I don’t often call people out for misguided opinions, but this is outrageous. On the website of a local radio station, news reporter Cindi Campbell took aim at Maine’s crosswalk law. It’s too hard on drivers, she wrote. Pedestrians should not always have the right of way.

But isn’t that the reason crosswalks exist in the first place? Isn’t that the definition of the word? Walkers have the right of way in crosswalks because cars, when operated carelessly, can turn into lethal weapons.

Campbell wants to give distracted drivers an excuse for their carelessness. Lest you think I mischaracterize her argument, here is her piece in its entirety.

I’m sorry, but if “distracted driving is a fact of life,” as Campbell maintains, then so are gun violence, child abuse, poverty, and a host of other social ills. That doesn’t mean we should wink and look the other way. But decades of doing just that have embedded an attitude of privilege in the psyches of too many American drivers. Too often this leads to injury or worse – and it usually isn’t the driver who physically or legally suffers.

How many times have I seen people speed through Bangor’s downtown? The limit there is 25 mph – slow enough to see and stop for anyone entering a crosswalk, flashing lights or no. Yet I’ve seen drivers accelerate when they see a pedestrian about to cross, rather than sacrifice the five seconds it takes to allow someone to walk across the street.

Campbell also carps about not being able to turn right on red because a pesky pedestrian might be in the way. I’m pretty sure you have to come to a complete stop before making your turn. If a pedestrian is crossing – wait. Sure, it’s annoying. But operating an automobile, which can annihilate someone in seconds, comes with a few responsibilities.

There’s a corollary in the bicycling world. Maine law mandates a three-foot minimum space between a car and a bicycle, no matter where the bicyclist is on the road. Sometimes that bicyclist needs to be in a left lane. Drivers: if you can’t safely pass a bicyclist with that 3-foot buffer, wait until you can. It only takes seconds out of your day. The purpose of the law is the safety of the bicyclist.

While these laws may cause drivers a few seconds of inconvenience, they also serve to educate, and to change behavior. Streets become safer the more pedestrians and bicyclists use them. Driver behavior does change, albeit reluctantly. Attitudes adjust. Drivers begin expecting to see pedestrians and bicyclists the more they see of them. And the world becomes a better place with every accident that doesn’t happen.