Dr. Francoise Jaffe is a psychotherapist, and a longtime Westporter.
Like many Westporters, she has watched with mounting concern, frustration and anger as traffic has built, and courtesy on the roads has waned. She says:
I am writing with some trepidation, anticipating the collective eye roll which will probably greet this.
I have lived in Westport for over 30 years, and spent oodles of hours driving around to meet the needs of a busy family of 5.
But it is only recently that I have felt I take my life into my hands every time I take my car out in Westport.
This past week marked a record for the number of transgressions I observed. On one outing, 3 cars ran a red light.
Of course, there has always been the “no turn on red” right turn when there was no incoming traffic (I might even have partaken once or twice). These are now par for the course, no longer even causing a raised eyebrow.
But the ante has been upped. This time, I observed the usual running of the red light to make a left turn from Charles Street onto Riverside Avenue, because who wants to wait at that short light; a couple of left turns coming south on Riverside wedging their way into the cars with the right of way making a right turn at the Cribari Bridge intersection, causing people to pump their brakes on a millisecond notice, and the crowning achievement of a car altogether ignoring the red arrow at the intersection of Compo South and the Post Road and turning left.
Riverside Avenue — from Charles Street to the Cribari Bridge, and beyond — is often the scene of crazy driving.
This was the straw breaking the camel’s back. I am still shaking my head.
I could just fantasize about the gleeful “wheee!” sound coming out of the “victorious” drivers, congratulating themselves on their daring achievement.
They did it! They got away not with a crash, but a feeling of power and freedom. Who needs rules?
And the weaklings who got a blood pressure spike? Their problem — it’s survival of the fittest. Nature doing its thing!
This is probably the most dangerous instance of what appears to be a more generalized disdain for rules — from the oft-reported rude parking decisions, to blocking traffic loading or unloading passengers in the middle of the street (I saw people taking a good 5 minutes installing kids into their car seats in the middle of Main Street not long ago), to pedestrians stepping out from the sidewalk expecting drivers to just stop.
Pedestrians and drivers must watch for each other.
And one more: Drivers unwilling to wait for a safe spot to pass a bicycle rider, swinging into my oncoming lane in a heart-stopping game of chicken.
As the French expression goes: “Once the markers are ignored, they are no longer limits.” (I know, the meaning might get lost in translation.)
We are witnessing a breakdown of civilized society, small infraction by small infraction. [Eye roll acknowledged.]
Culprits no longer admit responsibility. They cry victimization instead, or simply shrug and go on. “Try and stop me” is the message.
Will anyone, in what used to be our civilized community of Westport? Suggestions (except for loud honking and rude gestures) are welcome.
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