David, you betray yourself as someone who Does Not Walk, and therefore considers Motorists a Higher Life Form than Pedestrians.

Not that there are not pedestrians who are idiots. It's just that there are vastly more motorists who are.

Every morning I cross a fairly busy road - what passes for the main north-south highway in western Vermont - to get my mail and morning paper. I cross at a marked cross walk; and Vermont law specifies that motorists shall stop at such cross walks to allow pedestrians to cross.

About one in twenty drivers stops when he/she sees me waiting to cross. I don't start to cross unless someone has stopped, or there is no one approaching from either direction, close enough to be a danger to me. But I swear some of them speed up when they see me step off the curb.

What's really sad is when someone does obey the law and stops or slows down to permit the pedestrian to cross, and gets rear-ended by the driver immediately behind him or her.

I have read, although I don't have the cite to refer to, that the accident rate involving motorists using cell phones is at the same level as those driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The fact that the law continues to permit it, while making so many harmless actions illegal, is just one more confirmation of my opinion of the mental prowess of legislators in general.

Peter.