Where did the Old Coot cross the street?

[By Merlin Lessler]

Most mornings I leave the coffee group I hang out with, walk a quarter of a mile through a shopping plaza parking lot, and then halfway across a busy four-lane street to a small island space between the two northbound lanes and the two southbound lanes. I wait there, and when no cars are coming, I hustle the rest of the way across. I use the word “hustle” loosely, because my stride is anything but. 

Anyhow, from there, I walk back toward the intersection I avoided by crossing in the middle of the block, take a left down the sidewalk to the beach, and then onward, either north or south for a half-mile or more, depending on what the tide is doing. When it’s low tide, the beach is wide and flat; at high tide it’s narrow and slanted—not a good way for an old coot to walk. That’s what dictates how far I will go. 

I cross paths with an old guy on my walk; one day I found him crossing the road in the same spot I do. (He’s 90, so I can call him an old guy.) We’d nod and say good morning most times, but that day, I said, “Jack, I see you cross in the same spot I do.” 

He smiled and said, “Oh yeah; if you cross at the traffic light, even with a green pedestrian arrow, a car turning right on red can run you over.” Drivers only look left to make sure no cars are coming, and then bolt right into the crosswalk. 

Us old guys know how to cross. Everyone is taught to always cross at the corner, never in the middle of the block. Jack and I figured out that this advice is outdated and wrong. Downright dangerous! It’s a safety rule that hasn’t been updated; it doesn’t take the “right-on-red” rule into consideration. A lot of people have been hit, hurt, or even killed crossing at the corner. 

My friend, Daren, got dumped off his bike by a right-on-red turner; he was just sitting there with the front wheel in the crosswalk, waiting for a chance to go. I’ve had a few close calls myself. But not anymore. 

The problem is even worse now that pedestrian crossing lights have been installed at hundreds of thousands of intersections across the country. Part of a federal pedestrian safety effort. People push the button, wait for the “go” signal, and think it’s safe to cross. It is safe, until a right-on-red driver sitting at the stop light is in a hurry. 

The rule that a pedestrian has the right of way is no longer in play. It’s been replaced with, “Walker beware!” 

Questions? Email to mlessler7@gmail.com.