Notice how the pedestrian slowed down when he found out he could inconvenience someone? Same when people are waiting for someone to give up a parking space.
Remember back in the day a friend and I had a slow moving person crossing Gate City Blvd(High Point Rd) in G Boro on purpose until he heard that 4 barrel carb on a jacked up chevy blazer load up then he ran for his life.
Had the same result in the 80's when the throttle was dumped in a built to the gills car. They learned they could move when the tires let go and the engine roared.