I’d like to weigh in on the recent traffic accidents involving pedestrians. Of course part of the problem is the speeding motorist, but perhaps a larger part of the problem is the careless pedestrian.
I grew up in Chicago in the 1950s and learned it is the pedestrian’s responsibility to look out for cars and trucks and that you are on your own to be safe.
Here, too many pedestrians feel they have the right of way anywhere on our streets and that they are safe in crosswalks. Well, those heavy, thousand-pound vehicles go right through those crosswalks and only an alert driver makes one safe.
But drivers aren’t always alert, so the pedestrian should be, but they aren’t. They are looking at their iPads or their phones and perhaps feeling safe because they are in a crosswalk.
I think we need to educate our walking public to the fact that crosswalks can be dangerous places and walkers need to be alert to traffic. They are responsible for their safety.
Richard Myers
Valencia
