Thursday, July 30, 2009

Note to drivers in my neighborhood:

The three-way stops along the main road out of the neighborhood are STOP signs, not slow-down-a-bit-and-see-if-there-is-car-coming signs! Even though it is a three-way stop, it is always good to be aware of the the fourth direction and, especially, the crosswalk. Please get off the phone, put out your cigarette and be aware of what is around you! Had my kids been with me when I had to stop short in the crosswalk, I would have chased you down.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
The runner on your RIGHT as you only looked to the left.

5 comments:

Aka Alice said...

I'm so with you... I HATE it when drivers just slow down and don't come to a complete stop. GAH!

Hey, have Kenny refit his bike for you and let's go riding!!! Even if it's not a perfect fit, it'll be better than the mountain bike (for road biking that is)! I think I'd be able to keep up with you on a bike!

Kristin said...

My oh my, you are preaching to the choir here! I could write my own ranting post on this topic. In fact, my comment will probably be longer than your post, and more outraged! I HATE the drivers making right turns who (as you said) are only watching for oncoming traffic from the left and not pedestrians from the right. Moreover they always pull right up into the crosswalk or onto the sidewalk if they are coming out of an alley or driveway. Yes, they do stop, but only because of the cars coming from the other direction, and when there's a clear spot they gun it without paying any attention to what might be on the sidewalk/road in front of them. (And far worse if there are no oncoming cars, then, as you say, they just roll right through without pause!) I have been "contacted" twice by such cars. Once in a 10K! The car was zooming toward the intersection, slowed barely, and surged out toward a group of us. I put my hand out and hit the hood of the car before he stopped. The other time was in the morning here, a car rushing out of the McDonald's parking lot. (An aside: cars going to work in the morning are the worst, and cars coming out of fast food restaurants on the way to work are the very worst!) This lady was stopped for traffic, and I (I will admit) was running fast down the hill. Just as I stepped in front of her she saw an open spot and hit the accelerator. I jumped out into the street and put my hand out toward her car. An oncoming car (who, interestingly, had to stop, which leads me to think that even the traffic from the left was not perfectly clear), was horrified. I have to admit I was rather satisfied that the lady who almost hit me looked pretty scared too. Maybe she'll be more careful in future. (As a driver, though, and an occasional bike rider, I will admit that I am also peeved by pedestrians who think that they should be able to jump out into the street just anywhere instead of going to crosswalks!)

montisse98 said...

Amen to that!

Lisa, I don't know of any races in Stuttgart(there was one in June)but there will be several races in Sept/Oct in other German cities(Berlin, Koln, Frankfurt, etc.) Here's the link:

http://www.42k195.com/en/marathons/DEU

Another good link is:

www.runnersworld.de(and then click on laufevents)

Your friend might also want to look into(1/2)marathons in Sep/Oct in neighboring countries as well (Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, etc.) Traveling within Europe is fairly easy and cheap. Here's the link for all marathons in Europe:

http://www.42k195.com/en/tag/Europe

Hope this helps. :)

Relentless Forward Commotion said...

AGREED! The Cell phone thing is the worst...

Terri said...

I feel you, believe me!! and with your speed, if you had chased them down, you would have caught them!

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