"Hello,
I would first like to start by saying how much I enjoy your blog and how I can tell how dedicated you are to your job. Thank You for that.
I am a senior at Salisbury University and a life-long native of Salisbury. I would like to give a 'Notice' to all pedestrians and/or college students around the camden/campus area. For as long as I have lived in Salisbury, being able to walk around the streets of Salisbury has been something I have cherrished. Yea, we can all get in our cars and drive but walking around downtown Salisbury or around the campus is something that I see as a blessing to Salisbury since we can simply walk around our town and see just how beautiful our city is (I am mostly talking about the camden/campus area). Well, the point of this email is to notify all pedestrians that you are NOT safe. While walking along the crosswalk from campus on Smith St. and College Ave. I was abrubtly put to a halt when all of a sudden a huge City truck slammed on its breaks not to hit me. And stopped a mere 2-3 feet from me. You may ask your self...has this student walked in front of a moving vehicle?...NO. This student used the crosswalk like we are supposed to do and are urged to do just so things like this (or worse) do not happen. This truck wasn't even driving either way on the street. It was turing from Smith onto College ave going towards Rt. 13. At this specific moment, there were not cars driving on either direction of the road, simply a stopped City truck with 2 city workers inside. And if you think I am just irritated because my life was almost taken from me it gets worse. Not only is both windows of the vehicle down, neither city worker even breathes a word of 'i'm sorry'. They simply put on a sly grin as I began to get frustrated. I mean, how are we as citizens of Salisbury supposed to feel safe in our own city with care-less people working for our city or even getting employed by the city. I will be graduating this December and consider myself a VERY well educated woman. And having CITY workers who obviously do not care a bout the city working for us is unacceptable. Not a smart move! The second after this incident occured I just looked at the driver with his sly grin on his face. Waiting for him to say at least "I'm sorry." I finally had to say something myself to this worker. I believe I said something along the lines of, " What are you doing? Because I know what I'm doing. I'm using the crosswalk like I am SUPPOSED TO! What the hell are you doing?" And still no response. I would just like to tell ALL pedestrians, and students to look both ways, even if you are walking in a cross walk. We know to use the cross-walks, and have known to use them. Now its time for the rest of the city to follow the standards too.
Thank you,
Salisbury Senior"
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
17 comments:
that intersection needs a light. Not a sign in teh middle of the road, not more crosswalk marks, not those dumb signs with flashing lights. A real traffic light. Traffic routinely locks there, because of two offset vehicles waiting to turn left.
A light can not come soon enough there. Watch the traffic there about 5:15pm.
Get the tag number or truck number
and wake some calls . City workers
drive around this town with nothing to do but BS . Another problem with our leaders. They do not have any supervision! Most
do not have any education beyond
6th grade . That should tell about the human resources in the city.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease!
Start to call people in high places.(Joe is about as high as you can get in this city)
I'm glas you were able to vent. I'm sure you feel better.
Don't be so harsh on those people, accidents happen, and I'm sure you've had some near misses while driving yourself.
Don't have such high expectations of others and you won't be so frustrated or mad when they don't live up to your standards when they don't apologize.
As long as the city pays such low wages (county too), they will not higher better workers.
You can't micro manage people's manners.
I'm glad that no one was hurt. I hope this made all involved more appreciative of the life God has given us. You surely had an angel with you, and that is a blessing!
OMG Mardela, what planet are you living on. This happens everywhere, even in grocery store parking lots. I always use the crosswalks (specifically at Giant & Walmart) and have had so many close calls because drivers DO NOT think they have to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks, just a little common courtesy would be nice, nothing to do with high expectations, or if you still think so, the inconsiderate person shouldn't be driving anyway.
It's crazy the couple times I've been to NYC I've never once hesitated to jump out in front of cars, when I'm crossing in the crosswalk. I know they will stop. I would never dare try that here on Delmarva!
Did you ever hear of look both ways before crossing the street.Just because its a crosswalk doesn't mean you just can walk straight out into traffic.Commom sense.
Maryland Pedestrian Safety Law for Drivers
"At crosswalks without signals, the driver of a vehicle must stop for a pedestrian when:
(1) the pedestrian is on the half of the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling;
(2) the pedestrian is approaching from an adjacent lane on the other half of the roadway.
Fine up to $500 and/or 2 months in jail; 1 point, must appear in court.
At intersections or crosswalks with signals
(1) drivers proceeding on a green signal including turning right or left, shall yield the right of way to pedestrians lawfully within the adjacent crosswalk.
Fine $75, 1 point."
anon 7:48pm --
Are you talking about the City Counsel people with a sixth grade education or are you referring to me with an adequate diploma from high school. I believe both parties were to blame the girl stepping out into traffic, which I see everyday, thinking a BIG truck can stop like a s-m-a-l-l car...NOT!
As for the CITY workers, I don't know them but If I seen it they would have a warning for their behavior toward her!!
"HE SAID SHE SAID". I have personally seen many times,students enter the crosswalk when common sense would tell them to look both ways.
I read this thinking that the person was run over. It doesn't say that in the story. It says the truck stopped 2-3 feet from hitting the person. So in all actuallity, City Workers might have scared the crap of the old woman, they never hit her in the crosswalk.
I'm quite appalled that a "very well educated" student of Salisbury would such horrific spelling errors in their submission to a blog read by this student's peers and neighbors. I'm just a sophomore here at Salisbury University but I hope that when I graduate, I am more articulate than this senior.
How about using those smarts you learned after 4 years of school and look before you leap? Considering the danger you now know exists, perhaps you will not have such a close call in the future.
Same thing happened to me but it was a SHORE TRANSIT bus and the guy took the time to stop and open his little window and yell "You F-ing idiot I am a professional driver. Pay Attention" I called and left 2 messages with no response.
If the truck really was just then approaching the intersection to turn, then you did have the right-of-way. They should have waited, and the decent thing to do would be apologize.
However, just because you see a crosswalk, it doesn't mean you should just walk into it without checking to see if cars are coming. Whether you have the right-of-way or not, its your life that will change when you are seriously injured, NOT THE DRIVER'S. Take some responsibility for your own actions because you could literally lose your life by expecting other people to be paying attention to what you are doing.
I think Mardela was right when he/she said that you need to lower your expectations and you wont feel such frustration. People are allowed to make mistakes (that being the driver), and they also have the right to not be polite. The only person whose response you have control over is your own. While it would be nice to know that people will have the common courtesy to be polite, unfortunately its unreasonable to expect it. You'll only end up angry in the end when you do.
And for those city workers, shame on you for being so rude! I think your mom taught you better than that! That was someone's daughter/sister/possibly mom walking across that road and you almost hit her. You probably scared the crap out of her! The least you could have done was apologize!
Ok, I think that's it :)
I agree with 9:46. For some reason, our Delmarva public does not seem to know what a cross walk is. Perhaps there needs to be some sort of public announcements stress the need to stop when someone is in a cross walk or about to enter one. I have experienced almost getting hit myself while a drive of a vehicle just glared at me in a cross walk like I was not supposed to be there. Any suggestion other than public service announcements?
Since it is bike week I'll give you an experienced motorcyclist's perspective on this.
For starters WELCOME TO MY WORLD!
I don't care what the laws are and who's going to be responsible for your death in a criminal or civil court. YOU AND YOU ALONE are responsible for your survival out there. That means paying full attention to your surroundings and taking note of every single vehicle moving or not moving that is within your path or capable of intersecting it.
I would like to believe that this is much easier on foot than it is on two wheels given the potential speeds are considerably lower in your shoes.
Never assume you've been seen even if they're looking right at you. Never assume they give a rat's arse about you if they have seen you.
So you can either bitch about it or learn from your experiences. It won't matter to you who's fault it is if you're left wearing a toe tag and a sheet.
Taking note of the plate or vehicle number (most govt vehicles will have some form of additional identification) as well as a description and the time of day. Then find out who you need to call.
I'm so sick of the college students who just step into the crosswalk before looking both ways. Just because there is a crosswalk doesn't mean you don't have to stop and wait for traffic to clear. It's one thing if you're already in the crosswalk when a vehicle approaches. The interseiction at Bateman,South Division and Onley Roads is the worst. More than once I've been driving the speed limit only to have to slam on my brakes for someone who just walks out into traffic. Common sense people, common sense.
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