retroactive townie's blog

woman killed by bus identified as scottish exchange student

The jogger hit and killed by a Chapel Hill Transit bus Thursday was a University of North Carolina law school student from Scotland, police said Friday.

I have driven for Chapel Hill Transit for 7 years, and I also love to walk and bike. I know how College Students think, having been one not long ago. I can tell you that the driver of the "A Bus" that struck the jogger is an unfailingly caring person and skilled driver who would never "challenge" a pedestrian's right of way and who values life, safety, and the inherent dignity of all people. She is a humble and cheerful person, not an angry, aggressive driver out to dominate the road with her bus.

While I agree that many motorists do not respect pedestrian and cyclist rights-of-way, I disagree with those who imply that Chapel Hill Transit drivers are worse offenders than the average area motorist. Driver training and certification in the United States is a cursory process with lax standards compared to those of other developed nations. This explains why many Americans can not drive manual transmission cars, can not parallel park, drive slowly in the passing lane on the highway, and blow through pedestrian crosswalks. Ignorant and inattentive driving is bad and dangerous driving. We could not point a firearm at someone in the street without being arrested, yet we think nothing of people driving badly and irresponsibly even though vehicles are as deadly as firearms.

Obtaining a Commercial Driver's License for the purposes of transporting passengers or freight entails a higher level of training and proficiency, and an excellent prior driving record is a prerequisite before such training for a CDL begins. Not all professional drivers act professionally at all times, but this is because they are human, and because of pressure to adhere to tight schedule, not because they have not been taught the rules of the road. We could always do better- some of us could do much better- but as a group we are already much better than the average driver out there. The next time you make a left-hand turn at an intersection with dual left-turn lanes in Chapel Hill, chances are you will see one of our 35 or 40 foot buses in the "outside"left-turn lane. It will probably stay completely in its designated lane throughout the turn, while much shorter cars in the adjoining lane will drift from one lane to another, even cutting off other drivers in the middle of their turn. Attention to details such as these contributed to more than 30 years of Chapel Hill Transit service without a fatality.

While I personally feel the world would be better without the internal combustion engine, the reality is that we currently have a near singular reliance on motorized transportation, mostly single-occupancy vehicles rushing people to real and imagined deadlines. I find it disgraceful that there were more trains, trolleys, and pedestrian paths in 1908 than there are in 2008. For many of us, including myself, driving a car to work is not purely a choice but and insurance policy against death and severe injury. I would gladly ride ten miles to work every day but I am afraid of boneheads in 300 horsepower SUVs chatting on cell phones and enraged at the mere sight of a cyclist on "their" roads.  In Holland and other countries, there are dedicated bike-ways that connect remote communities: these bike-ways are often completely separate from motorways, ensuring a lack of conflict between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. With all of our affluence and resources, such sensible, sustainable, and healthy means of commuting are but pipe-dreams in North Carolina, until rising fuel prices force planners to change their 1950's thinking, and entice people to use muscle and burn fat, rather than gasoline, to go places.

In most of the United States the car is king, and history has shown that kings are often ruthless and angry tyrants. This being said, the social contract between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians requires communication: mostly eye contact. While it is egregious and inexcusable for a driver to blow through a marked crosswalk in which pedestrians are clearly crossing, the presumptuous and inattentive behavior of some pedestrians, notably certain UNC students, is needlessly provocative and irresponsible. They amble carelessly across the street oblivious or indifferent to their surroundings, listening to Ipods or chatting on cell phones, physically present in the crosswalk, but mentally somewhere else altogether. This type of arrogance is irritating to those waiting to proceed, especially if they are on a tight schedule through no fault of their own. Pedestrian rights are often undermined by such pompous and presumptuous behavior by those crossing the street. While America needs to cultivate greater respect for alternative modes of transportation in order to preserve life and recover from gasoline addiction, such reconciliation is impeded by those who act as if they are the center of the universe, whether these people are behind the wheel or walking obliviously.