While driving down Oakland Avenue between Driesner and Lions Park in Austin, I saw a couple of young women with young children trying to find a spot to cross the street. It occurred to me that there really was not any where to do so and even if there, would anyone stop for them? While making the observation to my wife that the city should put some traffic lights for the sole purpose of stopping traffic so that people may cross the street, she tells me of a few instances where she has stopped for people in crosswalks here in Austin. The drivers either opposite of her or behind her have acted as if it were a major inconvenience to have to wait for pedestrians to cross the road. She even said one time a person honked their horn in an attempt to hurry people crossing the street. Are we so self-centered and self important that we feel inconvenienced when we have to stop our high speed capable motor vehicle on a public roadway to obey the law?

 

David Wiseman II

Austin