When pedestrian common sense goes out the window

Scariest thing happened today. It was just about 30 minutes ago where I stopped at an intersection, looked both ways, and here comes some jogger darting across the street while my car is in motion, and luckily I hit my brakes just in time to not hit the guy.

And I'm thinking to myself... where is your common sense? He was wearing iPod earphones, jogging down the street, AND wearing a dark red sweatshirt!

Come on folks, you need to use some common sense when running, jogging, or even walking at night in the city.

1. Don't run or jog while listening to your iPod when crossing the street. Remember the Muni advertisement campaign of listening for vehicle sounds before you cross the street?
2. Wear some damn bright colors at night! That guy was wearing a very dark red shirt, and that doesn't reflect well to light. Wear at least a white colored shirt or jacket, or even better, spend a few bucks for a bright orange safety vest. $3 for a vest, or a $5,000 hospital bill? Every Halloween, the news TV folks remind kids to carry a flashlight and wear bright colors, for adults, take the message SERIOUSLY 365 days a year.
   
3. WALK across the street, don't run. That's the same as starting to cross the street when the countdown clock is ticking away, you risk getting hit when you realize you have two seconds left and you dart across the rest of the intersection. If a pedestrian darts a crosswalk, and times it perfectly with a driver who very recently scanned the crosswalk and thought it was clear, BANG! This is similar bicyclists who think it's OK to run red lights and stop signs and the car driver thinks going through the intersection is OK, and then WHAM.
   
4. Make eye contact with the driver, if you don't make eye contact, don't risk it.
5. Lastly, just don't exercise outdoors at night. It's like that Simpson's Halloween episode when Ned Flanders was doing his night fog walk and Marge hit him with the car. I hear having sex is exercise, why not stick to that? And if you are single, get a fleshlight.
   

So basically, for you pedestrians, make yourself obvious. Drivers at night makes themselves obvious by turning on their headlights (in which we may get ticketed for a burned out bulb), so why don't you pedestrians do the same by making it easier for you to spot?

As for me, my lesson is to look more carefully for stupid pedestrians.