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Pedestrian Nation, it’s better to be alive than right

Pedestrian Nation, it’s better to be alive than right

Much as today’s pedestrians can’t seem to stop themselves from obliviously sauntering through any given intersection, I couldn’t stop myself from responding to Tom Scanlon’s mildly amusing piece on the plight of the pedestrian (“R.I.P. in Pittsburgh,” April 12 Forum).

Children of the Dark Ages (in the middle half of the last century) were taught at an early age to “Stop, look and listen” before crossing a street. But since then, the entire Pedestrian Nation appears to have been swept by an epidemic of poor manners, insouciance and an utterly incomprehensible disregard for their own personal safety, thus leaving Pedestrian Nation with a mistaken belief that others (especially the Increasingly Distracted Driver) will “watch out for them.”

In the unamusing real world, however, unpredictability lurks at the nexus of all automotive and pedestrian interactions, and while the law-abiding pedestrian may undeniably enjoy the “right of way” during such encounters, he or she may never possess the “right of weight” required to survive them.

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So I guess it’s up to you, my fellow pedestrians, to either take your head out of your, uh, smartphone, remove your earbuds, pause, look both ways and hustle across the street, or continue to challenge the immutable laws of both physics and averages which conspire to make you a Darwin Award nominee. Good luck!

MIKE EVEGES
Mt. Lebanon

First Published: April 19, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

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