By Mark DeVolder
Los Alamos

Re: Driver Threats to Pedestrians

Recently, my wife and I were walking west on the north side of Central in Los Alamos. Traffic in both directions was heavy.  I noticed that a compact car was trying to make a left-hand turn near Fuller Lodge.  The car had been there for some time, and there were about 5 or 6 cars backed up behind the car.

As I stepped off the sidewalk into the street, the car suddenly came driving directly toward my wife and me. Fortunately, the car stopped in time and we did not get clobbered. The car zoomed off and parked on the west side of Fuller Lodge. Before parking, however, the car nearly hit another pedestrian crossing west of Fuller Lodge. The pedestrian was only 3 or 4 feet from the driver’s side of the car, crossing in the opposite traffic lane.

What explains this behavior?

I think that the driver was only interested in the “goal” of getting into the Fuller Lodge parking lot (that is, the driver was rushing). The heavy westbound traffic on Central delayed the driver. Then three pedestrians delayed the driver further. It occurred to me that the driver was more interested in the goal (that is, getting into the parking lot) and not the “journey” (that is, driving responsibly from start to finish). This event could easily have resulted in a severe injury to a pedestrian(s) or a case of vehicular manslaughter. Were the few seconds saved getting to the parking lot worth ruining the life of a pedestrian(s)?

I continue to quiz people at random about the “3-second rule” related to the required spacing necessary between vehicles at different speeds. A spacing of one more car length is needed for every additional 10 mph. The responses I have received are three-fold (that is, don’t know or a guess 90% of the time or the correct answer 10% of the time). The drivers who got the answer correct told me they remember what they learned in driver education class.

I have concluded that many drivers in New Mexico have forgotten what they learned in driver education class, or they never absorbed the driving information in the first place.

As LANL gets ready to hire an additional 1,700 employees and the employees bring their families with them, I have to wonder what my life expectancy in the future will be in Los Alamos. As long as I have a car surrounding me and a fastened seat belt, I might have a chance at a longer life. However, I don’t have much protection as a pedestrian except for my wits. I realize that the burden of living longer is for me to remain vigilant.