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Crossing the street against red light or in the middle of a block is called jaywalking.
7 f1 o9 L& G8 z- T" |9 c N7 w) JFirst of all it is illegal.
* Z' D! \9 i9 t+ z2 { p" U: o hSecondly it is dangerous." z+ e, U* v D9 z E' y1 ^) a" l" n
If the traffic is light and there is no police around to stop you,
- w$ l8 o# W3 ?$ D7 y {: R2 T' Mmost of the time there is no problem.6 O3 L$ G0 `; ^
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I am no angel. I also jaywalk.
. m( o# x5 q% [I do it when there is no car in sight for a couple of blocks.2 k3 n# q! h8 h3 Z4 l% `
I look left and right to make sure that it is safe before crossing.
& ]( k3 x! y6 L- W, O6 bIf the traffic is heavy, I won't even try.: x- ]3 A4 G3 S+ s- O( G) X% ]$ w' F
$ i. B' u0 A+ i! S) BUnfortunately a lot of people who jaywalk are careless.
9 v; W& U2 L0 pThey don't check how far or how fast the oncoming cars are.
9 x" H6 d2 v$ H- ~# UThey just look ahead and cross the street assuming that
! l9 M( r/ i. j9 i$ Ithe oncoming cars must slow down or stop for them.
% y+ q/ `2 f rThey might get away with that a hundred times, a thousand times.
* p8 R6 Q# z, f$ VSadly one day they'll pay a big price.
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8 |- y: j# R9 BOne morning several years ago, a colleaque jaywalked on busy Rene Levesque street, , ~8 |4 D7 X7 E* Z) `6 E, W
just in front of a church near Peel street.% w+ w6 \8 w0 q( b2 r) F
He probably did the same thing every morning many, many times before.9 ^3 a/ c x i# n: c/ f$ L
On that day, he dropped his briefcase, so he stepped back and picked it up.4 e6 b4 y+ T( d3 q9 n
Right in that moment, a taxi hit him.
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- X: B& j6 E; ^$ YHe died in the hospital on the same day.- i( y' q7 j: i' E
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He was an information system manager.
5 r7 e9 {- [, A' V6 I* e* `He was an athlete, running marathon, playing baseball, helping out in charity events.( n& M& I$ n% G9 T X
He has everything going for him. U6 Q2 i0 {2 Z( l" c+ ]) ?/ q! K v
& ]4 h$ Y) `; F. HOne little convenience.' @7 c& C1 A! G' e0 |- V) g
One little mistake.
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He left behind a wife, 3 young kids. |
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