Begging To Be Run Over

I've noticed a growing, and worrying trend among teenagers. It has nothing to do with sex or drugs, but it is still a dangerous problem. They just don't seem to care whether they are run over when crossing the road.

It's not something that has just happened to me once or twice. It's something that happens every time I get in the car. They walk in the road instead of on the pavement. They walk out into the road to cross without looking to see if there is any oncoming traffic. They glare at drivers as if to say, "How dare you drive where I'm walking?"

A couple of weeks ago, when I was driving home from work, I turned onto my road and nearly ran over two girls. They were crossing the road where there was no lighting while wearing all black. Even when I slammed on my breaks to miss them (I caught them in my head lights just in time), they never looked at me once.

I think they must have the message "Pedestrians have the right-of-way" drilled into their heads so they believe the can walk where they like. Instead of focusing road safety campaigns on toddlers, they need a two pronged approach with an additional focus on the secondary schools. And believe me, the toddlers listen a lot better than the teens do!