Another Accident Waiting to Happen?

You would think less than a week following an accident resulting in death, purported to be at the fault of a Metro driver, that city crews and services would either be more alert on their own or supervisors/departments would have given everyone the heads up.

Last night while waiting to cross 9th at Hope there was a car in the intersection waiting to turn left onto Hope. The car yielded to pedestrians and turned as the light went yellow and then red. A woman, behind the crosswalk on 9th decided she couldn't wait for the next light and raced through the intersection and almost hit a group (5-6) people stepping into the street. Of course the driver honked at the pedestrians for walking with the light.

Worst part was the police car directly behind her, waiting at the light, that did nothing.

2 months ago i was over in the fashion district early morning. I was crossing the street near santee st (where starbucks and pollo loco are) and the light was green/walk, i had the right of way. But a distracted male driver on a cell phone..came to a "rolling stop" as i was crossing..i had to tap the hood of his white utility cargo van (not a government vehicle but rather from the private sector.) He did roll the window down and say "sorry". seriously some people.

I love the "tap" on the hood of cars that roll (or almost roll) into me with their cars. If they do that to me, they get a fist in the hood.

I'm not afraid to use the tripod either.

My boots are the most comfortable shoes I have, the steel toe makes a nice clink sound when I kick a car that almost hits me. I swear it saved my life in san diego when a car overshot an intersection and after a long pause started backing into the crosswalk. Not cool!

Brings to mind that scene in Midnight Cowboy when Dustin Hoffman loses it when a car comes too close as he's crossing the road and he yells, "Hey! I'm walking here!"

I love walking around Downtown, but I always worry about getting hit by a car. I know that people jaywalk (and there are some truly moronic jaywalkers out there), but the most egregious errors are made by drivers and they're the ones driving the big metal machines very fast whilst doing a million other things.

In fact, my wife was hit by a car on 2nd and Hill a couple of years ago, as she was carrying groceries back from the store. She was crossing the street at the crosswalk on a green light and the driver didn't see her somehow. He braked at the last minute, but hit her nonetheless. She went sprawling and her shopping went flying. None of the passersby stopped, but the driver did and he was terrified because he didn't have insurance. Fortunately, she was OK, but I've seen it happen to others and I hear stories on a weekly basis. I was saddened to hear it was fatal in Gwendolyn Coleman's case last week.

When construction is booming in the center of a city and pedestrians are forced to keep crossing the road because sidewalks are closed (for example the new police building by City Hall), then you know the priority is given to cars. It won't stop me from walking around, but I do worry about being hit by a car or a bus. Sorry for the long rant.

I was crossing an intersection legally when a young woman made a left turn missing me by about a foot. I raised my arms in a non threatening gesture (hands parallel with elbows, palms facing skyward) in a non verbal "excuse me?").

She indicated I was number one with a certain finger gesture.

Since the accident - I've seen FOUR metro buses run a red light at full speed with a minor honk as a warning. Absolutely pathetic and scary.

I see this all the time. What is to be done?

I also see people talking on their cell phones and texting while driving. I think about how many times I've almost been hit as a pedestrian as well as all the people who died on the Metrolink as the conductor was texting.

People: stop already.

There really needs to be an organized movement for pedestrian rights in this city.