Errands had me heading west on Page Boulevard from the Inner Belt towards Warson yesterday afternoon. I followed a white delivery van swooshing past a slow-moving Metro Bus (redundancy noted), then watched the van jump back into the left lane.
I jumped too.
Walking in the right traffic lane were three younger ladies, with bags and backpacks.
Fortunately, the truck I cut off hit his brakes. (I think he saw my two bad options.)
Problem: the ladies lacked any other place to walk. All the sidewalks – in front of stores and businesses – stood covered in snow. Plus, clearing Page the Missouri Department of Transportation piled tons of street snow on the sidewalks.
In a page 2 story in today’s St. Louis Post Dispatch the reporter notes the city ordinance that sidewalks ought to be cleared “immediately” after a snow. In the old days county businesses quickly cleared their sidewalks too. My subdivision’s original covenants required sidewalks to be cleared and dry 12 hours after a storm. Yet this morning just two out of 30 homes I passed had snow-free sidewalks, on a school day. (Yes, mine was one.)
No more.
Perhaps in the post-pandemic world courtesy no longer matters. Obviously, the police do not enforce ordinances, just as they look the other way at traffic scofflaws. For example, the number of cars with expired paper plates remains pretty constant. (I saw a remarkable preserved May 2021 last week.) Now I notice more cars lacking any sort of plate – steel or paper.
For years using the parking lane to pass and blow through red lights has been a hobby in St. Louis City. Yesterday it happened to me on St. Charles Rock Road. I’m no longer surprised at left turns on red lights (no, not those flashing yellow lights but solid red ones). Nor when a driver ignores a school bus stop sign…though I still use my horn and make an editorial statement with my hand when I see it.
Of course, this lack of courtesy can have tragic consequences. I doubt a self-driving Tesla would have “seen” those three vulnerable ladies, nor would a texting driver. Passing a school bus could result in a broken or killed child.
In Game of Thrones an underling of the Hand Of The King dramatically reduced crime: he rounded up and disposed of all the ‘known criminals.’ While many in the MAGA might endorse that practical response, well, that gets messy.
Still, should we not demand that law enforcement works harder at keeping people safe? Issue tickets to those not clearing sidewalks won’t be popular with the cited but it will improve safety. Action against dangerous drivers will lessen death and injury too. (Remember that volleyball player nearly killed downtown?) Likewise, those unlicensed cars probably don’t have insurance – and I hear many such drivers lack licenses too. That’s a public safety issue.
Enforcing public courtesy should be important.
Glenn Koenen
Photo by Ross Co: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-snow-plough-on-the-road-19799148/