Letters to the editor

Like many residents of Bolingbrook, I am a runner.

My usual route takes me close to home from Lily Cache to Weber to Boughton and back. I'm able to make this round because we have a great system of sidewalks and I can choose to run day or night due to the lights and feel safe. Or so I thought.

I was running at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon and a motorist was stopped at the sign to the entrance/exit of Aldi. I crossed in front of his vehicle since there were four other cars behind him. I was halfway across when he hit me with his front bumper. Had I not slapped the hood of his car with my hand to startle him enough to stop, it would have ended with me on or under his vehicle. I walked past the driver's side and through his closed window he yelled "Why don't you watch where you're going!"

REALLY? I was the pedestrian and I had the right of way. Even more disheartening was the fact that there were no less than six other vehicles in this intersection and not one person checked to see if I was OK.

I'm sure there are people who would suggest that runners find a running path if they want to feel safer. Fair enough, but what are the sidewalks for? I could have been a pedestrian walking a dog, a child on his way to a friend's house or even a mother with a stroller. Drivers need to be aware of their surroundings.

Stop signs and traffic lights need to be enforced, but the police cannot be everywhere all the time. I have had more than a few near misses by drivers making a fast turn into Starbucks talking away on their cellphone, and the intersection at Weber and Veterans Parkway is like a racetrack for people making right-hand turns.

I would be the first to petition for the reinstatement of the cameras at our intersections.

I hope anyone reading this will take that extra moment while driving and be alert to others. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and knowing the rules of the road doesn't end with your written test!

DeAun Tollner

Bolingbrook

I truly hope that the American people are not let down by a reform that does nothing to help the uninsured and the middle class.

Losing your life savings, retirement and you home because you get sick is not the America we should accept.

Mary Battiste

Bolingbrook