OK, so the first story I ever wrote for UNMC Today way back in the fall of 2006 was about jaywalking on Saddle Creek Road.
You can click here
to read the story, or I can save you two minutes and tell you that the gist was that Omaha police and campus officials strongly urged us med center types to use the crosswalks to cross Saddle Creek Road.
Signs were posted, fines seemed to be an option and the city even added a little countdown clock at the intersection of Saddle Creek and Farnam streets to let pedestrians know how much time they have to cross the street.
The story had some pertinence for me because I park in Lot No. 27, which is on the southwest corner of Saddle Creek and Farnam.
Having written the aforementioned story, I figured it was best I followed the advice I pedaled as editor of this newsletter. I vowed to use the crosswalks and did so.
Religiously.
For like three months.
OK, I confess, I’m a Saddle Creek jaywalker, particularly when I’m leaving campus. It seems natural to just cross the street once you get to the bottom of the hill near Saddle Creek and Farnam. Walking the extra 50 or so yards to the light to use the crosswalk seems so, well, extra. I save at least one, maybe even two minutes by jaywalking.
I often joke with others who jaywalk with me (and yes there are lots of us) that since I was the one who wrote the “don’t jaywalk” story, I will be the first one to get in trouble for doing so.
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Honk or shout at UNMC Today Editor Chuck Brown if you see him jaywalk on Saddle Creek Road. Brown has vowed to refrain from jaywalking across Saddle Creek, which borders the west end of the UNMC campus. |
That hasn’t happened. Yet.
But this week we got a note from a local television reporter who observed the medical center’s jaywalking trend during a recent visit to the carwash next to Lot No. 27. The reporter brought this to our attention, not as part of a news story, but as a good citizen who worried that “a tragic story” may be forthcoming at the spot.
Well, try as we might, those of us who jaywalk on Saddle Creek know good and well that the reporter’s hunch could indeed become reality. Journalists and emergency room doctors can tell you lots of stories about seemingly mundane activities taking strange and tragic turns.
I may, scratch that, I have harmlessly jaywalked on Saddle Creek hundreds of times. But one day, when it’s just a touch slick and that truck’s going just a touch too fast. …
I’ve also heard some people say the crosswalk actually scares them because drivers turning on to Saddle Creek sometimes don’t watch for pedestrians. To be fair, I think that is a concern.
But I’ve also found, that when I do use the crosswalk, most drivers are aware of me. And I often make it a point to make eye contact with turning drivers to make sure they see me.
So while I can do nothing about the behavior of my fellow Saddle Creek jaywalkers, I will change mine.
Henceforth, I vow to use the crosswalks when I cross Saddle Creek. And I encourage any and all of you to keep an eye on me because I’m prone to slipping up. If you see me jaywalk across Saddle Creek — feel free to honk, scream, leave me a nasty voicemail or send me a terse e-mail reminding me of my vow and how I’m being a hazard to myself and others. (My phone number is 559-8329 and my e-mail is cdbrown@unmc.edu.)
Maybe some of my fellow jaywalkers will join me as I walk the extra 50 yards down to the crosswalk before heading over to Lot No. 27. Hey, I’ll even learn some new jokes or something to help kill the extra minute or two it takes us to cross the street.
See you at the crosswalk.
I moved to Omaha a little over a year ago and I was surprised by the lack of adequate traffic lights along busy streets. Why can't the city/police/traffic planners install a pedestrian light where it is more convenient for pedestrians to cross the street? Why do pedestrians have to accommodate the convenience of the automobile traffic, not the other way round? 50 yards may not look like a lot for cars, but it is real extra for pedestrians, especially in bad weather. FYI, I commute to work on foot or bike from home.
I turn onto Saddle Creek from Farnam and every time I see some person(s) on the median there, I slow down. It makes me very nervous as a driver to have people "in the thick of it". I have no clue if someone will dart out unexpectedly, slip or fall into the street. Not to mention the traffic from the cars coming out of the car wash is an added worry. Enough cars bolt out of the car wash drive to get onto the street before other cars are coming, there's no garuantee they are looking for or paying attention to crossing pedestrians. The cross walks are less convenient, it's true, but probably loads safer than the short cut. If drivers are responsible, they will always wait patiently for a crosser to cross.