DEC 5, 15 .. PATTI’S CLOSE CALL ..
Thanks so much to each of you who let me know through personal e-mails of your concern about Patti’s close call with a street car last week. I have decided to show some photos of the scene so you who were interested can more clearly visualize exactly what happened.
Below is a photo of the street car stop involved. The loading area on the right of the below photo is where Patti and I were standing. To the left is the loading area for street cars going in the opposite direction.
In the below photo the couple to the right are just about exactly where Patti and I were standing.
The below photo looks back towards where I snapped the above photo. You can see on the left below the couple above on the right.
In the above photos you see two street car lines. In each of the above photos the line closest to the couple are the line from which Patti and I exited our street car.
Below you can clearly see the two street car lines. Our street car from which we exited would have been the red car on the right below.
Below is a photo of a street car coming from the opposite direction to the street car we exited from.
The street car from which we two exited had pulled away and was gone. Patti was looking to her right and was not looking left in the direction of the oncoming yellow street car above. I was looking to my left so I did not notice that Patti suddenly stepped out to cross the tracks and that Patti was totally unaware of the danger coming from her left.
When I turned back to my right I saw both (1) Patti walking .. head down focusing on not falling on the tracks and totally unaware of the approaching danger .. and (2) the oncoming street car about to hit her. The driver may have been looking elsewhere when he suddenly saw Patti and blowing his emergency horn locked up the brakes and .. I could see the people inside .. threw his passengers into a pile as they all lurched forward.
The very next day .. I myself nearly stepped in front of a street car at this same location. It is not a matter of being careful. It is a matter of losing one’s focus on one’s surroundings. This I attribute 100% to the aging process. Being in the late 70’s age wise we are simply not as sharp and as aware of things as we once were.
Again thanks so much for your interest and concern.
Cap ..