Disappeared News

And tomorrow too, of course. "Lucky You Live Hawaii" may not be enough of a charm to get granny and grandpa across safely.

I got several comments on a cross-post of my article "Governor to Pedestrians: Drop Dead" last night. One caught my interest. Here's a snippet, posted by a reader identifying himself as a traffic engineer:

Here in Chicago, we've been putting in countdown pedestrian signals. I personally think they're an overpriced gimmick, and the piecemeal way they've gone in precludes doing serious studies on their effectiveness.

Hmmm... this is one of the few things we may get out of our new legislation (maybe when the next governor assumes office).

I've held that we need to enforce the traffic laws. We also need to lengthen the pedestrian walk time, not just count it down. Countdown timers can't help granny or grandpa make it across any faster. And don't drop your iPod while crossing, you could use up your precious seconds picking it up.

Another comment:

Yay to the leg for overriding.

Yes indeed. You can see the votes here. Actually, I might as well reproduce the short list of those who voted against pedestrian safety right here:

Senate: Senator(s) Hemmings, Slom. House: Representative(s) Cabanilla, Finnegan, Green, Meyer, Pine. To the rest of the legislators, of both parties, indeed "Yay" for overriding this unfortunate veto.

Everyone be careful until this gets fixed. You can also call the governor if you like at 586-0034 and ask her to relent and release the funds. Just leave a message. Do it for granny.