BY CHRISTINE DUBOIS
Los Alamos

Do you check the crosswalk before you turn? 

This morning on my walk to work two cars didn’t. I was crossing at Diamond and 38th Street. The first car sped right through but had the ounce of decency to wave at me, at least acknowledging that he almost hit me. The second, not so much. She had to swerve her gold SUV into the right most lane to avoid hitting me. I was about five feet from serious injury today. Not two minutes before, I watched a former student of mine ride his scooter through the same intersection on his way to school. Would those two cars have seen him? Or would they have nearly hit him too? 

Nowhere you have to get to in the morning is so important that you can’t spend three extra seconds checking to be sure the crosswalks are unoccupied. Nowhere you have to get is more important than my safety or the safety of the other people choosing not to drive in the morning. Slow down. Check twice. And maybe, if you nearly drive over someone, turn around and find them to apologize.