To the editor:
I was hit by a car once. It was a sunny fall morning in Upstate New York. I was in a crosswalk, making my way toward the stippled white LEDs of a “walk” signal. Despite the protection of the crossing light, a driver swung through and smacked my right knee with her front bumper. She stopped, of course, to see that I was uninjured.
A bit shocked, but otherwise OK, I asked for her contact information. She refused, and sped off.
I was lucky. Each year throughout the United States, more than 4,500 pedestrians die in traffic fatalities. A full quarter of these deaths are the result of a driver’s failure to yield (according to the Department of Transportation’s Pedestrian Safety Report). I was enormously pleased to hear of the sting on unsafe drivers traveling recklessly around (and through) Portsmouth crosswalks. Furthermore, I was impressed (though not a bit surprised) to read that this operation resulted in 36 citations in eight hours!
I would like to thank the Portsmouth Police Department for their commitment to pedestrian safety. It truly means a lot to me. I hope that Portsmouth crosswalks will continue to be policed with this level of care — though preferably by conscious drivers watching their own behavior.
Porsche Jones
129 Hummocks Ave.
Portsmouth
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