IMOVED to Philly in May and really like the city. One thing I'm amazed by is the complete lack of respect for emergency vehicles here. When I was growing up in Kansas, I learned that you get over as soon as you can in case you might be in the way.
Apparently not the case here. Folks seem to think that so long as you are going in the same direction and there's a green light, you can just keep moving and let the emergency vehicles stay in the flow of traffic.
I was riding home recently, going North on Broad, around South Street. I saw this fire engine coming south and none of the cars on its side were pulling over.
The fire engine began to edge its nose out into the cross street, turning left. This SUV shot up from behind me and floored it so that it could blast across the street before the fire engine got out too far.
Is getting to the party or club on Saturday night really that important? Folks need to quit thinking about what they can get away with and think about our obligations to each other.
Brady Russell, Philadelphia
