Monday, January 08, 2007

Use the pedestrians' bridge, PLEASE.

I hate the law that states that it’s always the driver's fault to hit any pedestrian. It's unfair. It shouldn't be fore granted. The accident should be investigated and then decided upon.

Some drivers are extremely crazy and do not abide by any rules, they speed and they don't allow pedestrians to cross at the zebra crossing so they deserve to be punished.

But what about ignorant pedestrians who cross from places they shouldn't? What about those who cross a main street with continuous flow of cars right beneath the pedestrian's bridge? Shouldn't they get punished for causing themselves and others troubles? Shouldn't they be aware of their own safety?

I faced this problem myself a couple of times in the main street of Safeway – Shmeesani. Where a new bridge was installed to deal with the heavy traffic a couple of years ago. Being aware of how dangerous that street is for pedestrians, the government built a pedestrians' bridge. People are too lazy to go up the bridge to cross and so they cross between the cars. Sometimes drivers do not see them, other times it's too hard to stop when you are in fast moving street, even if you managed to stop, the car behind you will hit into your car!

Why do they do this? Are they sure they are not going to get themselves in a terrible accident? Do they rely on the law to punish the driver? What about their own safety?

The law should be adjusted to hold pedestrians responsible for such acts. And a new law should be stated that impose a fine on them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amman is a hostile environment for children and elderly. The stairs to the pedestrian bridges are too steep for most elderly people with bad joints. The design of the stairs is driven by cost-cutting considerations.

Also, notice how the narrow sidewalks in residential areas are littered with short trees that make it impossible to walk. Few children in our area over the years were hit by cars because the kids were forced to walk on the streets.

No matter how many people complain to the municipality, and articles written about the subject, nothing happened.

This government is killing us with their mediocrity and corruption.

Reem said...

well Anonymous, you might have a point but still, all who I see running between cars are youth, who are definately capable of climbing the stairs. And then, bearing a bit of hardship in going up the stairs is better than getting killed by a car. I think one of the most fatal draw backs that is standing in our way to development is the blame culture. We always blame other people or insitutes for what's going wrong, we should try fix it ourselves, if we can't, then we should capitalize on what we have. After all, having a hard-to-use bridges is better than not having them at all.