JAYWALKING

Lately, it has become the fashion for much of our protesting class to block traffic in the public streets while harassing and/or threatening individual drivers.  Stupidity like this hits WAY too close to home for Jim Treacher.

 

Over the last few weeks, I’ve seen several instances of “peaceful protesters” (AKA rioters) testing the laws of physics by using their fragile human bodies to challenge moving motor vehicles. The vehicles always win, because that’s how reality works.

 

I don’t know why some people think it’s a good idea to do this. Okay, so you hate the police. That’s your right. This is America, and you can hate anybody you want. But your hatred and anger isn’t some kind of mystical force field. Your belief that you’re right isn’t going to stop a moving car. The matchup isn’t David vs. Goliath, it’s Bug vs. Windshield.

 

This is personal to me because I know what it’s like to get hit by a car. It happened to me 10 years ago. I was crossing a street, with the Walk signal and inside the crosswalk, when a driver made an illegal left turn into the intersection and hit me. (This was in Washington, D.C., and the vehicle was a State Department security SUV, which is a whole other story.) It shattered my knee and I needed two surgeries and 18 months of physical therapy before I could walk unaided again. I still deal with the injury every day. Every time I take a step with my left leg, I’m reminded of it. I know what happens when a moving vehicle meets a human body, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I wouldn’t even wish it on Brian Stelter.