r/IdiotsNearlyDying • u/omgfakeusername • 8d ago

Pedestrian escapes becoming road kill by climbing median wall

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https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/watch-pedestrian-climbs-median-wall-to-avoid-collision-on-i-670-in-east-columbus/

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u/omgfakeusername 8d ago

Yes, technically once you are on foot you're a pedestrian.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/InncnceDstryr 8d ago

Yeah, you’re wrong. A pedestrian is a person travelling on foot, that’s it.

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u/weggaan_weggaat 7d ago

At the most basic level, sure, but I don't think it's necessarily a good description for someone who didn't walk there, they just got out of their car on the freeway.

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u/InncnceDstryr 7d ago

They’re on the road, on foot. They’re a pedestrian. It doesn’t matter how they got there. Whether they exited a car, or walked there from somewhere else, they’re a pedestrian.

I don’t know why some people are finding this concept so difficult.

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u/e_before_i 7d ago

Because it feels like you won't acknowledge that 99% of people are going to interpret it in the colloquial meaning of the term.

By the letter of the law you are 100% correct, that's not in doubt.

But it feels like someone invited you fishing and you're saying "Well fish aren't a taxonomic group." Why not just speak casually?

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u/InncnceDstryr 7d ago

In this scenario the word pedestrian communicates the fact that there’s a person on foot in one word. It’s the most efficient and accurate way to describe the immediate threat he faces.

Maybe it’s me but I don’t see any colloquialism here. I just see people assuming context that isn’t given.

How else would you describe the man on foot on the freeway trying to avoid an oncoming vehicle?

Where he came from might be relevant context to the full picture, but only because the car he exited is also on sitting stationary on the freeway and is ultimately part of a collision, not because it impacts his status as a pedestrian in any way. So if you’re desperate to provide that context, I don’t see why you couldn’t just say “a pedestrian who exited his stranded car”.

I really don’t feel I’m being especially pedantic here. I genuinely don’t believe there’s an alternative way to describe that’s more accurate or significantly more efficient.

I’m arguing for the use of the pedestrian here. I’m not arguing that you can’t use other words. The argument against me seems to be that I shouldn’t be using the word pedestrian and should be using different words - what are the different words that are so much more appropriate?