Strip Malls Think You're a Delicate Flower: A Minor Rant

I am sort of over it with these "Yield to Pedestrians In Walkway" signs popping up all over the place.  

There are places where crossing the street is legitimately akin to a game of Frogger (yeah, I'm that old).   And, I'm *not* talking about situations where it's legally required to yield to pedestrians; e.g., when you're driving in your car on a real street, turning on a green light.  PA law does require you to sit still, enjoying your music while the stream of humanity crosses the road.   Once the road is clear, then, and only then, are you legally permitted to move your car.   I don't mind this, and actually appreciate the way drivers in most cities (NYC notwithstanding) actually pause and allow the nice pedestrians to cross. 

The signs that vex me are the ones appearing in supermarket parking lots or similar places, popping up with a frequency and tenacity that rivals dandelions in spring, legislating that you yield right of way, whether you're driving straight or turning, any time you see a human being who intends to cross.

Reasons why these signs are annoying:

1.  I am opposed on general principle to the pussification of the American people.   If you cannot be trusted to puzzle out crossing a street, despite the encumbrance of your weekly groceries, you probably shouldn't be out unsupervised without your helmet.   Where does the nanny state end?  Next thing you know, someone will be stationed at every street corner, sending you home if you've forgotten your hat and gloves on a cold day.  I want to go back in time and sit in the meeting where it was decided that this benefited anyone other than people who make metal signs.   If drivers are driving like assholes, hire some extra police to pull them over and let the localities get some extra money in the coffers.  God knows, most of them need it desperately and there are plenty of people who would be happy to take a job doing something useful.
 
2.  This trend is clearly endowing the average pedestrian with an overly-developed, and false, sense of entitlement vis-a-vis crossing the street.   People used to walk closely to the parked cars, and look around before they moved into the flow of vehicles.   This is happening less and less as people now seem to believe they are protected from on high, no matter how carelessly they are walking, or where, regardless of signage or crosswalk presence.   Was this the plan all along?  Is someone in city planning Machiavellian enough to have thought this through to the logical conclusion: if you encourage people to rely on a nanny state, soon enough you'll create a true need for it?

The horror.

On the plus side with signage are the new stop signs cheekily informing you that a "full and complete stop is free, while a rolling stop will cost you $195".  Way to have a sense of humor, local townships.