Just a few days ago, as I was driving around town, I was about to make a right turn, going north, onto Middle Neck Road in the Old Village. I stopped first, as I was going to make a right on red. Fortunately, very fortunately, I made a long, careful stop ... because all of a sudden, an elderly man, wearing glasses, walking very slowly with a cane, began to cross Middle Neck Road against a red light. He kept looking right and left, but if a car came cruising down the street, expecting a clear road with the car's green light to go, this elderly gentleman would have been hit. He could have been killed.

The Village of Great Neck has long been concerned with pedestrian accidents, especially since some senior citizens have been hit by cars in the Old Village in recent history. And the village has conducted studies, changed traffic patterns, put up new signage, and plans to redo Middle Neck Road, all with pedestrian safety very much in mind. In our busy downtown area, too, Great Neck Plaza just recently voted to change a traffic signal near a senior residence facility. If the county will not pay for the work, the Plaza will, because they know that one specific traffic light is not nearly long enough to allow safe pedestrian crossing for anyone, let alone senior citizens.

I was pretty busy, very much in a rush, the day I spotted the elderly man crossing against a red light. I regret not stopping my car and going over to talk with him. He was an accident waiting to happen. So, instead, I am offering this editorial as my personal plea to everyone, and especially to our senior citizens, to please use caution when crossing the street.

Do not cross against a red light! Do not even cross with a yellow light --- chances are you will not be able to get across the street before the light turns red. Do not appear suddenly, out of nowhere, from behind a parked car in the middle of the street, or from between shrubs on the mid-road islands!

Please, everyone, be safe pedestrians and careful drivers. Life is too precious to throw away!

Wendy K. Kreitzman