Understanding the meaning of "right of way."

I’m standing on the corner of 3rd street and McDowell on the North West corner waiting for the red light to turn green. As it turns green, I proceed to cross but there is a car in the right lane facing south that wants to turn right on McDowell. The driver accelerates but has to put on the brakes because I’m two feet into the cross walk. I turn and look directly at him and the expression on his face; I wish I had my camera so I could show it to you. He is pouting like a little child because he could not do what he desired when he desired it.

There is such a thing as “right of way.” When both the driver and pedestrian have the green light at the same time the driver or motorist must YIELD the “right of way” to the pedestrian. As I was standing on the corner, while the light was red the driver could have turned right then, as long as no traffic was coming from an eastward direction to the west. If drivers have forgotten these things maybe they should call up the Bondurant School of Driving and enroll in a class for dummies that have forgotten the driving rules and laws.

This is not the first time that this particular incident has occurred to me and I’m sure others. What disturbs me most about this is the attitude of the motorists. They clearly display impatience, arrogance, no respect, rudeness, vanity and lack of courtesy. This is the part of drivers especially Arizona drivers that I want to attack. There is a thing called “sharing the road” but how can you share the road with someone with an attitude like this?

As I get a few blocks further down to Roosevelt and 3rd Streets two motorists run the red light. The light is red and they never slow down not to mention stop and just make their right turns. Hey, am I “crying like a little baby?” Am I knit picking? I guess it depends on your perspective. I think that the 43,000 people that are injured from motor vehicle collision each year in Arizona is UNACCEPTABLE! My aim and goal, as a pedestrian, is not to become one of the over 1,000 people that loose their lives from automobile collisions in Arizona each year. Something has to be done. As a pedestrian I’m doing my part. But Arizona motorist still have the same old funky attitude!