BehindTheMedspeak: Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome

The suspense builds: will it make it into DSM-5?

Shirley S. Wang's February 15, 2011 Wall Street Journal article about "sidewalk rage" had a nice sidebar (pictured above and below, divided into three graphics)

featuring "15 bad behaviors which are significantly intercorrelated, meaning that people who exhibit one regularly also commonly display many of the others."

Below, a graphic that accompanied the article along with its caption.

The average speed of walkers in Lower Manhattan is 4.27 feet per second. Other speeds: 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; 9. People heading for work: 4.41 feet per second; 10. Walkers over 65 years old move 3.63 feet per second.

For reference, a tortoise moves at 0.16-0.44 feet per second, and a hare, depending on species, goes 8.8 feet second.

Source for the information in the preceding graphic by Sarah Nassauer: "Pedestrian Level of Service Study, Phase I" from The City of New York and NYC Department of City Planning, April 2006. Observed: 8,978 pedestrians at various sidewalk locations in Lower Manhattan over about four weeks.; Wildlife Conservation Society.