I know it does. I’m not proud of it and I feel terrible every time. It usually happens when I’ve already slowed down in preparation to stop and gotten honked at and it seems likely that the honker behind me is prepared to swerve around me if I stop. 9 times out of 10 I stop for pedestrians, but there are occasions when my better judgment tells me it’s safer for everyone involved to just keep going.

More than once I’ve made a conscious decision not to stop at a crosswalk for a waiting pedestrian for this very reason. I don’t trust the people behind and next to me enough to also stop.

Precisely.

The part that feels really icky to me is the “beloved by the mostly affluent D.C. homeowners” part. It seems so patronizing. Like the rich people find the poor kids making music to be quaint and adorable.