Walked over the local Safeway for something out of which we ran. The intersection of Murray and Allen is a good way to die, so I always wait for the crosswalk sign, and even then, it's risky.
Standing there, and a guy with a red-tipped white cane comes up next to me. Got some sight, I can tell, but he's checking for the curb.
I pushed the crosswalk button. Waited.
Light turned red, we got the walk sign, I started to step off, then saw that the woman barreling down Allen wasn't going to stop. I pointed my finger at her, and pissed off, yelled "Whoa!" rather loudly.
I am talking, wake-people-up-from-a-coma loud. Scare-away-the-werewolves loud.
She looked at me–made eye contact–and blew right through the light, never slowing.
Those are the times when you wish you had a zap ray that would freeze a car's engine into a block of dry ice. Along with the driver ...
The somewhat-blind guy next to me said something, and I realized that if I hadn't yelled, he probably would have stepped in front of the car.
Just another day in Paradise ...
5 comments:
Be thankful you don't live in south-east Asia. This is the default behaviour. Interestingly, I've noticed female drivers tend to blow through, whereas the male drivers stop when you evil-eye them.
Friend of mine worked her way through college directing traffic at football games. (She called "getting hit by cars for a living.")
She had her own version of the zap-ray: she carried a large soft drink cup with her, and made sure than, whenever she had to jump out of the way, that acidic substance would hit the hood and at least ruin the finish on their car.
I've had similar experiences to yours, but I can say that some people don't ignore it. Sometimes, when you point out a "school zone" sign or crosswalk to a speeding driver, they actually do look ashamed of themselves and slow down.
Lived in the condos down the way on Murray in Highland Hills for a while when growing up and always hated that intersection and it has only gotten bigger and worse thru the years. Sometimes bigger just gives people more area to lose something in - vision wise.
Beaverton has cameras on that intersection. Call the PD and see if they can retrieve the video and get the license #. Beaverton already has the state-law-required signs up about red light cameras, so it may be possible to give her a couple of hundred $ reminder.
I don't think there are red light cams on that intersection.
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