I dodge a lot of pedestrians who walk out in the road with their back to you, expecting you to drive into oncoming traffic to avoid you. They take no notice of you, do not attempt to move right, etc.
One was a woman pushing a baby carriage down the road. I stopped and asked her what if I hit her? She replied she'd sue me. I replied that wouldn't help her or her baby much if she was dead.
Why not stop and ask if she needed a ride somewhere? You might even have made the world a better place than stopping to hurl abuse at a mother and child.
For bonus points, try slowing down and passing pedestrians when it is safe to do so.
I hope if you have kids you tell them not to play in the road, even if it would be the car's fault if they were hit.
I recall a public service commercial from the 1960s where they suggested that all parties on the road pay attention, even when they have the right-of-way. The catchphrase was "don't be DEAD right".
Stopping to lecture an adult in public is rarely well received. Had you instead said "hey, this is a dangerous road to walk on, would you like a lift to the end?" The chances are that she would have refused but your chances that she took something away from the conversation would have been much higher.
Aren't sidewalks used to park cars there? In the city i live currently I also frequently have to walk (or jogg) on the road itself rather than on the sidewalk because of this.
If some driver stops beside me to complain it's quite funny to help him notice that there are actually more cars on the sidewalk than on the road.
In every part of the US I've been, it's very rare for cars to park on the sidewalk. The only things I recall seeing parked on the sidewalk are construction vehicles.
Occasionally a car will be parked in a driveway such that it blocks the sidewalk where the sidewalk crosses the driveway. That's illegal but it happens sometimes.
