Yesterday, Halloween of 2018, was my 15,000th day of life. It was also almost the last day for two teenagers who crossed my path. I almost killed them. I'm not writing this to be dramatic. It's just impossible to share a story about almost killing someone in a way that isn't dramatic. And I'm not writing this to be funny. This is very serious. It's so important to me that I've blogged about this exact topic once before. And, yesterday, when I was the person driving a car that almost hit children, I knew it was time to blog again. If you are reading this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE talk to your children about pedestrian safety and lecture yourself about aware and defensive driving. First I'll share what happened and then I'll give my tips for how to do your part to keep our kids safe while crossing the street.
I teach piano lessons before school a couple of days a week. It's a bit harried to have scripture study with my family, drive kids to seminary, take a shower, and make it out the door in time for a 7 a.m. piano lesson. Sometimes I'm rushing to avoid being late and my little girls ALWAYS act like I'm leaving on a week-long vacation. "Mommy! Don't go! I need one more hug! Will I see you again before I go to school?" "No" I reply as sweetly as possible while gently extracting arms from my leg. The answer is always no, but they keep asking. "I love you. I need to go. Have a great day!"
I drive to the lesson, just a couple of minutes away, teach, and come home ready for a nice quiet and healthy breakfast. Yesterday was typical, but I lost the race against time and was running just two minutes late. It's not a huge deal, but I won't short change my students any of their allotted 30 minutes, so I needed to hurry. I pulled out onto 6200 South and fate was in my favor as I was able to merge into traffic before quickly getting back into the left turn lane at the next light. I just needed to get to the neighborhood one over from mine. Luck was with me and the light was green so I had a chance to turn left right away. As I decided to turn, the light turned yellow, so I accelerated a bit. I quickly pulled my steering wheel to the left and looked over.
My brain instantly flipped to fight or flight mode--adrenaline surged. There were two costume-clad teenagers, crossing the dark street, right in my path. My tires left rubber on the road as I slammed on the brakes and the light turned red. Thankfully, the other drivers were paying attention to my car and waited to go until I was able to safely turn.
The teenagers didn't react at all, other than glancing at my car. I had a barrage of thoughts flash through my head as I drove down the street towards my pupil.
" I almost killed those kids!"
"Why didn't they look before stepping into the street?"
"The walking man wasn't flashing. The don't-walk sign was flashing."
"Why aren't there any street lights at that intersection.?
"I almost killed those kids."
I almost killed those kids.
If I had hit them, blame would have both not mattered and also mattered VERY much. They did something wrong -crossing when the signal said it was too late. I almost did something wrong- not checking the crosswalk. The city has failed to do something - putting up a light to illuminate a legal crosswalk. I checked it again this morning as I drove back from the early morning seminary trip. It's right next to an elementary school and there are NO lights anywhere near. It was very, very dark. The only way I saw those kids was from my own headlights after I started turning and the faint glow from the stop lights. This is not acceptable and I will be bringing it up at our next Community Council meeting for the Jr. High where we have the ability to reach out in an official capacity to request changes to make sure our children's walking paths are safe.
So, story time is over now and I'd like to share my tips for avoiding auto-pedestrian accidents.
DEFENSIVE DRIVING:
1. Always check intersections and crosswalks for pedestrians before entering them. Assume that kids will cross illegally.
2. Never pass a stopped school bus.
3. Stop for pedestrians at marked crosswalks. They have the right-of-way.
4. NEVER EVER EVER assume that a pedestrian sees you until you have made eye contact and exchanged acknowledging signals.
SAFE CROSSING TIPS:
1. Only cross the street at crosswalks. It's hard enough for drivers to watch out for you at marked crosswalks.
2. Look before you cross.
3. If there is a car, don't cross until you have made eye-contact and have exchanged acknowledging signals. This means a wave or a head nod from both YOU and the DRIVER.
4. Number three is the most important tip.
PARENTS:
Please teach your kids not to cross the street without making eye-contact with drivers AND exchanging acknowledging signals, either a nod or a hand wave. When a driver stops, it doesn't mean he/she sees the pedestrian. A driver might stop for a stop sign or to wait for traffic to allow for a left or right turn. A driver stopping does not mean he/she sees the pedestrian. I see a lot of kids that know these rules and follow them. I also see a lot of kids, mostly teenagers, who act like the road is their personal private pathway and that cars should part like the Red Sea when they step into the street. When I am driving around Taylorsville High School, teenagers step in front of my car without looking at all. They assume I will stop. And because I am a careful and defensive driver, I do stop. I'm not about to teach them a lesson the hard way in this situation. It is so frustrating though. I am so afraid for them. Nearly EVERY crosswalk related auto-pedestrian car accident could be avoided if EVERY driver and EVERY pedestrian followed tip number 3.
Make eye-contact.
Exchange acknowledging signals.
Please have a talk with yourself and your kids about this today and then again and again and again.
Let's keep our kids safe so they can give us gray hair and grandkids one day.
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