As far as pedestrians at these two intersections go, it is nice that drivers like to stop for people standing on the corner waiting to cross. However, when I am waiting to cross, I am “waiting my turn to cross”.

Didn’t Mom and Dad always tell you to stand on the corner, wait until it is clear, then cross? It is almost maddening when I am standing there, in no way motioning that I need to cross the street at that moment, and someone decides they are going to stop for me, thus creating a potential rearend collision for them.

Note to drivers, yield the right of way when you must yield, otherwise accept your right of way when approaching these intersections and proceed through. It’s not a crime to actually drive through an intersection that is not marked with a stop or yield sign (unless of course a pedestrian is crossing).

By the same token, those pedestrians that barely break stride when approaching corners, whether 4-way stop or not, PLEASE STOP and wait for traffic to notice you, then take your turn.

And those with children, pleaase move them through the intersection WITH YOU safely. How many times have you seen children treating these intersections as playgrounds while Mom and/or Dad sips their coffee while talking on the phone? Not the best way to teach safety to your children…

As they say, you are in the right when in a crosswalk at an intersection, but do you really want to be “dead right”?

I think if everyone acknowledges both pedestrians’ as well as drivers’ right of way in downtown, there would be less rage and we would ALL be much safer.

Good points. Backing out of those diagonal spots is definitely an art form — inch by inch. I absolutely sympathize with our older residents who try to drive down Laurel today — it must be really difficult with so much going on.

One easy solution to avoid many of these near-misses would to make the Olive/Laurel and Cherry/Laurel intersections 4-way stops. This would eliminate 99% of the confusion, and would make it much safer for pedestrians trying to cross at these corners.

Thanks for your comments.

Chuck