OUR
OPINION

"Look both ways before you cross the street!" That's what my mother always told me. She didn't say, "You have the right of way, and cars have to stop for you." Have we become such a privileged society that we walk out in front of 4,000-pound lethal missiles just to prove our pedestrian rights? Where is our common sense? I see news stories of pedestrians being hit and killed constantly. Then the police come on and say, "The victim was in the crosswalk, and had the right of way." No mention of personal responsibility. Not once have I heard the news anchors or the police say, "While the victim did have the right of way, please remember to look both ways, and assume that every car is not stopping for you." It might be someone having a medical emergency or looking at their cell phone! They act as if they are insulting you by asking you to use common sense. And if you see a car backing out of a parking space, maybe you should stop and let them back out. I always heard, "Don't walk behind (or in front of) a moving car!" That seems to have gone by the wayside, but I think it's still good advice. Let's take some responsibility for ourselves back. Now, obviously, I know that pedestrians do have the right of way, but I have crossed hundreds and hundreds of roads in my lifetime—dirt roads, main roads, why, even a super highway, after my car had broken down. I have never even had a close call. We are a nation of kindergarteners who blindly walk in front of speeding cars because we were never told not to. "Put down your phone, see what's going on in the roadway, look left, then right, then left again. Then proceed with great caution and awareness across the street, because 'You had the right of way' does not look good on your tombstone." Pedestrian privilege is being enabled by grocery stores. For some bizarre reason, the shoppers at some grocery store parking lots act like they are bipedal royalty, and the drivers treat them as such. As a car creeps across the front entrance at 5 miles an hour, the driver's head is on a swivel, looking for the slightest movement that might indicate a blue-blooded pedestrian is anywhere near them. All forward progress must immediately be stopped so the slow-moving pedestrian coming from one hundred feet away can slowly cross in front of them... diagonally. I've had enough of it. How about car privilege? Why don't you just hold your horses there, buddy? I'll be past you in 3 seconds! It's way easier to slow down or stop and let a car pass so traffic isn't backing up into a busy road. And you know what? I am such a rational brainiac that when I'm crossing the street in a parking lot, I adjust my gait so that nobody has to really stop. Maybe one day I will teach a class on my amazing common-sense superpowers. I realize some people will be "outraged" by my comments, which is fine, but I still hope at least some of you are compelled to teach your loved ones how to cross the street safely.