Dear Motorist;
Since giving up my driving license more than three years ago I have been observing you from a slightly different perspective than when I was behind the wheel competing with you on the Interstates and at in-town four-way stop intersections. I think I am much more aware, now, of what a nitwit you are as you race from one place to another believing stop signs really mean "slow" and red lights are green if you can get away with it. You usually do.
The day you shot out of an alley between two commercial buildings and nearly bowled me over made me wonder what chance a pedestrian has even on a city sidewalk. You were a young female that day looking only to the left with your cell phone glued to your ear. You missed me by inches and I whacked the rear of your car as you passed. I treasure the look of horror on your face in the rear view mirror when you saw you had damned near run over an old man. I wonder if you learned a lesson?
Dear motorist, why are you in such a hurry? I see you every day accelerating down hills to stop signs. Are you so rich you can afford to wear down your brakes that way? I observe you wasting enormous amounts of gasoline taking off from stoplights as fast as your engine will permit only to jam on your brakes at the next stop light. If the light happens to be just turning red you'll step on the accelerator hoping nobody gets into the intersection before you're out of it.
I don't pretend I was a saint behind the wheel. In almost sixty years of driving I made errors, usually because of some distraction or other. Fortunately, I never ran into anybody and in the last years of my motoring career I didn't even listen to the radio so as to avoid distraction. And I sure as hell didn't gab on a telephone. I had to stay sharply focused to react to drivers who would blink their turn signal once and swerve into line in space that offered only inches to spare. However, I'm aware you are an exception and can multi-task while hurtling around in a car. I couldn't.
Your driving in our town is generally so thoughtless that I am often forced to jaywalk for safety's sake. Seems absurd, I know, but those contests at intersections with no "No Turn on Red" signs are too un-nerving for me. You are forced to stop for the red light but you're anxious to turn right immediately. You may or may not be aware that a pedestrian is about to step in front of your vehicle. Even if you see him you're pretty sure the motorist has rights over pedestrians. Until, of course, the shoe is on the other foot.
Because I observe you every day I know that you spend an inordinate amount of time on your cell phone. You will tell me it doesn't distract you from your driving, but I have witnessed too many near collisions to believe it. In every case a cell phone was at the driver's ear. One day you, as a university student, suddenly stopped only four inches from the rear of the car in front of you. I was a few feet away on the curb and could see how shaken you were. "Damned lucky," I thought. What was your hurry? Could the conversation have waited until you got to your parking place?
You almost got me the day you chose to make an illegal u-turn on a city street. You didn't use any turn signals, of course, and I was in the process of jay-walking in the middle of that block. I do that because it is generally far safer than trusting a mere light-bulb to stop an automobile at an intersection. Waiting for the inevitable gap in traffic in the middle of a block offers the pedestrian greater control. Suddenly, where there had been plenty of room, you were bearing down on me. We were both breaking the law, I know, but I think my lawyer could have won a settlement from you that would have helped my grieving widow.
Speaking of stupid thoughtlessness, you really turned my stomach when you and your buddy were roaring down the street in downtown Denver the other day ignoring the red lights. You plowed right into a pedestrian family of four who had the right of way. You killed the mother and her two small children. The father was injured. And you didn't even stop!!
Your stupid boozing terrifies me. Last year it led to 17,000 traffic deaths and a stupendous amount of physical and vehicular damage. And your lead foot is deadly, too. Your speeding, at last count, killed 13,000 people. Running red lights kills, too. Nine-hundred real live people became real dead people last year because of it. Why? Because you wanted to save a few seconds!
Wait! I'm not through. Your sense of immortality has apparently convinced you that you can drive for hours without rest. Well, you can't. At last count you and some 100,000 other motorists fell asleep at the wheel in a single year and 1,500 people died because of it. Good going, Superman!
What is it with you and your car, or pickup, or whatever you drive? The moment you ignite the engine you become insane, selfish, and stupid. I know we have always had too many thick-headed motorists, but the per capita count today is far worse than ever.
My complaint is not sour grapes or envy because I resigned my driving license. That was pure selfishness on my part. I didn't want to have to deal with the psychological burden of causing an accident. My complaint is really more of a plea that society try to stop the needless mayhem on our streets and highways. Life is too precious to end it in a car crash or in the wanton murder, by motor vehicle, of two tiny tots and their mother on a Denver street.
Sharpen up, dear motorist. Pedestrians have rights, too!
John Wrisley, November 14th, 2006