This vid from BicyclesOnly shows a school crossing guard, at Madison Ave. and 96th St., who takes her job seriously. Whenever the light on Madison turned green, BO writes, she entered the intersection to assert the rights of those passing through on foot. Good thing, too.
Every single time there were motorists that clearly intended to "nudge"their way through the crosswalk without yielding to pedestrians, butfor her forceful, professional intervention. It's pretty remarkable howroutinely motorists fail to yield, and what it takes to make them doso.
The police department traffic officers posted at midtown and downtownintersections seem to have a different mission entirely -- moving thevehicular traffic as quickly as possible, rather than making sure thatthe motor vehicles interact safely and lawfully with the pedestrians.
This reminds me of an incident last weekend, when I heard a Times Square traffic cop mutter to a crosswalk-encroaching cabbie: "You're a cab driver. Assert yourself."
What if every TEA acted like this crossing guard instead?
