I'm a heartless bum, I think.
Today was the first day of school for many kids on the island, and I probably should have expected to see something silly on the roads. It just so happened that I was standing at the intersection of Par-la-ville and Church Street waiting to cross to L'Oriental Express for a late lunch break when I witnessed the most predictable of so-called "accidents".
School had either just let out or there were a bunch of kids dismissed early from classes, but there were a fair number of fellas on bikes at the intersection, but anyway there is a car making a right-turn, her indicators clearly flashing, and some young kid decides to overtake her anyway, completely ignoring the signal. She makes her move and the rider is forced to quickly adjust his path. As the woman stops her car (good on her for her patience), the kid loses control just as I'm saying to myself, "look at this idiot kid". The bike falls and skids, he tumbles off and slides. Both rider and bike come to a stop right against the sidewalk, probably a foot away from me.
I don't even freaking blink. I really had no sympathy for the deck-out. I give the kid a brief glance, and then notice that the pedestrian walk light is active so I make my way across the road without even a word. Behind me I heard a man ask the kid if he was okay. I look to see if the car driver had stopped but she had long moved on.
All I could think of is, how are these people allowed to ride when they pay no attention to things around them. Don't they cover this in Project Ride and everything? I hope the kid learned a lesson, although neither he nor the bike took any damage in the fall and I wouldn't hold my breath on him riding more safely. Like I said earlier, if Dejon Simmons's story fell on deaf ears, there's no hope.
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