DON MEREDITH
As I rode my police motorcycle north on Maryland Avenue, I heard the
screech of brakes, a honking horn and the exchange of uncomplimentary
words. Fortunately, I witnessed the cause of the commotion. "Chris,"
the pedestrian, had decided he needed to cross the street. So without
looking, he stepped into the roadway ... and to his surprise a car
was bearing down on him. Yet, Chris continued to cross. He glared at
the car's driver with a defiant, rude stare, almost as if he had an
entitlement to the roadway.
Meanwhile the driver, "Pam," had to brake hard to keep from
striking the pedestrian. She managed to stop the car in time, only to
catch the defiant glare of the pedestrian who continued his illegal
walk across the street.
After issuing this pedestrian a written invitation to explain it
to the judge, I was on my way. Not five minutes later, I saw a car
driven by "Dean" driving north on Central Avenue. A pedestrian,
"Theresa," was crossing the street in a crosswalk. She had entered
the crosswalk against the red "Don't Walk" sign. As she entered the
crosswalk, "Dean" honked his horn at her and pointed to the red
"Don't Walk" signal. "Theresa" simply gave him a dirty look and kept
walking.
Now frustrated, I stopped and asked her why she crossed against
the light. Her response was, "It's just a light, and pedestrians
always have the right of way." Once again, I found myself explaining
the law, and she, too, received a written invitation to see the
judge.
Then, a little later in the day, I saw not one, not two, but three
vehicles make a right turn on the green light at Broadway and
Glendale Avenue. Unfortunately, there were several pedestrians
crossing the street. One pedestrian was reading a newspaper as he
walked; another was busy chatting on a cellphone. In this case, the
pedestrians had the right of way, but almost got hit because of
inattention. Once the pedestrians had cleared, I went after the three
vehicles. I managed to catch only two of them. I explained the reason
why I had stopped them. The first driver, "Clark," said he did not
stop before turning, as the pedestrians had yet to enter his lane.
The second driver, "Claudia," responded that she was just following
the other car, so it must have been safe.
With exasperation, I provided two more invitations to attend a
performance with the judge. The frightening part of this little story
is that two pedestrians defiantly violated the law and three were
indifferent to their surroundings while crossing the street. The
