Jaywalking

jmoore@cc.usu.edu

I hope police are as concerned or more concerned with protecting pedestrians from motorists as they are keeping streets clear of pesky walkers. Two weeks ago I decided that with the weather warming up I no longer needed to drive my car seven blocks to find a parking spot that would give me at best another three blocks to walk up onto our campus. These past days have been a mixture of relaxation and fear as I make the twenty minute walk from my home to BNR. Relaxation as I breathe fresh air into my lungs and organize my thoughts. Fear as I step into a crosswalk, wondering if that mile-long line of Suburbans, F-350s, and city buses will stop if I try to cross 200 East.

The way I see it, pedestrians like those pictured in your article who want to walk across 700 North at the top of a hill where oncoming cars speed around a blind right turn are subjecting themselves to a Russian roulette version of natural selection. They aren’t going to hurt anyone but themselves and maybe Ford Fiesta drivers. The real problem are drivers who speed up at crosswalks with people standing at them as they would at orange/yellow traffic light, because “I’m not going to be the first one to stop”. So lets go over the crosswalk idea one more time, pedestrians have the right of way!

Joel Moore435-232-1909