In the past year the number of pedestrians that have been attacked by careless drivers in automobiles have skyrocketed here in Charlottesville. Comparing the data* (obtained from the Charlottesville Police Department) of first four months of 2008 to the equivalent data in 2009 one can see that the number of times a driver of a car was ticketed for failure to give the right-of-way to a pedestrian has gone up by 500%.
Have automobile drivers become more aggressive? Have too many watched Death Race 2000 (or the remake)? Or is the local police department just writing more tickets than in the past?
I’d be willing to be it is the former since I actually walk on our streets and on a daily basis you can tell that locals really don’t understand the concept of a pedestrian (or driving in general). Since drivers are clueless (and have already killed two pedestrians this year) the local authorities are stepping up their efforts. We’ve gotten at least a dozen new LED flashing crosswalks installed during the past two months, as well as signs that indicate pedestrian crossings.
Next time you go to cross the road just remember what Nero the Hero said as he ran down the pedestrians, “Bye-bye Baby! Hello 70 points!”
*Thanks to Tipster K who obtained the data on number of pedestrian incidents from the Charlottesville Police Department.
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Lead, follow or get out of the way. But for Gods sake, do not stand on the corner swaying back and forth like Ray Charles. Step to your direction, look the car coming your way in the windshield and as they slow, take a basic first step into the sidewalk. If they keep going fast, I suggest slowing down and letting he Po-Po handle them.
Obama has sent some cash our way for crosswalk enforcement. I am sure that money was grown on trees.