Once again, I am nearly run down by a SUV. If I hadn’t read my paper I would have communicated to the driver of the SUV that I was much displeased by his nearly mowing me down by flinging my plastic wrapped newspaper at him. Instead I used my words. I had the right of way, he was making a right on to 7th, and the crossing sign had just lit up and was counting down when I stepped into the crosswalk of DEATH.
A week ago I was 10 seconds away from getting hit. At New Jersey Ave and R the light had just turned green for R, and I was still a ways on the sidewalk, and thought of running for it, but I was carrying something heavy and didn’t. If I had I might have been in the way of the sedan speeding north on New Jersey that didn’t seem to think that red light was meant for him. He did stop a few feet past the crosswalk to keep from hitting the car, travelling west on R, and the cyclist, also travelling on R.
Guns are the least of my worries when every other day I have to take care that I don’t get hit by some jackhole behind the wheel.
Yep, I know what you mean. After ten years of living a life in DC in which my life does not revolve around a car (although I own one), I’m ready to move away. It has a lot to do with traffic and the total lack of respect for human life unless it is sealed inside an automobile.
I figure I can move to a “2nd tier” US city with little to no public transit, and still have a higher quality of life than anywhere in the DC metro area.
I’ve been in other parts of the country where I’ve seen drivers routinely give pedestrians and cyclists a break. That kind of environment REALLY DOES exist elsewhere.
Pedestrian hit by car, dragged by another in DC.
August 2, 2008 – 2:53pm
WASHINGTON – A pedestrian was hit by a vehicle at the New York Avenue split on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway before 7 this morning and was then dragged by another vehicle for over two miles.
The first driver apparently didn't realize he struck the unidentified man with his SUV and did not immediately stop, according to U.S. Park Police. The driver stayed on the scene after the accident.
DC Police say the victim then got caught underneath another vehicle which drove to Montana and W. Streets in Northeast before realizing something was stuck under his car.
When he saw the head of the victim, the second driver called the police. Both drivers are being interviewed by the police.
New York Avenue is closed while officers investigate.
(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All rights reserved.)
WASHINGTON – A pedestrian was hit by a vehicle at the New York Avenue split on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway before 7 this morning and was then dragged by another vehicle for over two miles.
The first driver apparently didn't realize he struck the unidentified man with his SUV and did not immediately stop, according to U.S. Park Police. The driver stayed on the scene after the accident.
DC Police say the victim then got caught underneath another vehicle which drove to Montana and W. Streets in Northeast before realizing something was stuck under his car.
When he saw the head of the victim, the second driver called the police. Both drivers are being interviewed by the police.
New York Avenue is closed while officers investigate.
http://wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1452545
http://www.momentumplanet.com/bike-rage
Bike Rage
By Charles Montgomery
illustration by chris bentzen
I could see their faces through the passenger window. He: leaning over the Pathfinder’s steering wheel, barking into a cell phone. She: peering at me through the glass with the startled look of someone surprised by a wild animal. As I punched the car door, I could see my own reflection, too: face pinched and flushed beneath my helmet, lips mouthing:
“You almost killed me! You almost killed me!”
…