It was...
Common sense required when it's time to cross the street
Natasha Wickie
Oakville
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 1, 2010)
Re: Pedestrian fatalities
I can't believe how many people are being killed just trying to get to the other side. (Good start! Identify the problem, people getting killed for trying to cross streets! You go, girl!)
We need to adjust our laws to give cars the right-of-way. (Blink. Blink. Wha? Why, pray tell?) People are more manoeuvrable, can stop on a dime and don't have blind spots, unlike cars, trucks and buses (Ohhhh, and therefore should be punished for being better than cars trucks and buses? Am I missing something here). Pedestrians need to be reminded that cars will win every time (And I thought we were reminded every time someone is run down by a car).
At what point did we forget the fundamentals of crossing the street: Look both ways, proceed with caution. (Sound reasonable, but at what point did some drivers and letter writers forget that driving a car means being in control and proceeding with caution?) Pedestrians who have the right-of-way believe this gives them a right to completely ignore crossing signs, crosswalks or even a car racing toward them (If the pedestrian has the right of way, and they should, but in this car dominant society they don't, then vehicles should not, for example, be racing toward them when they are crossing a street. If pedestrians truly had the right of way, cars would be going slower, stopping more frequently, and always be prepared to give way to pedestrians. Instead, it is car drivers who believe they should not have to slow down, or heaven forbid, stop, on their way to any destination. We won't even get into the number of red light runners, all way-stop violations, speeding, drunk drivers, cell phone yacking drivers, etc.).
Common sense seems to have gone out the window here, and will no longer be required to cross the street. (Or write letters to the editor, I humbly submit)
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