Pedestrian peril

© 2012 Lydia Hinshaw 

It could have been me

 ORMOND BEACH, FL --  A few years ago, the City of Ormond Beach started putting up signs like this one in crosswalks and park areas.
 The bright yellow signs remind drivers that they are required to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.
 I'll wait a minute now while you recover from the laughing fit.
 . . .
 Shall I go on?
 In the park where we often walk, there were a couple of these spring-loaded signs that would bounce back upright if brushed by a car.  Alas, if a sign survived a week, it was considered elderly and on borrowed time. There are no longer signs like this in the park.  They seem to have been given up as a lost cause.
 The one above, which had "protected" a crosswalk between our city hall and a riverfront park had lasted for several months. I know because I walk in that area nearly every and use the crosswalk frequently.
 I've been doing this for seven months.  Once or twice, a driver has actually stopped for me.
 Over the weekend, the sign finally got wiped out.  Could have been worse.  Could have been a human in that crosswalk.
 Could have been me.