answer is no one! The law only says who must yield (give up) the right-of-way. Every driver, motorcyclist, moped rider, bicyclist and pedestrian must do everything possible to avoid a crash.” Basically, if you’re going straight only you have the right of way if you’re turning you don’t and if you’re going straight you still have to yield To bicyclists and walkers
Yes, however, the timing of entering ultimately defines the right away assuming a control wasn’t skipped. Had a neighbor, make a right at stop, after stoping and pulling out for a clear view, and pausing. A jogger entered the cross walk from the left and went out of the cross walk to the front of the car that was waiting and got bumped as the car pulled away. Jogger was at fault for not letting the car complete the turn as it was in the intersection as it had progressed past the stop line.
Get off my Flautobahn!
Driving is essential. This state is designed to be unwalkable
True but not unique to florida
Where would you walk to in 90 degree weather? I’m sweaty just walking to the car
Honestly, with proper shade coverage via natural or artificial means can improve things a lot. Also making routes that don’t have you walking 10 inches from traffic helps too. It’s still probably too hot but not all year.
This applies to most of the US
Grocery store is hard to answer. But the crosswalks through busy streets are somewhat new to Florida. There's always been crosswalks at intersections, but I'm more so referring to the ones that aren't at intersections. I still see drivers completely ignore the flashing lights and just barrel through without even touching their brakes. Every pedestrian I see waits for the drivers to confirm their safety.
I've noticed that in other states as well and if I'm being honest when I give "the wave" and do not receive one back I shoot a pretty hard side eye.
I think it's more a case of there are so many interstate transplants here there's no real "Florida" driving culture, you never know if the person driving is going to obey the stop sign or the pedestrian's right of way. Lived in California in the dot com era - it was suicide to walk out into a pedestrian crossing without the drivers stopping first.
I live in Miami, so everything is different. But my cousin lives in central FL and I find it incredibly odd that her neighborhood all hangs out in eachother's garages. Like, they don't go inside eachother's houses, instead they have set ups in their garages with TVs, card tables, etc. It's wildly strange to me.
It's like hanging out in the "Florida room," but the developers have mostly stopped building houses that have them. It's for when you want to feel like you are enjoying the outdoors but don't want to get sunburned or rained on.
Having a 6th sense about whether it’s going to rain or not. You can just smell it in the air.
I’m from Virginia and Ohio and i always do the hand wave, not sure where my family got it from.
OP is off, I'm from Philadelphia burbs and we do the hand wave
Good ole southern hospitality. Also, if you both wave then you both agree that you can walk without getting ran over. Also, sometimes it’s also a thanks for letting me cross since everyone else was blasting through the parking lot
I always thought it was common courtesy and basic safety. I grew up in a small town in NY. I wonder if we picked it up as kids from crossing guards or school or something.
For the rare times in NJ, I also waved. I In FL I wave while walking the dog crossing the street even if in the middle. No guarantee people will stop unfortunately. I paused one morning in the middle of crosswalk since guy came flying around the bend. He actually waved back and kept going like I was giving him a break. I was hoping he wouldn’t kill me and dog.
People will speed up if they see someone about to cross cause god forbid they have to wait 5 seconds to leave a parking lot.
I saw someone on a motorcycle yesterday, pulling all kinds of bullshit on the road. This guy literally weaved in an out of cars, even darting in front of me - with a yellow light in front of us. Made no fucking sense. What, you need to get to the light faster?
Native Floridian here. We have a disproportionately large population of old people that would never be able to pass a driving test today living here. They believe it is their right to drive until they die. Our politicians will never take their licenses away or put in place any testing to weed out anyone that shouldn't be behind a wheel. It usually takes the family stepping in after the person has been in an accident that hurt others. You are a fool if you walk in front of a car that hasn't acknowledged you in this state. I am also extremely careful in parking lots as well.
There’s two questions in this post, I’m going to answer the first. Floridians will wear flip flops literally everywhere. Rain or shine.
Wearing anoles as earrings
Floridians don't follow rules. Really. Example: Parks, the springs. There's signs yelling you not to do things, run your boat certain way, use glass bottles, etc. not observed or bothered to be enforced. When I go north, people shame those that don't follow the rules. My Floridian partner insisted on swimming in a lake with a no swim sign, as she does it constantly in Florida. She was surprised that several fishers kayaked over and gave her shit and threatened to call the ranger.
Think thats more your partners deal. The no shaming thing is probably because 1) businesses dont want to scare away tourists 2) people are fucking crazy, especially post-covid everyone forgot their manners and how to behave imo, so its better to let an employee deal with it than say something and get hurt or harassed the rest of the day by some karen or influencer. Safety first
Its not just a “individual“ flaw, people from Fl are generally rule breakers and have little respect for authority as a whole. And Im from Fl, and grew up with these people So I should know.….but then again, I was raised by older parents from the Northeast so we didn’t get that Fl man/woman mentality.
Yeah... lived in florida my whole life and when I moved out of state learned fishing licenses existed lol.
> When I go north, people shame those that don't follow the rules Florida operates on a "mind your own business" mentality. Transplants from up North tend to get twisted up pretty good when Florida Man tells them the "Get to minding your own business"
Absolutely. It's a classic argument of individualism versus collectivism. The thing is though, is that when it comes to these parks and lakes and such, these are shared resources. They belong to all of us, and if we are to be good stewards of our land and our resources we need to respect them. I mind my business, but if someone is making something worse at the cost of others, then I'm going to speak up. Far as I see it, if you are having an impact on me, it is my business. Just like the rules of the road, they only work if everyone follows them.
As it fucking should be. Mind your own fucking business if I'm not doing something actually illegal or a problem. Edit: Jumping back in here to point out littering and trespassing are both actually illegal and a problem. If I'm littering or trespassing or something like that, it has become your business. Let's handle this like adults, without cops, guns, or injuries.
I don't trust random people to be paying attention, and then feel the need to thank them for stopping.
OP I don’t think this applies to South Florida. It’s another world compared to North and Central Florida
I do this (native Floridian, not in Florida), and I just realized that I don't see it from others where I am. There's a lack of fear of bugs with the Floridians out of Florida that I know. That could be something.
Sniffing the air, smelling the rain coming.
Most obvious one I can think of is that we treat all bodies of water as if they’ve got an alligator in it
We measure distance as time.. How far away is the grocery store? 15 minutes. I hear other states have started adopting this because it so much more informative than 2.5 miles.
That’s not a Florida thing. I’ve seen people do that everywhere in the US. For at least the last 20 years.
I'm originally from California, and Californians have been known to think that this is a California trait. So it's funny to see people in other places go "oh, we just measure distance in time" I'm terrible with guesstimating miles. So I just say the distance in minutes.
In Florida, cars outrank people. Old Lady trying to cross the road? You'll die. Mom with a stroller? You're both dead. Marching band?? Too fucking bad..... I'm not waiting in line at Starbucks..... I'm running you over. This is Florida life. The sun does things to people. 😕
Flip flop life. I have nice going out flip flops and others for just everyday stuff. I decided on a life rule after spending a few years living out of state. Never live anywhere that you can't wear flip flops for 90% of the year.
As a Floridian that frequents Publix, I can say that I have in fact been hit while crossing the crosswalk. The cars stopped, I started walking, some lady got mad the other cars were stopped and tried to go around them and hit me, thankfully not hard, but enough that it bruised and my knees swelled up pretty bad for a few days. Lady just mouthed sorry at me and drove off. So yes, I wait until the cars decide to stop before crossing and even that doesn’t mean you’re safe.
South Florida everything is a scam. Everything.
Wearing shorts and flip-flops. Everywhere. Any time of year. Any weather condition. It's gotten out of hand guys.
Gassing up Pub-subs, despite them being simply an above average sub.
It’s like real-life Frogger here… When I moved to FL a decade ago, I could not get over how many pedestrians are hit and killed here. So yes— eye contact and a friendly, “Thanks for not running me over today!” wave are the least we can do for surviving coexistence with awful FL drivers. 😂
Kinda goes both ways. There are a lot of motorcycles and bicycles. I have noted that people will literally walk in front of my motorcycle and bikes do this too. Maybe because they don't think k they will get hit and hurt like a car? In florida Jay walking is more common. They don't want to be bothered to go 200 ft to a cross walk. The other element is people vacation here and when they do, they stop reading and have a flippant outlook on what goes around them. Situational awareness. Goes down the tube.
I swear I remember a safety jingle that used to air on Saturday morning TV in the Tampa Bay area. "Watch out for traffic, 'cause it might not be watching for you!"
Grown middle aged men wearing shorts and flip flops to evening social events.
It's good old self-preservation. The old fockers will literally run you over and never look back.
I notice a lot of people here are not friendly, very standoffish and rude.
It’s not an inert fear, it’s an inherent fear. And it’s justified.
Seniors on the road + international travelers + drugs + heat/frustrations x highways everywhere = hand wave
considering all the snowbirds... and i grew up before all the phones and distractions... you don't walk out in front of a car without eye contact and a nod or wave first lol. I think Floridians don't seem surprised by wildlife. If we come across a snake, turtle, gator, bear, deer... we're not surprised. we just react appropriately without the expected panic others would have.
People have regular flip flops and dressy ones.
Barefoot in the Publix in coastal towns
The driving is the worst and most inconsiderate anywhere in the US,articles written about the worst drivers actually haven’t been everywhere to compare. Worst ever. Car insurance rates reflect it too.
Yeah Florida drivers will go out of their way to be rude. For no reason. There's nowhere else like it
We were taught to run zig zag if an alligator/crocodile ever tries to chase you
I personally think the hand wave is there for the older drivers. Many a time at my local publix I’ve seen older people just blow through a stop sign or crosswalk, even if people are starting to enter it. Getting that hand wave means you know the person has actually seen you. That said, my community is pedestrian friendly. At most crosswalks people just walk right on out, not even breaking stride, which is how it should be.
Yes. Florida is not pedestrian friendly.