Ogden needs pedestrian-friendly attitude
1 comment for this page [ View ]Wednesday, May 14, 2008
It was with interest that I read the May 6 commentary by Michael Vaughan, "Whenever you need to go somewhere, consider walking." He made valuable suggestions. What he failed to acknowledge, Ogden does not seem to have a pedestrian-friendly attitude. No one cares. Drivers either ignorantly or deliberately disregard their responsibility.
There were a few readers who failed to recognize the satire in my last letter regarding motorists and pedestrians (July 11, 2007, "Keep pedestrians off roads as well"). Every one of those "four suggestions" have been observed and experienced by pedestrians trying to cross an intersection. The laws are very explicit: "Pedestrians have the right-of-way at intersections, whether or not the crosswalks are marked by painted white lines. You must yield when a pedestrian is on or near the half of the roadway you are traveling. Do not pass any vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk" (Utah Driver Handbook, p. 56; 2006 version.
Not too long ago, a young woman was killed on 21st Street and Harrison Boulevard. Every one of those drivers who failed to observe the above regulation shares a degree of guilt in her death. I appreciate and commend the few motorists who display the courtesy of allowing pedestrians to cross ahead of them. May more of us follow their example.
Juergen Sass
Ogden
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Believing you have the right of way all the time does not make it possible for the human body to survive being hit by a one-ton car. That is why parents try to teach their children to look both ways before crossing.
41-6-78. Pedestrians' right-of-way -- Duty of pedestrian.
(b) A pedestrian may not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.