LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
EVERYONE has the responsibility of avoiding collisions.
Licensed drivers are in charge of a lethal weapon.
I am confident that all emerging from driveways stop when they reach the street; then look both ways before entering any traffic flow.
What too few drivers do is consider the possibility of someone on foot about to enter the same space.
Backing out leaves you pretty blind and heading out forward allows you to move faster.
While I try to listen for the sound of motors as I approach a driveway, many have property line fences or foliage adjacent, minimizing visibility and sound.
Again recently I had another in a line of close calls in the past three years, when approaching two driveways separated only by a fence with foliage on it.
I stopped my mobility scooter in the first one because I thought I heard a sound.
I did.
The driver passed within a couple of metres of me, and never slowed before entering the footpath, nor glanced left or right until he reached the street, totally unaware of my presence and the fact that only one or two seconds prevented him from carrying me to the street on his bumper.
I know he would be very upset to hit anyone.
He might even have been more upset when he looked down to realize he had hurt an elderly friend he has known for many years.
A simple mild horn and a tentative emergence of a bumper at a snail’s pace should be on the mind of every motorist once he starts his engine.
Until that day I know that in residential areas I am much safer in the street where I am very visible and I can see vehicles headed my way in either direction.
