SHE SAYS . . .

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31154, 2 September 1966, Page 9

SHE SAYS . . .

From my window recently I watched a pair of ducks cross a road to get to a creek on the other side. This took them about 10 minutes and obviously involved considerable thought and planning. For the first few minutes they appeared to be gossiping. That finished, they settled to listen for traffic. Then, looking each way and with a slow, deliberate waddle, they headed across the road in a straight line. There was no hestitation in their movements, no turning back, no stopping in the middle of the road for a natter, and no jay-walking.

I could not help but compare this with the chaotic pattern pedestrians weave in and around traffic in Christchurch, more especially during the school holidays when wintry conditions have made walking on the streets even more hazardous.

With head down against the cold wind or rain, a pedestrian has little chance of seeing any object in his path until too late. Even in the best conditions, pedestrians walk into each other simply because they are not looking where they are going.

The woman with the um- ; brella is the biggest pedes- ; trian risk in traffic. Usually ! the umbrella is tilted ! into the driving wind and ! rain, the owner virtually wear- ;; ing it like a hat. Her field of ;; vision is negligible. This is ! relatively harmless when the !! “wearer” is on a footpath with !! few pedestrians. But when she !; comes to a crossing, the urn-

brella should be raised to keep it out of the way. If all pedestrians could become motorists in heavy traffic for a trial period, I am sure they would soon realise just how much of a hazard they are to the motorist.

And if all pedestrians were as careful as those two supposedly less intelligent birds I saw, there would be far fewer pedestrians injured or killed.