What’s the Rush??

In the past two days, I’ve witnessed the near-death experiences of two pedestrians. They walked blatantly in front of traffic.

My fellow pedestrians: the red hand means don’t go; the white walking man means go.

What’s the rush? I know we’re in the city and we all have places to go. But can we please obey the walking and traffic signals?

Another bicyclist got killed the other day…the fifth one this year. 23 years old. I don’t know the circumstances of these five deaths, but someone in the situation was not paying attention.

Travelers, whether they be driving cars, riding bikes, or walking, are too distracted, too offensive vs. defensive. I saw a person walk in front of a bus going about 40 miles an hour today. The bus had the green light!

Transportation is not survival of the fittest. The goal is not to get to our destination as quickly as possible. The goal is to respect other travelers and abide by the rules.

No, I’m not perfect. I have been known to jaywalk. But most of the time, I’m waiting for the white walking man! (Or woman wearing pants.) I follow the golden rule of “waiting my turn.” There are some Bostonians out there who should try it sometime.

And now I will step down from the soapbox.