RSS Feed
|
|
|||||
|
for larger version       Students Across The Street, And,Am I Crazy? Sometime in early November I was driving along Rockaway Beach Boulevard around Beach 112 Street; no traffic guards in sight, a swarm of school students were crossing the street. A few of them almost walked into my car, I swerved and stopped and at that very moment was hit from behind. I got out of my car and looked at the young man get out of his car and said I was sorry: I told him I swerved and stopped short to avoid hitting the students. He looked at me, physically shaken, and said he had done the same. I looked at my bumper and it was minor, so I shook his hand and said forget it. We both looked for police officers to report the students and he said he was one and was calling it in. I left but turned around and went down Rockaway Beach Boulevard again just to take another look. There are two traffic guards that I saw, one at Beach 112 Street and another at Beach 108 Street, and that is it. They're doing their job but cannot do it all. I think we, as a community should look at this seriously before someone gets hurt. We should try to get more traffic guards. Put up "20 mph speed limit" signs in school districts, like I see everywhere else in the country except here. Flashing yellow lights. Bring back jaywalking tickets; make the student and his parent responsible for his/her actions. I have a ten-year-old and would be devastated if he was hurt crossing a boulevard. I would be equally disappointed if he disregarded his own life, recklessly crossing the street as I had witnessed. Then I have not done my job as a parent, that is, I have not taught him how dangerous it is. I urge everyone to call the Community Board and elected officials to look into making the streets safer for our children. This is not just here; I actually witness this all through the Rockaways at other school sites but until I nearly hit a student, I did nothing but mutter under my breath, what is the matter with them. The student that almost walked into my car looked at me as if I was crazy.
GARY GLIBOFF
|
|
||||
