Harrison Sydor is a junior at Staples High School.
As a member of the cross country and track teams, you may see him running on Westport roads.
He sure sees you.
He emailed “06880” about an issue that, he says, has “bugged me and my friends for the last few months.” Harrison writes:
Traffic laws state that pedestrians should always be on the left side of the road. That is something we as a team adhere to most of the time, except for rare occasions where the shoulder is bigger, or we are shortly turning onto a street on the right hand side.
Lately, I have noticed that cars much less frequently give us space on the roads.
When there is oncoming traffic, it is much easier to slow down and safely pass us, instead of rushing through and threading the needle between the car on one side and the group of runners on the other. We have had crashes in the past.
Harrison Sydor (right), at an indoor track meet. Even in winter, Staples runners take to the roads.
On major roads we are 2 wide. One runner will jut slightly into the road, but not by a significant amount.
It is equally as important for the driver as it is the runner to pay attention and be courteous.
Recently, we have worked to make ourselves less of a hazard on the road to drivers. We would appreciate it if Westport drivers could make the same effort to use our roads properly and efficiently.
(“06880” often covers local quality of life issues. And we always like to hear from our town’s young people. If you appreciate our blog’s work, please make a donation by clicking here. Thank you!)
