Dear Editor,
Re: “Are button-pressers now immortal?” Letters, Dec. 12.
I have pondered this problem for many years and the one thing that I don’t understand is the mental morphing that occurs when a person, often a holder of a driver’s license, metamorphoses into a pedestrian.
According to online statistics, there are two million drivers in the Lower Mainland, not to mention all of our out-of-province and out-of-country visitors. Obviously, not all of them are on the road at the same time. I was unable to locate statistics on the number of active drivers, but I wonder about the changes in awareness that occur during the transformation from driver to pedestrian.
The stepping from sidewalk to roadway appears to be something pedestrians, whether holders of a driver’s licence or not, do not consider potentially dangerous. Oh, the folly...
It has got to the stage that I don’t know who I fear more, another driver coming at me at 50km/h (usually more), separated only by a three-inch wide strip of white paint or that person standing on the curb, who obviously intends to cross the road, yet isn’t looking at the traffic, but rather is transfixed on the traffic light and steps onto the roadway the instant they are given permission, regardless the dangers.
Please think of the guilt the person who kills you will feel for the rest of their lives, regardless of fault. Please be aware of your surroundings and watch the traffic as well as the lights.
As a note to the “powers that be,” a bar or gate preventing pedestrians from crossing prior to or after when safe, as is used in some other countries, would reduce the number of fatalities and injuries. The cost of installation of said gates/bars would be offset by the savings to our health/medical system.
Yvonne Harwood
RICHMOND
