By Mark Humphrey Santa Monica
As a fellow pedestrian in a town increasingly unfriendly to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic, I read Susan Sheu’s letter (SMDP, March 31, page 4) with interest. I share her pain — to a point. No one has ever hurled quite the same epithet at me from an open SUV window. Ms. Sheu, who was pushing a stroller at the time of the incident, missed a chance to graphically illustrate her opinion of the driver: Rather than call him a “sack of s--t,” she might have hurled a freshly-soiled diaper through his “window of opportunity.” May I suggest she keep one on hand for future encounters? For pedestrians whose lifestyles negate the diaper response, another possible reply to impatient drivers who flirt with vehicular manslaughter or who “vent” at someone who’s merely crossing the street is an egg-sized rock and a slingshot. This option should only be exercised by the fleet of foot.
Ms. Sheu’s unfortunate experience reflects a culture which glorifies aggressive, “in-your-face” behavior and markets overpriced, oversized “road warrior” vehicles to individuals for whom infantile, “the-world-revolves-around-me” action is the norm. Rude and reckless drivers are genuinely life-threatening manifestations of this, but there are others, merely annoying. With apologies to Ms. Sheu and other young moms, may I point to the use of their “sports utility prams” at the farmers’ markets and in other crowds as battering rams? I await the appearance of the “Ben Hur” model with daggers attached to wheel spokes. And as a pedestrian who is also a motorist, I am occasionally amazed by how confident of their immortality my fellow pedestrians can be. I once sat motionless at the wheel in the western most block of Pico Boulevard while an elderly woman wearing headphones walked her dog down the middle of the street. Not wanting to risk giving the old dear a heart attack by honking at her, I simply waited for this parade to slowly pass.
The driver of the SUV Ms. Sheu encountered surely would’ve reacted differently. It would be well to say we all should be more conscious of one another (if only for our own safety), more willing to demonstrate courtesy, respect and patience, qualities which can be life-saving where large machines traveling at high rates of speed towards people on foot are concerned. But the odds of that happening are marginally less than that of our putative president suddenly going whole hog for solar energy. Ms. Sheu invites police enforcement of bad behavior on our streets while remarking that many of our local gendarmes are far from exemplary drivers themselves. However, when she looks to the city, she may find a solution there. The city’s traffic planners have a genius for creating gridlock where none was before. Just look what a boon “one lane each way Santa Monica Boulevard” is! This may be the real answer to making our streets safe to walk: citywide gridlock. Where traffic barely budges, the odds of being run down by a speeder are slim to none.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 3, 2004. Read the original PDF.