You wouldn't be far off

You are accusing me of what? I am happy, so happy that I can observe and comment and write about these things. For some, ignorance is bliss. I am not blissful. And morons are epidemic. They used to be called yahoos but thety are always with us and in always greater numbers, unfortunately.

In Carl's defense, yes, they are morons. It's a simple matter of natural selection. If you walk out into traffic expecting a two ton machine to stop on a dime for little ol' you, you've got a major gap of knowledge in the field of physics, or an ego big enough to compensate. In case you haven't been following along, Milford has a big problem with illegal immigrants (especially drunk immigrants) driving without licenses. Would you consider them "capable drivers"? I certainly would not. Laws exist for a reason. In this case, it's to protect morons from walking out into traffic and causing an accident, either by being run over or by causing the driver to unexpectedly slam on the brakes or swerve to avoid the aforementioned moron. Why is this difficult for you to understand?

Carl - I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I am a fiscal conservative who believes our federal government should be smaller and less powerful. And I occasionally cross the street without using a crosswalk. If these traits of mine are all it takes for you to decide I should seek medical treatment or be lobotomized, it is my opinion that you are probably not much fun to be around.

hht1975 - Perhaps I’m missing something but I just don’t see this as a critical issue in our area. When someone steps off the sidewalk (crosswalk or not), I either stop to let them cross or steer my 2 ton weapon around them. It’s not that difficult. If you can’t stop or steer your vehicle for a pedestrian, how are you going to deal with a child chasing a puppy? Slow down!

Something I find funny is the different attitudes we tend to assume when we are driving and when we're walking. The same people who are quite aggressive and impatient behind the wheel, suddenly demand the utmost respect and sympathy when they are crossing the street anywhere--the pedestrian always has the right of way, unless YOU're driving. I agree with UglyHat's general take, though I draw the line at his superficial invocation of the "big government" demon. In a democracy, the government is as big as the governed. We ARE the government, and we're quite big now, as we must and should be, and as we should be proud to be.

Uglyhat, it depends where you live. I live at an intersection near downtown. I see people walk out into traffic ALL OF THE TIME with their headphones on without any regard for the cars. It is a huge problem. I see an accident on my corner about once every couple of weeks and it doesn't help when people (usually teenagers) walk out into traffic completely oblivious to their surroundings because they're wearing headphones or yapping on the phone. I'm perfectly capable of steering my vehicle out of the way, however sometimes there are cars coming from the other way or parked vehicles on the side of the road which leave the driver three choices about what to hit--oncoming traffic, parked car or pedestrian? Why do I have to risk my life and property and potentially other's property because somebody decides that the laws don't apply to them? Again, it's a law that's there for a good reason. Just because you don't think it's a problem, doesn't mean that the law should be ignored. I don't personally think Milford has a huge problem with Crystal Meth, but I don't think that the laws regarding it should be overlooked, do you? We can't cherry pick which laws we follow or enforce, it doesn't work that way.

I understand the problem perfectly – you have a bunch of young people that think they’re invincible showing their power by breaking traffic laws and annoying people. And apparently, they’re very good at it. This has been going on for a long time. It’s just kids being kids.

I agree that laws have meaning and should be obeyed. And I agree that it’s dangerous when laws are not obeyed. My disagreement comes at the point where Carl suggests these people are morons that should be drugged, or when you suggest this is a huge problem akin to Illegal Immigration or drug addiction.

Addiction ruins the lives of millions of people. Illegal immigration costs Americans their jobs, causes problems in schools, hospitals and restaurants. Kids crossing the street with headphones on annoy a few people a day.

Thespeed limit as defined in the manual is determined by the distance between buildings, Less tat 100 fett it is 20 mph unless otherwise posted. So in downriown it should be 20mph. Not even the cops obey this one.