Incredibly Stupid & Criminal Pedestrian Long

Sorry that this is such a long winded story, but I wanted to give all the details I could in the hopes that someone else with more experience in these matters can comment. I also hope not too many other people have had the experience that I just had this afternoon while driving down a two lane, busy semi-rural highway, because if they had, they might, (like me) consider not driving for a good long while, if ever again. If anyone has had a similar experience to what I'm about to relate, I really would like to hear about it, because I'm still in enough shock to think that this can't possibly have happened to anyone else, or at least not very often.

Coming back home along said highway, in good daylight around 7:30 pm, in Eastern Canada (Ontario), driving the limit of 80 km in 5th gear (driving a standard shift-older Toyotoa Coralla & in a common gear to drive in to save on gas mileage on long highways) I noted some traffic behind me, though much less in the incoming lane. I also noted a black sports car coming up behind me, probably going a bit faster than me, but still quite a good distance away. I also noted 2 people standing, up way ahead, at the beginning of a driveway to a house on my right on the side of the highway.

Last time I looked, they were still standing in the driveway and talking. I looked back straight ahead at the road and the next thing I see, split seconds later, is one of the people who was talking at the side of the road-driveway entrance, starts sauntering, and I mean REALLY, REALLY walking slowly across the highway with his head turned completely to one side, not once turning to look at the oncoming traffic, which would be ME and the others behind me coming right at him at 80 km.

I've never encountered such a situation, and can't image now, even if it was just repeated, how I would ever prepare for this and guarantee a good outcome. All I could do, with no training, but close to 8 years of driving experience, and having seconds to react, was slam my foot on the clutch and the other foot on the brake and steer straight ahead, straight at him. (I'm not sure why I steered straight ahead- perhaps it's some kind of reflex?) I didn't even have time to swerve into the oncoming lane (not that that would have been a good option either) or even use the horn, it was that quick.

I must have left screeching treads marks for a good 100 feet, and even so, he was moving SO slowly, still with his head turned the other way, that by the time he reached the center of the road right in front of me, I was still going around 50 km and he just clipped his left hip on my front left bumper, spun around, and only then looked at me for a second before I had completely stopped the car no more than 5 feet past him. Incredibly, he then ran across the other lane to narrowly avoid the now oncoming traffic (which he supposedly had been looking at when his head was turned to me.)

Meanwhile, the black sports car which had been coming up behind me, and which I had forgotten in my terror and concern with braking in time for the pedestrian, had seen what was coming up at the last second as well, and in order to avoid rear ending me, had started to brake quite a few feet away, as I had done with the pedestrian. Only he didn't have as much space as I did, so he had to swerve to the right into a ditch at the last minute to avoid my car, which was finally stopped to a screeching halt in the middle of the road, seconds after the pedestrian pbutted by.

All this took place in split seconds, but it could have been at least a 3 person baneity, or even more, if all the other cars in both lanes hadn't eventually stopped or slowed down. They did, no doubt, having seen what was happening from enough distance away.

While I was still in shock, I only knew that I had to get off the road right away and get out of the way, so I quickly pulled over and then screamed something feeble out the window at this incredibly stupid and criminal pedestrian, who BTW, also didn't even glance back at me as he ran away.

The man in the black car in the ditch was not in as much shock as me, but so furious that he kicked the driver door open and ran screaming across the road after the pedestrian. I don't know if he caught him, because, again, I was in such a daze, and feeling sick to my stomach, that after I gulped down some water, I put the car in gear and slowly pulled back into traffic.

Upon reflection, and discussing this with the relative who had taught me the basics of driving a stick shift, I asked him what else I might have done in this surreal situation to have possibly improved the outcome (though it was amazingly, a relatively good outcome, afterall- espc. for the pedestrian).

I wondered if I should have tried to gear down, from say, 5th to 3rd or 2nd. Or use the handbrake. Or swerve- though I think I didn't want to swerve into the incoming lane because I probably thought the odds might be that I could have hit the pedestrian as he crossed in front to the left of me.

Anyway, I was told that yes, gearing down would have helped, but he guessed that I probably didn't even have enough time to do this, espc. if I didn't have time to hit the horn. Still, I can't even remember if I might have reflexively put in the clutch and popped the shift into neutral, as I always do when coming to a stop within the city-normal city driving. Probably not a good habit, and my relative told me that if I had truly done this in this situation, that it would indeed have not aided my stopping, and possibly effected the steering. However, since I steered straight ahead and I'm pretty sure that the car shuddered upon suddenly stopping, it was probably still in 5th gear when I took my trembling foot off the clutch-came to a final stop.

Sure the weather was hot, probably around 32 C today, but we've had much hotter weather within past weeks, so that can't be the only factor. One person I related this incident to thought that the guy might have been on drugs or drunk, but from the way he was dressed (possibly a bike helmet, and for sure, bike pants and shirt as I saw him in those split seconds talking with his friend), he didn't seem out of it until he walked right in front of me-across my lane without looking. If he had seemed drunk before, I would have noticed it and probably started some preventative action much sooner.

Bottom line, unless the guy in the black car who ran after him managed to catch this creep and press charges, I have no doubt that this moron pedestrian will get someone else end some time in the future. People like that never change, espc. when they are able to do something that idiotic. No one, not even a little kid would cross a busy highway like this with traffic thundering down the road without at least looking briefly, or even running across.

That this guy literally sauntered across a busy highway without looking, and got nothing more than a bruise on his left hip and kept right on going without looking back speaks of a very callous individual, and one who couldn't care less about the tragedies he nearly caused (or will cause in the future).

I don't know. And here I thought the other drivers on the road were the main threat to life and limb. I've seen some really bad driving, but never anything as incredulously stupid and criminal as what this pedestrian did, espc. in terms of the many lives that could have been lost this afternoon.