I am 58 years old and have lived all my life in Bangor. My parents never owned a car so I did a lot of walking. I always felt safe and trusted my safety at many intersections to automated signals.

Today when walking I am scared to death to cross a street, especially at a controlled intersection – often I have the OK to walk at the same time a car has the OK to turn and not nearly enough time to make it across. At times I prefer to jaywalk elsewhere on the street as my visibility and hopefully the visibility of an approaching motorist is better.

As a driver I am equally nervous, as sometimes when making a turn your vision is blocked by parked cars or the landscape until you are well into the turn. If there is someone in the crosswalk and you come to a quick, short stop will the car behind you react in time? A lot more people are returning to walking and biking in Bangor-Brewer because of the present fuel prices; we need to better provide for their safety.

Mary Anne Ingles

Bangor