I heard about it the day before the newspaper came out. Then I read with great sadness about the 11-year-old boy that was hit by a car at a busy intersection with a 4-way stop in downtown Highland Park. The boy suffered a broken leg and a fractured skull! It could've been much worse. The boy was lucky - he was riding a bike without a helmet.
When I first heard about this incident, during an exercise class at the rec center, everyone in the room started chatting about how terrible it is to drive in downtown Highland Park because no one drives through the stop signs properly. This is not the first time I've heard Highland Park residents express frustration at the way people drive in their town.
For some reason I haven't been able to get this out of my mind.
I've been driving in Wilmette and Winnetka a lot lately because my I am working out of the @properties office in Winnetka (until they open the new office in Highland Park later this year). I was amazed to discover that the residents of Wilmette and Winnetka do not seem to suffer from this driving malady we have in Highland Park. Almost every driver comes to a complete and FULL STOP prior to reaching the stop sign and then they politely observe the rules of the road. The first driver to stop at the intersection (and you can tell who that is because everyone comes to a nice full and complete stop) is the first one to go. And on the few occasions when it is hard to tell who stopped first, the person on the right has gone first.
In Winnetka they have signs all over the place warning people that the police enforce the stop signs. I don't know if they really do that, or if the signs do the trick all by themselves.
Today I was on a bicycle in downtown Highland Park and I saw several cars just roll through the stop signs. This behavior has to stop! Well, actually, that is the point everyone has to stop!!
Making matters even more concerning is that there are a couple of intersections with stop signs in downtown Highland Park that are NOT 4-way stops, and people seem to have no clue how to handle them. These are very dangerous!
I am writing this post because I would like to suggest that people in Highland Park that are concerned about this situation should let the new mayor and the city council know that something must be done about it. Can the Highland Park police start enforcing the stop signs? If someone doesn't come to a complete stop, they get a ticket - that's not very complicated. If it will prevent more accidents like the one reported last week, it would be well worth it!
No one is a perfect driver, including me. But I think this is WAY out of control and should be as much a concern for the Highland Park police as cell phone usage. (By the way, do you know anyone that has gotten a ticket for talking on their cell phone without a hands free device yet?)
Thank you for reading. Your comments are welcome!
nsk
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