Today I watched a kid get hit by a car.
It was sort of my fault. Or, ok, a little bit my fault. But it was also everyone’s fault. Here’s what happened.
I was walking behind him and his two friends. They looked like they were early high school age if I was going to guess. Not even driving age. But close.
I watched one of them throw some trash on the ground. Now, not to excuse that action, but South Philly has a trash can every five or six blocks which is unacceptable. But so is littering. I mean come on. That’s basic. Don’t litter. Brush your teeth. Say thank you. These are introductory lessons in life.
And I told them so. I interrupted their conversation and said hey guys, did one of you just litter? That’s not cool.
We were halfway across the street at this point. Across Castle Ave., where it meets Broad St.
So the kid turned around to pick up the litter. And then BAM.
The car didn’t slow down as it turned from Broad onto Castle. Probably didn’t even look. People tend to do that on our street. Just fly around the corner, people, children, pets, whatever be damned.
The car spun him around and sent him to the ground. In that moment, time slowed. Which is cliché but I swear to the man atop the thing that time actually slowed. I saw his grimace as he was turned around towards me. And then I saw him fall.
The car didn’t slow down.
I jumped the three steps over to him and asked if he was ok. He started to get up gingerly. That’s when I noticed the car hadn’t stopped.
It wasn’t a conscious decision what I did next. I took off after them. Screaming. “You hit someone! Stop your fucking car!”
They did the opposite. They floored it. Then they screamed “fuck you” out the window.
I need to be better in those moments. This is the third near miss or collision I’ve witnessed/been involved in over the last six months. The second time I took a pic. That picture is below.
That time, the cops literally said they didn’t care. Which was WILD to me. I had to jump out of the way of a guy who ran a stop sign and almost killed me, and the cop actually said they didn’t care. I wasn’t hit so they weren’t going to do anything. Needless to say ACAB all goddamn day. And I mean it. ALL DAMN DAY. Don’t call the police. Ever. Fuck ’em all.
Anyway, I didn’t get a pic today. I was in shock. So when the car hit the end of my block, blew through the stop sign there and, tires squealing, took a left onto S. 15th, I turned around to check on the kid again.
He was standing lamely on the sidewalk, not putting any weight on his foot. Immediately he said he was sure it was broken. But he refused medical assistance. Instead, his friends helped him limp off. Naturally, I can make some assumptions about his reluctance to call an ambulance or let me take him to the hospital owing to cost or what have you. But our broken and exploitive medical system is a topic for another day.
Here’s the thing about this spot, the intersection of Broad and Castle. I’ve been working to get a crosswalk there for a full year and a half. All too often I see disgusting behavior by drivers at this spot. And It’s next to a building that houses a Children’s Hospital (CHOP) and a library. At the other end of the street is a park. Pretty natural spot for a crosswalk, right? You’d think it would be important to the city, right? Wrong.
Here’s a quick summery of all I (and my neighbors) have done to try to get a crosswalk at this spot:
· Requested a crosswalk over 15 times through the city’s website. Each time it has been closed without consideration.
· Worked with our councilmember Kenyatta Johnson who initially promised one (“we’re just talking about signs and some fucking paint” is the money quote from his aid Mark) before giving up and failing to return my calls.
· Requested CHOP use their connections with the city to do something (they declined).
· Reached out to the Inquirer for assistance (they never replied).
· Reached out to my neighborhood association (they said I was doing everything already).
· Put down a temporary crosswalk I purchased online (the city took it away a week later).
· Reached out to the transpiration department (who has been telling us it will happen soon for the past six months).
Absurd, right? Again, to quote Mark in Kenyatta Johnson’s office, we’re talking about signs and some fucking paint. Next to a CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL! I mean come the fuck on. What’s it going to take? A child already sick with cancer being sent twenty feet by an aggressive driver before our political leaders decide this is something they should care about. Fucking worthless bastards, all of them.
There’s so much more I want here. A speed bump. Hell, a street that is closed to cars. But I’m starting with a crosswalk. Because you need to start somewhere.
I know, it wouldn’t have prevented today’s violence (because that’s what dangerous driving is, it’s violence, call it that). But a crosswalk does a couple things. First, it reminds drivers that pedestrians come first. Because we do. And if you don’t think so (people who speed through quiet neighborhoods, insecure assholes who park their giant trucks on sidewalks, insecure assholes who drive giant trucks anywhere), you’re part of the problem. But second, it makes the penalties way worse. And while I don’t generally support the criminal ‘just-us’ system, I do for drivers who use their cars as a weapon. They should lose their license, minimum. Their freedom isn’t worth our safety.
When you’re behind the wheel, you need to remember that you’re driving a two-ton minimum killing machine. And when you fly through intersections that is violence. It is attempted murder. And everyone here is guilty of that.
Yes, even you.
Just the other day I had to scream at an old woman, driving a very expensive car, who was on her phone and didn’t stop at a red light until she was halfway through it, narrowly missing a guy on a bike. Is that malicious? No. But distracted driving is just as dangerous as aggressive driving, and the outcomes are the same.
When you do either you are an attempted murderer and a terrible person. Full stop.
Put your goddamn phone down and slow down. Give a damn about other people. Have a fucking heart.
Assholes.
