Just trying to cross the street
I can’t stop thinking about the Johns Hopkins University student who was killed in that fatal hit and run accident on Friday.
The news hits close to home because while I was in college, just up the street from JHU, a friend of mine was hit by a car by Loyola. The driver kept going. Fortunately, my friend survived the accident but her life was changed.
Now, I often drive past JHU or Loyola en route to work. I can attest to the fact that it’s certainly an odyssey to cross St. Paul Street or Charles Street or University Parkway at times. As a driver, I’m extra vigilant in that area because I know students are making their way to class, runners are out for a jog, parents are strolling their kids through the neighborhood and there are people just trying to make it home after a long day.
I often think of my classmate Melissa who shared her story in class one day. I have the image of her walking with a cane to class in my head. Even though she was the victim of a hit and run, she had no animosity toward the driver. The only thing Melissa said is that she wishes the person who hit her would have stopped just to show they cared, and that they valued someone else’s life. As police search for the driver who struck Miriam Frankl, her friends are probably wishing for the same thing.
If there’s any good that comes from tragedy, you hope people take a little more time when driving. You hope drivers are more aware. You hope drivers will be courteous to pedestrians, and that pedestrians will be courteous to drivers. You hope no one else is hit while just trying to cross the street.
A response The worst part of this incident is that the police have a suspect, they just won't arrest him. Not surprisingly, the guy has multiple DWIs...: