A newly prudent pedestrian

by Lorien E. Menhennett

Medical school is one of the most intense experiences I can imagine. As such, I expected it to change me. It has. And in some unexpected ways.

On a recent summer evening, I walked some 15 blocks to a Thai restaurant to meet a friend for dinner. It was a lovely evening. I enjoyed the fresh air after spending so many hours cooped up in the hospital over the last several weeks. On my walk, I noticed something. Since completing my four-week trauma surgery rotation, I’d become a much more cautious pedestrian.

When waiting to cross a street with lots of traffic, I didn’t tip-toe into the street, or even stand at the edge of the curb. Instead, I hung back a few feet. I still jaywalked, but only if there were absolutely zero cars in sight. None of this dashing across the street to beat an oncoming vehicle. And when I saw someone else do that, I shook my head (literally). Even when simply walking on the sidewalk, nowhere near an intersection, I found myself paying close attention to the traffic running parallel to me — something I’d never really done before.

I had abandoned my aggressive pedestrian stance because darting into traffic saves you no more than a few seconds, and can cost you so much. I paid more attention to my surroundings because even when you’re on the sidewalk, minding your own business, a car could jump the curb and smash into you.

Technically, legally, pedestrians may have the right of way. But legality melts away in the face of a 2-ton steel monster barreling toward you.

That reality is now all too clear to me. While on trauma surgery, I’d seen too many pedestrians hit by cars. In medical lingo, this type of trauma is referred to as a “pedestrian struck.” Often the collisions resulted in simple lacerations or minor broken bones. But sometimes they resulted in coma, intubation, and craniectomy (removing part of the skull to relieve elevated pressure in the brain).

Maybe increased caution and attention won’t make being a pedestrian in New York City much safer. But they make me feel better. And that’s something, I suppose.