Understanding the meaning of "right of way."

I’m standing on the corner of 3rd street and McDowell on the North West corner waiting for the red light to turn green. As it turns green, I proceed to cross but there is a car in the right lane facing south that wants to turn right on McDowell. The driver accelerates but has to put on the brakes because I’m two feet into the cross walk. I turn and look directly at him and the expression on his face; I wish I had my camera so I could show it to you. He is pouting like a little child because he could not do what he desired when he desired it.

There is such a thing as “right of way.” When both the driver and pedestrian have the green light at the same time the driver or motorist must YIELD the “right of way” to the pedestrian. As I was standing on the corner, while the light was red the driver could have turned right then, as long as no traffic was coming from an eastward direction to the west. If drivers have forgotten these things maybe they should call up the Bondurant School of Driving and enroll in a class for dummies that have forgotten the driving rules and laws.

This is not the first time that this particular incident has occurred to me and I’m sure others. What disturbs me most about this is the attitude of the motorists. They clearly display impatience, arrogance, no respect, rudeness, vanity and lack of courtesy. This is the part of drivers especially Arizona drivers that I want to attack. There is a thing called “sharing the road” but how can you share the road with someone with an attitude like this?

As I get a few blocks further down to Roosevelt and 3rd Streets two motorists run the red light. The light is red and they never slow down not to mention stop and just make their right turns. Hey, am I “crying like a little baby?” Am I knit picking? I guess it depends on your perspective. I think that the 43,000 people that are injured from motor vehicle collision each year in Arizona is UNACCEPTABLE! My aim and goal, as a pedestrian, is not to become one of the over 1,000 people that loose their lives from automobile collisions in Arizona each year. Something has to be done. As a pedestrian I’m doing my part. But Arizona motorist still have the same old funky attitude!

It’s a thin line between “freedom” and “enforcement.”

As a motorist in Arizona or any other state you have the freedom to drive as you please as long as you have secured the proper requirements: vehicle, drivers license, registration, insurance, and have proven that you are well able to operate your vehicle. You have also agreed to follow a host of rules and regulations. By following all of the above requirements you as a motorist are now given the freedom and privilege (not the right) to drive your vehicle.

Enforcement of the rules and laws you must follow will come as motorist step outside of the laws and rules given; now is the enforcement of these rules and laws an “invasion” on you or is it just the consequences of your actions? I have heard some say that the photo cameras are a violation of their rights, or invasion of their privacy. But if you as an Arizona motorist have stepped over the bounds, violated the traffic laws and rules you have given up your freedom and forfeited the privilege to operate a motor vehicle, right?
Ok, at least you deserve a ticket for speeding or whatever your violation was, right?

Come on, let’s reason. Without laws and rules we would have total chaos. Each motorist must, in truth “police” themselves, by obeying the traffic laws and rules. But you are not going to do that. You are going to speed, run red lights, commit hit-and-run collisions, etc, etc, etc, I say that because of the statistics! The statistics don’t lie. The statistics give us a very clear picture of what you have done and we can calculate from the past records what you will do in the future.

Will a camera slow you down, will a ticket slow you down, will a fine slow you down, will impounding your car slow you down, will revoking your license slow you down, will jail time slow you down; the only thing that has slowed you down is death, a fatality. And unfortunately, it was the victim, and not you (the culprit) that was killed. Case in point, a young man sat in jail for committing a DUI. He got out of jail and was driving a pick-up truck, of course, with no license or insurance, and ran a red light killing the woman driver and injuring the two children in the car, and of course he was drunk!

Enforcement is necessary, you as motorist don’t have sense enough to enforce yourself. If you did there would not be over a thousand fatal automobile deaths each year in Arizona. Why are you so out of control? I want you to look at yourself. Don’t get mad at me. Get mad at your out of control self. Get mad at your wreck less driving. Why are you in such a hurry? Why are you so angry and aggressive? Why are you so rude? Why are you so sensitive? I thought you were a “Christian!” Why are you so busy that you need to drive and eat, shave, sleep, read, talk on the phone, text and put make-up on all at the same time? Why are you so stressed? Why is the line so thin when it comes to getting Arizona motorists to do something simple like obey the traffic rules and laws?