Look Both Ways Before Crossing 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
It's always a shock to hear about a pedestrian getting hit by a car. But sometimes, it just seems like they were asking for it.
On February 8, 2002, a 17 year-old Minneapolis boy died after being hit by a vehicle. He and his friend were trying to cross state Highway 77 by the Mall of America.
Highway 77 is limited access. There are no crosswalks or sidewalks. In fact, in order to get to the location of the accident, the teens had to climb over and around concrete embankments and dividers meant to keep pedestrians out.
According to an eye-witness (reported on the radio), the teens looked south, in the direction of oncoming traffic, and succesfully crossed the northbound lanes.
So why do they deserve a Darwin?
According to the report, they then proceeded to look the same direction (south) before they set accross the southbound lanes. Apparently, they never thought to look north to see if there was any oncoming traffic.
I was riding in the car with my wife when I heard this on the news. My very first comment was "If you're not smart enough to look in the direction of oncoming traffic before crossing the street, you don't deserve to be in the gene pool."
KARE 11 Web Citation:
http://www.kare11.com/news/news-article.asp?NEWS_ID=26141 Submitted on 03/12/2002
Submitted by:
Derek Gwinn
Reference:
KARE 11 News, 2/9/2002
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