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Letter published in The State newspaper, July 14, 2002, p. D2.
Deflem, Mathieu. 2002. “Pedestrians Risk Their Lives at Crosswalks.” Letter. The State, July 14, 2002, p. D2.
Recently I had the unfortunate experience of nearly being run over by a car at a crosswalk with the walk signal indicating it was safe to cross. The driver of the vehicle, stopping only at the last second just a few feet away from me, reacted to this near accident by laughing at me. To make matters worse, two Columbia police officers in their patrol car on the other side of the street clearly saw me nearly get run over, but they did not intervene. When I told them that this was the third time in less than a month that I nearly been hit by a car at a crosswalk, they barely took note of my concern, and then told me to move on!
I find it very sad and disturbing that some drivers take the lives of others so lightly and, even more so, that we cannot always rely on our local law enforcement officers to do their job. I find it particularly sad to report this matter because since my move to the city a month ago, I have found the people in Columbia (and the Carolinas in general) to be among the most friendly and congenial I have had the pleasure to meet.
Let's hope we can prevent a few irresponsible persons from ruining it for us all.
Mathieu Deflem,
Columbia, SC
