Street Crossing Saftey

Running is not like most sports in that you aren't usually confined to one area. Unless of course you are on a track, training doesn’t involve an enclosed space such as a field or court. When you are going for a run, the whole world is your arena. This not only sounds poetic and free, it does feel nice to essentially be able to run in whatever direction you please, however, there are clearly some safety concerns that arise from this "no boundaries" mentality. Most of the time there is very little concern to runners when they are running on sidewalks or trails. The problem comes when trying to cross streets, which is something that is nearly always inevitable at some point or other on a run.  

          Most of the time I don't worry about, or even really think about the implications of crossing the street as I run, I simply look both ways and go on my way. There are times though where there have been some experiences that were a little too close for comfort. Such experiences usually arise when pedestrians have the right away, but forget to lock eyes with the driver in front of them before making their way across the street or intersection. Drivers are not always cognizant about checking for pedestrians as they should be, and pedestrians often assume that cars will look out for and stop for them.  Though this is often the case, it is not always. This is why runners always need to make sure that they have the attention of the driver whom they are crossing in front of before they head out into harm’s way.

          One experience that comes to mind for me is the time that my team was going on a nice easy taper run a few days before the state cross country meet my freshman year. We were all waiting to cross the intersection directly in front of the bike trail when the green walking symbol lit up. We headed on our way and I looked to the side and saw that a van was headed right toward us! They had not looked for pedestrians crossing and took advantage of the red light to turn red. I heard their tires screech as they stopped a few feet to our right. Later on, a few people made some morbid jokes about the Gazette coming out with a new headline titled, “Entire Kennedy Girl’s Cross Country Team Gets in Accident Days Before State Meet”, but we were all a little shaken up.

Experiences like these just serve as reminders that we should all remember to look out for cars and our own safety as we jog on our merry way, because you can never be too safe!