Driving like crazy and where is the good will?
Karin S. Fester
April 03, 2007
Today it finally happened much to my horror. This morning an elderly woman, in her 60’s, was run down by a car. The car that hit her as she was crossing the street, was driven by a woman. At the scene of the accident, the car driver broke down crying and was feeling great remorse for what had happened. It was good to see that this driver did in fact realize that they did something wrong: driving too fast, losing control, hitting and injuring a person. However, witnessing such remorse is not the case most of the time, at least not in this town. Usually the drivers are very aggressive and not sympathetic. If you are crossing a street, even in the legal protected zone boldly marked with white or red stripes, this will in no way guarantee that you will not be hit. In fact, they will be angry at you, because you were in the street. It’s more like: get out of my way! Little do these car drivers realize that pedestrians also have the right to move around in this town and that includes being allowed to walk on sidewalks and walking across streets on legally protected areas—the cars are supposed to stop upon seeing a person in the crosswalk. But do they? No. At least 90 percent of the time they do not stop. It is as if no one has any respect for their fellow citizens. It is so simple for me to understand that we must not drive recklessly because recklessness could end up hurting someone. Hurting people is wrong, well, at least those are the values I grew up with. As simple as this may sound, many people do not see the ethics here.
Racing around the corner at 90km/hr, it comes as no surprise then that the accident happened. It is even more surprising that this did not happen sooner. I can personally recall the numerous times, if not hundreds of times, I was at high risk for being hit. Not that I did not heed the street when crossing, it was just that I was already in the middle of the crosswalk, and then a car suddenly appears and makes no effort to slow down. They merely swerve around you. Frightening it surely is knowing that they make no effort to slow down, it is as if you are not important enough for them to slow down! Slowing down and proceeding with caution is a concept they do not grasp. These drivers come equally in both genders and all ages. The aggressiveness is not gender specific either.
Another problem in this town is that, most of the time, the drivers use the sidewalks for parking their cars. The sidewalks are supposed to be for pedestrians. Well, here this not the case. Most of time, I, like most people in this town, who do walk, must also walk along the margins of the street itself because the sidewalks are being occupied by a parked cars. Not only this, but numerous times I have been bullied off a sidewalk by a car who insisted to park there. Now let me tell you a little story.
One sunny beautiful day, I am walking with my beloved dog along a sidewalk in the center of the town. Absorbed in my thoughts and the sunshine I did not see the swift moving big, dark colored object moving towards me and my dog. All I remember is leaping into the air, screaming, yanking the leash and feeling my heart miss a few beats. Then I saw it. It was a big grey Audi. Immediately I marched up to the car and yelled at the driver with full lungs. The man nonchalantly got out of his car. I yelled again. He ignored me and just walked over to the bank across the street. Apparently he saw nothing wrong in what he had just done to me, putting my life and limb at risk. The man had driven his Audi abruptly up onto the sidewalk, using his car to bully me out of the way so he could park it; he obviously had no concern for my safety nor respect for me as a person. I was still in shock, my heart not having slowed down yet. Does good will exist anymore? Is this man a wanton? What would have happened if I had not jumped so far and high out of the way, or stumbled and fell, or my dog was caught in the middle of it all?
Surveillance cameras, I think, would do some good in this town. Why? Because it would be a way to catch the speeding and bullying culprits. If the car tag numbers were on camera at least they would know where to send the tickets to and who to arrest. Surveillance cameras are being used here in some places, but it is primarily for tracking drivers who drive into one-way streets or enter a restricted area in residential neighborhoods in the city centers. I have never heard of someone getting a speeding ticket here. Amazing. Currently there are no surveillance cameras in this town for traffic control purposes. Ultimately slowing down the speeds would all depend on the good will of the people. Nowadays I am very sceptical about that ever happening. Is it true that if people are given too much free rein they will just take it and run? Would that mean we need governing in order to protect citizens from those who continously abuse freedoms or break the law?
Now all of you who are reading this will wonder where is all of this taking place? It does not really matter where this is, right? Or, should it? These events could happen just about anywhere. The events noted above did actually happen. The point here is that it all depends on the good will of the people in how they drive their cars and the attitude they take towards others in their community, or those other communities they drive through.
An elderly citizen’s health and well being, possibly even her life, were sacrificed this morning. It is a shame that this had to happen. If the local government here had made an effort to constrain the speed limit and install surveillance cameras, like they said they would already a few years ago, then maybe this particular person would not have been run down. More and more I have this feeling that persons here don’t count for anything, because otherwise the municipality would have taken action to protect its citizens. Now, maybe, the local municipal government will make an effort to put up some traffic lights or install surveillance cameras for the safety sake of the local residents. However even if the local government is lazy about taking action, it is ultimately the citizens to blame in this community because they do not complain enough about the speeding situation and how it puts everyone in the community at risk. The people should be caring about each other and ultimately that is all about cooperation and good will.
Copyright 2007 © Karin S. Fester Scala
Email: karinfstr@yahoo.com
Racing around the corner at 90km/hr, it comes as no surprise then that the accident happened. It is even more surprising that this did not happen sooner. I can personally recall the numerous times, if not hundreds of times, I was at high risk for being hit. Not that I did not heed the street when crossing, it was just that I was already in the middle of the crosswalk, and then a car suddenly appears and makes no effort to slow down. They merely swerve around you. Frightening it surely is knowing that they make no effort to slow down, it is as if you are not important enough for them to slow down! Slowing down and proceeding with caution is a concept they do not grasp. These drivers come equally in both genders and all ages. The aggressiveness is not gender specific either.
Another problem in this town is that, most of the time, the drivers use the sidewalks for parking their cars. The sidewalks are supposed to be for pedestrians. Well, here this not the case. Most of time, I, like most people in this town, who do walk, must also walk along the margins of the street itself because the sidewalks are being occupied by a parked cars. Not only this, but numerous times I have been bullied off a sidewalk by a car who insisted to park there. Now let me tell you a little story.
One sunny beautiful day, I am walking with my beloved dog along a sidewalk in the center of the town. Absorbed in my thoughts and the sunshine I did not see the swift moving big, dark colored object moving towards me and my dog. All I remember is leaping into the air, screaming, yanking the leash and feeling my heart miss a few beats. Then I saw it. It was a big grey Audi. Immediately I marched up to the car and yelled at the driver with full lungs. The man nonchalantly got out of his car. I yelled again. He ignored me and just walked over to the bank across the street. Apparently he saw nothing wrong in what he had just done to me, putting my life and limb at risk. The man had driven his Audi abruptly up onto the sidewalk, using his car to bully me out of the way so he could park it; he obviously had no concern for my safety nor respect for me as a person. I was still in shock, my heart not having slowed down yet. Does good will exist anymore? Is this man a wanton? What would have happened if I had not jumped so far and high out of the way, or stumbled and fell, or my dog was caught in the middle of it all?
Surveillance cameras, I think, would do some good in this town. Why? Because it would be a way to catch the speeding and bullying culprits. If the car tag numbers were on camera at least they would know where to send the tickets to and who to arrest. Surveillance cameras are being used here in some places, but it is primarily for tracking drivers who drive into one-way streets or enter a restricted area in residential neighborhoods in the city centers. I have never heard of someone getting a speeding ticket here. Amazing. Currently there are no surveillance cameras in this town for traffic control purposes. Ultimately slowing down the speeds would all depend on the good will of the people. Nowadays I am very sceptical about that ever happening. Is it true that if people are given too much free rein they will just take it and run? Would that mean we need governing in order to protect citizens from those who continously abuse freedoms or break the law?
Now all of you who are reading this will wonder where is all of this taking place? It does not really matter where this is, right? Or, should it? These events could happen just about anywhere. The events noted above did actually happen. The point here is that it all depends on the good will of the people in how they drive their cars and the attitude they take towards others in their community, or those other communities they drive through.
An elderly citizen’s health and well being, possibly even her life, were sacrificed this morning. It is a shame that this had to happen. If the local government here had made an effort to constrain the speed limit and install surveillance cameras, like they said they would already a few years ago, then maybe this particular person would not have been run down. More and more I have this feeling that persons here don’t count for anything, because otherwise the municipality would have taken action to protect its citizens. Now, maybe, the local municipal government will make an effort to put up some traffic lights or install surveillance cameras for the safety sake of the local residents. However even if the local government is lazy about taking action, it is ultimately the citizens to blame in this community because they do not complain enough about the speeding situation and how it puts everyone in the community at risk. The people should be caring about each other and ultimately that is all about cooperation and good will.
Copyright 2007 © Karin S. Fester Scala
Email: karinfstr@yahoo.com
Print
Email
