Friday, June 5, 2009

Pedestrians have rights, too

I went to yoga and felt awesome. I try to walk to both locations since parking is awful. More so, at the Grant location, and so I walk to ponder life, love and liberty. Really, I walk to avoid having to park in capitol hill in Denver. It is always super crowded and most of the streets surrounding the studio have meters attached to them.
After class, I was walking south on Logan and this couple was attempting to pull onto Logan. Logan is a one way, going north and so this guy was only interested in checking out the south side of the street. I coughed. I waited. I knew the guy wasn't looking my direction.
Sure enough. He pulls out, sees me and is stunned. I skipped the urge to kick his car or yell, but really, how hard is it to look both ways as a driver?
How many times have you heard of bike/car collisions where the cyclist wins? Or a pedestrian for that matter? Drivers should be aware of their surroundings, too. This happens often. A few weeks ago, this woman almost hit me on Speer Blvd. and she waved at me. What would happen if you hit a pedestrian? I doubt a wave would suffice. Slow down. Pay attention. Quit texting/talking on the phone.
Speaking of texting while driving...one of my co-worker's daughters was in another traumatic accident because the faulty driver was texting, going 40, through an intersection. There was a slight hesitation on the part of my friend's daughter; otherwise, she would have been t-boned and her child would have died, probably. A few years back, the same girl was in a horrific accident with her child and husband. I think the other driver walked away unscathed, but he was drunk. Again, a reason to not drive.
I make mistakes. I drive while on the phone. I don't text since I am a shitty texter, anyways, without any impairment. But, I feel that I attempt to watch for pedestrians and cyclists, since I walk so frequently. I am annoyed that I was almost hit, again, but I know that it won't be the last time and that yes, people make mistakes. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to walk everywhere and not be rushed to my next meeting, date, whatever. I can enjoy the sunshine.

2 comments:

Rachael @ The Little Birdie said...

That is so scary... I've seen/experienced it many times myself. I saw on the Today show a couple weeks ago where a city bus driver was texting while on the job & totally plowed through an entire row of cars stopped in front of him in traffic. It's scary!! Glad you're ok!

harmony said...

thanks. Yes, I am great. I wanted to walk in front of the said car, but knew they didn't see me and felt that I could wait to watch the reaction instead of creating an accident where I would get hurt. I want to run and believe me, have several excuses I could use as to why I shouldn't that do not involve being hit by a car.
Again, another reason to never text and drive or be on the phone and drive. It is a distraction from what we are trying to accomplish.