Mr. Roadshow Saved My Life

[kevin_standlee]

I try to go for a walk every day after lunch, weather and workload permitting. My normal path takes me along a stretch of West Hillsdale Blvd. in front of the Laurelwood Shopping Center. There is a four-way stop at the entrance to this center. Yesterday, while I started to cross at the crosswalk, a US Postal Service delivery truck came down the drive and only barely slowed down as it started to roll through the crosswalk, where it would have intersected me at maybe 20 miles an hour or so.

Fortunately for me, I had been reading recent "Mr. Roadshow" columns in the San Jose Mercury News about the so-called "California Stop" (motorists coasting through stop signs without stopping), and partially because of that, was extra-alert for such stunts. I shouted and lept clear, with the truck missing me by only centimeters. No harm done, but it was a frightening experience. Maybe it wouldn't have killed me, but I doubt I would have been in good shape had the truck hit me -- especially as it would have thrown me into the middle of the intersection, where there were other vehicles coming through.

I wrote to the SJMN's Gary Richards and thanked him for having run items that made me alert enough to save my life. I do wish that motorists would not drive as though pedestrians didn't exist.

Comments

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of stop signs on Campus Drive, where my office is located, where I see people run them all the time, usually late in the evening when most people have gone home.

Oregon has an interesting stop sign that isn't an order. In some places, the sign has a "Right Turn Permitted Without Stopping" endorsement. I've not seen that anywhere else.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

KTVU or one of the other local channels did a "study" (stood at an intersection for a couple hours with a camera) in Golden Gate Park where a jogger had been killed in a hit and run. They found NO ONE stopped at the stop sign. Most did slow down, kinda.