Longer than it takes to cook, and eat a grilled cheese sandwich, apparently!

This piece was written by Tab Combs and John Rees.

Imagine sitting at a red light and someone comes up and says, ‘you can’t go until I’ve had time to make myself a sandwich.’ Ridiculous, right?

So why would we ever assume it’s ok to say that to a person at a crosswalk?
This is a crosswalk I use nearly every day. Every day, I sit and watch hundreds of people in cars fly by while I wait for a 10 second walk signal. Most of the cars that pass by are over a mile away when I get to the intersection and press the button to request a walk signal. Far enough away that waiting for them takes longer than it does to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

And we wonder why so few people feel like walking is a safe, valid option for them.

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John Rees lives in Chapel Hill. His day job is an enterprise architect for a big IT company. He was, until very recently, a member of the Chapel Hill Planning Commission and former chair. He serves on...