Yesterday I had the scare of my young life. I was driving across town to meet a friend for coffee and a planning session and came upon a cross walk in front of the Library. You know, the one on Abriendo where there are two lanes of traffic going each way. I was in the right hand lane and I noticed a pedestrian waiting to cross so out of habit, if no other reason, I stopped. The car behind me stopped. The man crossed in front of my car and just as he crossed my line of sight my peripheral vision caught a speeding car on my left. I sat frozen in horror as the SUV sped past me and the man in the crosswalk froze in mid step and jumped backwards. Had he finished that step he would have been slaughtered. The tan SUV continued on down the street oblivious to the catastrophe she had nearly created. But who was really to blame here?
First on the scene was the pedestrian. Had he not wanted to cross the street there never would have been a series of events to lead to tragedy. Had he just stayed in the Library all would have been well. And when I stopped he should never have trusted me. He has no idea who I am.
Second on the scene was me. I stopped because it says "CROSS WALK YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS." I thought that was a law and was to be obeyed. Silly me!
Third was the lady in the SUV. In my humble opinion both lanes of traffic should stop for the cross walk. If you are going to propel a ton of steel down the street where people are walking you ought to at very least pay attention to your surroundings. If you are driving down the street and see two cars stopped in your lane, the answer is not to change lanes and speed up and pass. The answer is to check your surroundings and proceed with caution. I am sure when you took your drivers test there was a question on there about pedestrians and the right of way.
Now let's just put the blame where it really goes, the street department. They put those signs up. Why? Oh they thought someone might look at them and obey what they said. What has happened is that they are giving a false sense of security to a vulnerable human body. Everyone knows that the pedestrian has the right of way. Sure they do. Every where except in Pueblo, Colorado, that is. Here they are just targets and cross walks are the field of play. Fortunately they know this. If they did not know it, they would just walk across the street and feel safe, but they know in this part of the world that they are the target.
True, ever so often the police put up a reminder that the pedestrian has the right of way in the cross walk, but they do nothing about failure to yield. They just move the sign some where else. I was going to the Pantry one day and using that same cross walk. I had parked by the Library and was trying to get across the street using the cross walk. I stood there with a policeman and watched the cars zip by without even slowing. I turned to him and said "Aren't we supposed to have the right of way?" His reply was a simple, "Yep". So if our men in blue do not care, why should I? Why should I stop and let some guy think he can actually cross the street safely? Seems I was just setting him up on that one.
I must admit that I slept very little last night and when I did I woke up in a cold sweat seeing that man's face. So now the question is what do I do about this? I feel I must do something. So here is this blog. Now I will write a letter to the editor that I know no one will read. Maybe I will go pay a visit to the local gestapo and ask them how we can make our city a safer place to walk.
There you have it, my thoughts for today.
First on the scene was the pedestrian. Had he not wanted to cross the street there never would have been a series of events to lead to tragedy. Had he just stayed in the Library all would have been well. And when I stopped he should never have trusted me. He has no idea who I am.
Second on the scene was me. I stopped because it says "CROSS WALK YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS." I thought that was a law and was to be obeyed. Silly me!
Third was the lady in the SUV. In my humble opinion both lanes of traffic should stop for the cross walk. If you are going to propel a ton of steel down the street where people are walking you ought to at very least pay attention to your surroundings. If you are driving down the street and see two cars stopped in your lane, the answer is not to change lanes and speed up and pass. The answer is to check your surroundings and proceed with caution. I am sure when you took your drivers test there was a question on there about pedestrians and the right of way.
Now let's just put the blame where it really goes, the street department. They put those signs up. Why? Oh they thought someone might look at them and obey what they said. What has happened is that they are giving a false sense of security to a vulnerable human body. Everyone knows that the pedestrian has the right of way. Sure they do. Every where except in Pueblo, Colorado, that is. Here they are just targets and cross walks are the field of play. Fortunately they know this. If they did not know it, they would just walk across the street and feel safe, but they know in this part of the world that they are the target.
True, ever so often the police put up a reminder that the pedestrian has the right of way in the cross walk, but they do nothing about failure to yield. They just move the sign some where else. I was going to the Pantry one day and using that same cross walk. I had parked by the Library and was trying to get across the street using the cross walk. I stood there with a policeman and watched the cars zip by without even slowing. I turned to him and said "Aren't we supposed to have the right of way?" His reply was a simple, "Yep". So if our men in blue do not care, why should I? Why should I stop and let some guy think he can actually cross the street safely? Seems I was just setting him up on that one.
I must admit that I slept very little last night and when I did I woke up in a cold sweat seeing that man's face. So now the question is what do I do about this? I feel I must do something. So here is this blog. Now I will write a letter to the editor that I know no one will read. Maybe I will go pay a visit to the local gestapo and ask them how we can make our city a safer place to walk.
There you have it, my thoughts for today.
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