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wolfsbrideWhat ever happened to that, huh parents!?!?!?
Today I went for a walk to explore this strange thing I'd heard about called the outside and I had to stop at an intersection to cross the street. Next to me, was a group of three kids, one older than the other two by some years. As we were waiting, the oldest looking one said to the others, as soon as the light turns red, lets run across!
Well, I don't usually stick my nose in people's business but this intersection is horribly busy and I greatly feared for their lives, so I said, you know, it's dangerous to just run across the street, you should check for cars first.
The little girl who had spoken, turned and gave me the hairiest eye ball I've ever seen and said with all the self righteous indignation an eight year old can muster, WELL, MY MOTHER SAYS CARS HAVE TO STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS! At which point the light turned red on the other side and they dashed across the street.
Note to parents: Cars do not HAVE to do anything. Cars are machines and like any machine, are dependent on humans to make them safe or not. Stopping for pedestrians only happens when the driver is aware enough to notice a pedestrian. The turn right on a red light is particularly evil because drivers are not looking at the cross walk, they're looking at the oncoming cars. And a lot of times, BECAUSE they KNOW they can turn right on the red, most drivers don't even slow down unless the flow of traffic forces them to.
I can not tell you how many times I've saved myself from injury by either checking over my shoulder, or waiting a few seconds to make sure the driver has seen that I'm about to step off the curb. I can not tell you how many times I've seen the person ahead of me step off the curb without looking only to have to jump back or in several cases, have the driver slam on the brakes and stop less than half an inch away from their knees.
This Was Made In 1950
If you can't be bothered to go out with your kids, please do us all a favour and make sure they're street smart. It will save trouble all the way around. You the anguish of having your kid mangled in an accident and me the horror of having to witness it all.
Today I went for a walk to explore this strange thing I'd heard about called the outside and I had to stop at an intersection to cross the street. Next to me, was a group of three kids, one older than the other two by some years. As we were waiting, the oldest looking one said to the others, as soon as the light turns red, lets run across!
Well, I don't usually stick my nose in people's business but this intersection is horribly busy and I greatly feared for their lives, so I said, you know, it's dangerous to just run across the street, you should check for cars first.
The little girl who had spoken, turned and gave me the hairiest eye ball I've ever seen and said with all the self righteous indignation an eight year old can muster, WELL, MY MOTHER SAYS CARS HAVE TO STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS! At which point the light turned red on the other side and they dashed across the street.
Note to parents: Cars do not HAVE to do anything. Cars are machines and like any machine, are dependent on humans to make them safe or not. Stopping for pedestrians only happens when the driver is aware enough to notice a pedestrian. The turn right on a red light is particularly evil because drivers are not looking at the cross walk, they're looking at the oncoming cars. And a lot of times, BECAUSE they KNOW they can turn right on the red, most drivers don't even slow down unless the flow of traffic forces them to.
I can not tell you how many times I've saved myself from injury by either checking over my shoulder, or waiting a few seconds to make sure the driver has seen that I'm about to step off the curb. I can not tell you how many times I've seen the person ahead of me step off the curb without looking only to have to jump back or in several cases, have the driver slam on the brakes and stop less than half an inch away from their knees.
This Was Made In 1950
If you can't be bothered to go out with your kids, please do us all a favour and make sure they're street smart. It will save trouble all the way around. You the anguish of having your kid mangled in an accident and me the horror of having to witness it all.
