Why must pedestrians navigate ‘hostile territory’?

I am that rare bird, a native Floridian. I am old now, but for decades I lived to ride a bike for transportation and fun. I have been hit by cars twice on my bike and once walking down Southwest Fourth Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, which should be named the Southside Speedway.

Now, I rarely ride. It is simply too horrible. Instead of a nice trip, I am grinding my teeth, angry, fantasizing about whether I should go to extremes and claim a “stand your ground” defense with a weapon. Cops do it. They claimed in a couple of deadly shootings that the car was a deadly weapon. I could never actually do it, but the fantasy cranks me up so that I am in combat mode (I am a veteran) the whole time I am riding. There is little or no fun in a bike ride. It’s combat training in hostile territory with live fire.

At the beginning of 2017 I was recovering from a traumatic brain injury due to a 12-foot fall at work. I was in pain and my vision and balance were severely compromised. To try to get better once I could walk at all, I started to walk to my daily physical therapy. One day, at the Southwest Fourth Avenue and Davie Boulevard intersection I was crossing, properly, along with a blind man who was tapping along ahead of me with his cane. We were both a bit slow. The right on red car going west on Davie Boulevard was stopped and wouldn’t budge so we could cross. At least three of the crazed psychopaths behind him, however, we’re leaning on their horns because he was stopped and not taking his right on red. One driver rolled her window down to scream at us. “Just run those crippled, disabled bastards over; I’m late, damnit!”

Police do nothing. Right on red after a full-stop but yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk is a fantasy. Police are nowhere to be found, so the cars violate with impunity.

This along with the noise, gun violence and other potential, but very real, assaults makes me want to leave here every day and move to France. The roads are not as good, but something in their society makes it simply declasse to hit pedestrians or bikes. They see it as an indication of incompetence and selfishness. Even in the madness of Paris or Rome it is simply not OK to run over people. Here they don’t even stop.

As I continue to recover, I am still angry most of the time I am walking or riding now that my balance is good enough to get on my bike again. I still want to vandalize the cars that try to kill me. Maybe when those cars start having their tires flattened and a note left with the reason, it will get the attention needed to change the behavior. For some reason excessive force is the only thing that changes American behaviors. We certainly don’t change anything because we care about others.

One small solution I have tried to promote is high visibility belts that should be handed out by community police, schools and every insurance agency doing business in the city. I recognize that many cyclists and pedestrians don’t think about their being seen. Since we don’t appear to have a legal remedy or an evolved social awareness, it’s one little thing that might help. All the police would have to do is drive around, pay attention, and when they catch sight of that guy in all black walking down a street, give him a high-vis belt and tell him how much danger he’s in because he can’t be seen.

Dog walkers, cyclists and anyone not in a 2-ton behemoth should get these inexpensive safety devices for free. Insurance companies should give them out with relish. They pay a huge price for our problem.

Even in the madness of Paris or Rome it is simply not OK to run over people. Here they don’t even stop.