On Monday, June 21, 2004, at 03:44 PM, Kathryn Rosebear wrote:
I agree with the need to educate our citizens that pedestrians do have
the right-of-way at crosswalks and intersections. The reality is that,
in almost every instance, drivers do not yield right-of-way (and I think
right-of-way is technically something you "yield" rather than "have")
for those on foot. My personal experience is that the more aggressive
drivers not only do not yield, but can be quite rude when I enter the
street instead of waiting for them to go through an intersection.
This is a great observation. I've seen it time and again in my neighborhood. Many times when I stop for pedestrians in my neighborhood two things happen - they hesitate because they can't believe it and cars behind me try to pull around and run through the crosswalk.
A driver nearly struck a blind man crossing in the crosswalk because he was angry with me for stopping. He swerved around me and missed the pedestrian with inches to spare. He just kept going but he slowed down. I think he was experiencing an adrenalin rush.
I think most people know that they are supposed to let people use a marked crosswalk, but most -- even those who are well-meaning, law-abiding citizens -- DON'T know that you must yield at any intersection.
Probably true. But I have to say too that many, many times I have stopped and everyone both ways stopped and waited, too. We have a lot of very nice drivers here in Minneapolis.
How did California get all of those Californians to understand the need to yeild and to be so polite about it? And here, where we're supposed to be so "Minnesota nice," how did our drivers become so arrogant?
Having lived out there and having had a mother and a daughter who lived out there, I know the change came from drivers getting hammered with tickets until they got the message. (And for other things like getting caught blocking an intersection). California drivers give way to pedestrians. It is pretty cool to see.
We can do this here. But it will take time, as it did in California.
Laura Waterman Wittstock MIGIZI Communications, Inc. 3123 East Lake Street Minneapolis, MN 55406 612.721.6631 ext 219 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.migizi.org http://laurawatermanwittstock.blogspot.com/
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