responsible driving

Here in Maine there are little placards all along the coastal road, "State Law: Yield to Pedestrians in Crosswalk." Route 1 is so congested in the summer from tourists traveling down east (meaning north) that in some towns a walker would otherwise never be able to get across the street. Even with such laws and friendly drivers, Charlie and I almost got hit when we were crossing the road yesterday to get to the local library. After my initial panic and fear, I got angry, very angry and had visions of tracking down the thoughtless teenage driver and threatening his life.

When we lived on-base in Italy the parking lot of our apartment became a toddler turnpike in the late afternoons with upwards of 2 dozen children riding bikes and scoot'n'go vehicles around and around. All the residents coming home from work knew to drive slowly into the quad's lot and shouts of "car!" periodically permeated the din. This could only have happened on-base, Italian drivers are so wild that all the children would have been squished like bugs in 20 minutes. We can't go to our local city park here in town because of the number of close calls with people thinking the circular gravel road is the Daytona 500. As a parent I see too many yahoos who exhibit little concern for others and threaten the safety of everyone within their path. I'm not saying I would have been part of the below mentioned murderous mob, but my heart goes out the the mother of the toddler more easily than the driver or his companion.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - "Police on Wednesday were pleading for witnesses to help them track down members of an angry mob that beat a man to death after the car he was riding in apparently struck and injured a child.
Investigators were struggling to piece together what happened Tuesday when David Rivas Morales died defending the driver from members of a crowd. The car in which Morales, 40, was a passenger had entered an apartment complex's parking lot when it struck a 2-year-old boy, Piatt said. The boy was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver got out of the car to check on the child and was confronted by several people, Piatt said. When they attacked the driver, Morales got out of the car to protect the driver and was attacked as well."