Pedestrians Have the Right of Way

It was a soft autumn day this morning, and after a bit a gray covered sunrise, the low lying clouds parted and the sun came out. It seemed a nice morning to take a Nature walk around the block. As I strode past the dew covered grass that scintillated under the sun, I caught a glimpse of my shadow stridently walking beside me. It was a comfort, but made me laugh with the crazy arm swinging that was going on... OK this was an exercise walk today. When I came to a busy intersection I had to wait at the corner as a parade of cars rode by going much faster than the 25 MPH speed limit and the faces of intent thought let me know that these were probably people on their way to work. I patiently waited until all cars went by and then signaled the turning ones to go ahead of me. I thought about the first time I visited Vermont, back in the late 70's, when all a person had to do was step off a curb and the traffic would instantly stop and let the pedestrian cross, whether it was at a cross walk or not. There were no dismayed glances from the drivers, just a natural stopping and everyone participated. I also thought about the Via Vieto in Italy where the motorbikes whizzed by at incredible speeds and no one would stop until you bravely walked out into the street... then everyone on bike came to a screeching halt. It was very intimidating for us tourists. But NJ has had a law that drivers must yield to pedestrians at crosswalks, and yet what I have experienced is that unless there is a sign posted in the middle of the road, or if a crossing guard present, most people just ignore the law. I know sometimes it's hard to tell whether a pedestrian is just standing at a corner or has a need to cross, sometimes if someone is making a turn, the rear driver's view is obscured and they might not see a pedestrian... it's happened to me as a driver. But when you are marching in place, with arms swinging , looking right and left from the cross walk before you and not one in ten cars stops to let you cross... well, I guess here in NJ people probably feel the crosswalk law is just a optional courtesy. The impact of the law has not really taken hold as yet.