Risking our lives on a daily basis

Basically, driving is what I'm talking about. In a matter of 48 hours, I've witnessed two horrible car accidents, and nearly hit two joggers yesterday leaving work. Because the Phoenix-metro area isn't typically used to pedestrians or cyclists, some of us don't always take note of them. I'm not offereing a total excuse...I'm setting myself up to be the exception.

The joggers reached the intersection well after I was prepared to turn. They had several chances to cross before I made the left-hand turn, but didn't. In fact, they didn't remotely indicate which crosswalk they were going to cross. So, when traffic was finally clear, I made my turn, right as they started to run into the crosswalk. I missed them, but I scared them, and that they at least deserved. Having lived in Italy and Albania, and having toured other countries and visited large cities, I've caught on to the concept of people who actually walk and use crosswalks. A person who walks out in the middle of the road in Florence, Italy is much more likely to have a patient driver stop his car until the pedestrian crosses. Here, we lay on the horn and give a finger, or at least mutter a few choice word under our breath (or in my case, out loud).

Both car crashes (sometimes I hate calling them accidents) had drivers who were talking on cell phones. And both cars were totalled. Is it worth it? Really...

My wife and I debate the validity of having light-rail in the Valley. She's against it, I'm for it. Yeah, of course it's going to be a huge pain in the butt for a decade or so, but it could actually do some good in the long run. I guess all we can really do is wait and see. And this is coming from somone who has an 11 mile commute in either direction that usually takes 45 minutes to an hour to drive.

So, all of you bad drivers out there, just stop, ok? You're going to kill someone. Maybe me, and my wife would not be happy. She'd probably kick you.