Letter: Dangerous

Thank you for this forum! I hope this letter won’t create a whole uproar, but I was startled this morning by something that I observed and would like to bring it to the public’s attention.

I was driving down Route 9 today around 10:15am going south and as I passed through the intersection of Route 9 and 3rd street, there was an elderly woman, who was pushing a double stroller (a baby and toddler were in there!) J WALKING across Route 9, WAITING for the oncoming traffic to pass so she could continue crossing!

Firstly, most people understand that one should not J walk in the first place, certainly not when it’s a busy time of day and most importantly, NOT WITH CHILDREN! If one takes the liberty to J walk, that is their own decision, but I would think that everyone would agree that J walking with children shouldn’t be done and MOST CERTAINLY not when there is oncoming traffic! (She carefully walked half way across route 9 when there were no vehicles coming, then she was standing IN MIDDLE of Route 9 waiting for oncoming vehicles to pass so she could continue to cross the street. I was so shocked that someone could do that. When I looked in my mirror when I got to first street, she was still waiting for the cars to finish passing her to complete her crossing.

And if anyone decides that it is ok to J Walk, and it’s ok to J Walk with children then AT LEAST don’t step into the street until you know that you can completely cross the street before you leave the curb so you will not need to stand in middle of a busy roadway.

The purpose of bringing this to the public’s attention is that it was clear to me that this woman was not their mother (she looked at least upper 60’s)…

1. I have no way of alerting these parents for I don’t know who they are and I would like to make them aware. For all they know, they have this wonderful, warm, reliable woman taking care of her children while she works and amazingly takes them for a walk on this gorgeous day or most probably she was bringing them to/from daycare. She was too lazy or it was too hard for her to go to a traffic light. If I was the mother I would not be ok with this.

2. To remind the public that if they have arrangements for someone to walk their child(ren) to/from daycare or such, to NOT ASSUME that it is being done in a safe way. (And if they drive, their children should be properly seat belted…). The public was alerted by doctors not long ago to be cautious when hiring nanny’s, nurses…now I’m bringing up the topic of anyone and anywhere that one gives their children’s care to, needs to be researched (yes a run down of block by block how she walks!).and checked upon after.

Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable day!

Nechama

(If you are concerned that these were your children and would like to contact me for more information, please reach out to TLS for my email address. Thank you!)

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14 COMMENTS

  1. actually i had no problem with this. This is how u have to cross route 9. I do it often. I assume the woman was properly watching the children as she was crossing

  2. I am in my upper 60’s and I don’t consider myself elderly. That being said, you’re right about everything else. I would not j walk in the middle of Rte. 9. I would only cross by a light, even without children.

  3. If I may say, this never happened today at 10:15 am. This article was posted much much earlier, Iā€™m writing this at 10:00am today.

  4. Yanky, I take offense at what you said. I don’t know how old you
    are. When you get to my age you may or may not be elderly. It’s all in the state of mind and/or body. I am in a young state of mind and my body is pretty good for my age too.

  5. I Dont think age has a lot to do with it, Nobody young or old or elderly should not be crossing at the middle of the street, even when you walk alone and definitely not with children, Thats why there are traffic lights, And please no reason to get insulted when you are being called elderly . You have to be young at heart at any age, A very good and Happy Shabbos to everybody YOUNG ELDERLY OR OLD, Best regards old Bubbie Zelda.

  6. Thank you TLS for posting my letter. The article was written and submitted yesterday, only posted today.

    In regards to Elderly?, I”m sorry…you’re correct…you are not elderly.

    I should have just stated upper 60s (most upper 60s usually don’t have a small infant of their own.)

    BTW, she was in the lane closest to me. I wish there was surveillance cameras to post. I think even the person who often crosses like this might change their mind…

  7. To ‘I wrote it’, I admire your talent at guessing a person’s age just by seeing them pass momentarily on a busy road/street. Perhaps you should stop and talk to them and confirm their age? Oh, not possible? Leave out the age, it’s an unnecessary component to your story and as you have seen not accurate.

Comments are closed.