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People who litter, speed, run red lights, let their dogs run off-leash, etc are aware of the law. They are making their own, albeit poor, choices. They already know what they are doing, and a reprimand from a stranger won't change their behavior. Reprimands only work when coming from someone with authority (parent to child, referee to player, judge to convict).

Once when I (legally) rode my bike through a 4-way intersection, a motorist rolled through a stop sign and passed a mere couple feet in front of my bike. I screamed (just my knee-jerk reaction). The driver stopped and asked if she hit me. She told me she couldn't see because of the parked cars. I thanked her for stopping and suggested she nose forward slowly until she could see it was safe. She didn't get mad and seemed like she'd actually change her behavior. I wonder what she would have done if I'd flipped her off and beat on her car? OR if she hadn't felt like she had truly put me in danger?

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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