Pedestrian safety

Dear Editor:The recent letter from Juan Flores was right on the mark - as far as it went. ("Child Safety," 3/26/10) The concern for child safety should be everyone's paramount concern. However, there seem to be too few parents who teach their children proper responsibility for themselves and respect for others when crossing the street. Rather it appears that many parents feel that it is the responsibility of others to avoid their children regardless of where they are or how fast they are moving or appear on the scene from out of sight, and thus by precept and example their children pick up the same concepts and often act irresponsibly. Also many parents seem to consider any such education to be the schools' responsibility; perhaps the schools' attempt to teach pedestrian safety, but from the actions around schools it would seem that it has not been successful. Another breakdown in the chain of prudence is that some crossing guards foster irresponsibility by stopping traffic before the children even get to the curb and then coach them to hurry across with reckless abandon and lack of concern - all the while rushing the stragglers into the crosswalk; this gives the children a dangerous false sense of security in that they don't need to wait and watch. One improvement would be for the guards to have the pedestrians wait on the curb until a fair group accumulates and then to stop traffic (so as to avoid trapping motorists in the intersection) and coach them to walk across at a responsible speed while cautiously observing their surroundings and watching the vehicles. Accepting responsibility will foster greater caution and save heartache and irritated nerves. My drivers' education instructor used to teach us that the other guy might be wrong, but that responsible defensive actions prevent injury and damage. - Hugh T. Hoskins, Downey

********** Published: April 2, 2010 - Volume 8 - Issue 50