A Pedestrian Resolution

I first heard of the term "Zebra Crossing" while traveling in Singapore.

In Singapore, crosswalks are respected by vigilant motorists. The only place that I can think of that is similar is San Francisco, where I once held up a heavy flow of automobile traffic as I approached a crossing where there was no traffic signal. I was stunned that traffic on both sides came to a complete stop to allow me to cross. If I had tried that in Omaha, I'd likely be dead by now.

Last year, I made a secret resolution to completely respect the space of the pedestrian crosswalk. I didn't tell anybody about it because I thought nobody would care about such a pedestrian (pun) resolution. I also wondered whether or not I'd keep the resolution. Well, I am happy to report that I kept the resolution, and have decided to tell you about it to encourage you to do the same if you aren't doing so already. It's actually quite an easy resolution that you can put on your list.

Anyway, what this means is to make an effort to simply stop your vehicle -- or bicycle -- behind the crosswalk at every traffic light, and/or when pedestrians approached one where there was no crossing signal (like in Elmwood park).

What some consider the best album cover ever was at a crosswalk 

Imagine what the cover of Abbey Road would have been without crosswalks. Inconceivable.

I have some resolutions for the coming year as well, but I will spare you from them until I master them. Until then, please join me in continuing to respect the zebra crossing.

Happy New Year. Thanks for reading.