No to crossing guard

Dear Editor:I just thought I would add to what Bob Feliciano said in his very good letter last week. "East Middle School Traffic Light," 5/16/13) By the time children reach middle school age, they should have been taught by their parents to cross streets safely, whether a traffic light is present or not. They should instill in their children the thought that the only person who can keep you safe is you. This subject reminds me of a well publicized case a few years ago where a young lady was killed by a drunk driver while crossing at a traffic signal adjacent to the USC campus. One could argue that the cause of her death was the drunk driver but the brutal truth is that she died because she didn't look both ways when she crossed a street. If you are crossing a street carefully, you should easily see a car, even at night, approaching at high speed when said car is 150 yards away, or further, and avoid it by running at a right-angle to its path of travel. The salient fact is that you need to be watching the entire time you are crossing the street. If you are texting someone, or on your phone, or otherwise distracted, you could, in the words of the inimitable Yogi Berra, "wake up dead." Grade school children should probably have a crossing guard but middle schoolers should have the ability to cross streets safely on their own. Jack Russell Downey

********** Published: May 23, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 06