Sidewalk rage: It’s a real thing, according to a lengthy article in today’s Wall Street Journal. In fact, there’s even something called a Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome Scale to measure it. Apparently, “Ragers tend to have a strong sense of how other people should behave. Their code: Slower people keep to the right. Step aside to take a picture. And the left side of an escalator should be, of course, kept free for anyone wanting to walk up.” Does agreeing with these statements make us crazy?
What we find much more interesting than the piece itself is an accompanying infographic that actually breaks down the walking speed of several different groups. Smug urban types will be happy to learn that tourists really do walk much more slowly than your average pedestrian, while a cell phone, cigarette or, um, being female will also decrease your speed a bit. The fastest walkers of all are those sporting headphones — probably because they have a theme song. Check out the full infographic after the jump.
1. Tourists walk 3.79 feet per second; 2. Smokers: 4.17 feet per second; 3. Cellphone users: 4.20 feet per second; 4. Headphone listeners: 4.64 feet per second; 5. Large pedestrians: 3.74 feet per second; 6. Men: 4.42 feet per second; 7. Women: 4.10 feet per second; 8. People with bags: 4.27 feet per second
Graphic by Sarah Nassauer