I am concerned about people walking at night and not being visible to motorists. There has been two nights recently in Grandin that I could have hit a woman because she was wearing a black coat, black hat, black clothing and walking her black dog.
I stopped at the stop sign the first night I saw her and she was half way across the street before I noticed her. I proceeded from the stop sign and then noticed her. My passenger didn't see her until she was almost in front of the car. The pedestrian was not hesitant while crossing the street to make sure I saw her, she just continued full speed ahead. If I would have been at that stop sign a few seconds later I probably would have hit her or she would have run right into my car.
A motorist that made a rolling stop would have hit her for sure. If the road had been icy, I hate to think of what could have happened. She looked like she was oblivious to what was in front of her. She was not paying attention to traffic.
The second night I saw a woman walking her black dog, but this time she was on the sidewalk parallel to me. I could see she was coming up to a corner again and wondered if she would make sure all the traffic stopped for her and was she aware of traffic around her before proceeding across the street.
Once again she looked like she was in her own little world and not paying attention to traffic and just kept walking. So I decided to write a letter to the Gazette to ask people to please wear something reflective when they are walking at night, or carry a flashlight so you are visible to drivers. That woman just blended into the darkness.
I would hate for anyone to be hit because they weren't visible to drivers. Please take care out there at night.
T. Turner, St. Albert
