Thursday, October 10, 2013

Neighbor Reminds Drivers To Be Cautious When Crossing Alleys

We received this email:


I’d like to remind neighbors to be cautious when crossing alley-ways in our neighborhood. Earlier this week I had a very close call with a black Suburban SUV that was traveling in reverse at a high speed out of the alley located on 38th between the cross streets of 46th Avenue NE and 45th Avenue NE.

The driver came within inches of hitting my car as I was driving up 38th in the afternoon. This is a popular sidewalk where neighbors frequently walk dogs, children walk home from school and drivers pass on their way up and down the hill.

Unfortunately this driver didn’t even have the courtesy to pull aside and see if we were okay after we were forced to swerve on to the oncoming side of the street and came within inches of hitting a service vehicle in our attempt to avoid impact from the Suburban. I am grateful for fast reflexes but worry this may happen again given the lack of judgment of this driver.

Please be careful. It was a black suburban with for sale sign posted on it, possible tinted windows.

1 comment:

John Vidale said...

That SUV lives on that alley or on 38th, but most often is mild-mannered.

Another safety issue is the general situation of cars parked near there on both sides of 38th St, a steep street on which people sometimes hurry on their commute to work and back.

Similarly, 38th St near 42nd Ave is usually constricted by a parked car or two, and VERY steep.

Third, the construction on Surber for the last many months has reduced traffic to one lane during working hours, and not all drivers are appropriately tentative.

All three spots have led to multiple adventures on my daily bike commute into the UW. While Laurelhurst may revel in the quaint shortage of garage space, on-street parkers should be mindful of traffic flow.