Are Gays Worth Less than Children in Wilton Manors? (Fort Lauderdale: city hall, homes)

[HotandHumid]

It seems to me that since several Gay men in Wilton Manors have been killed by hit and run drivers on Wilton Drive and that the city government of Wilton Manors keeps saying it doesn't have money to make safety improvements on Wilton Drive although Mayor Resnick of Wilton Manors said that the City had floated a bond issue to raise money to build a new city hall building and police station on Wilton Drive when he was a commissioner in Wilton Manors and the current Vice Mayor, Scott Newton was the mayor, plus he said the city spent $170,000. to buy land to build a parking lot on that isn't even visible from Wilton Drive to let people know it's there and what signs there are for it are so small most people looking for parking don't even know the parking lot is there, that the City of Wilton Manors thinks that the lives of the Gay men who were killed on Wilton Drive attempting to cross the street aren't worth much because the City hasn't done anything to prevent this sort of thing from happening since the last Gay man was run down before the most recent Gay man was, but I always see marked police vehicles with police officers with radar guns in their hands and signs for motorists to slow down to 15 miles per hour when they are flashing in school zones in Wilton Manors where I've never heard of any children being killed by speeding motorists like the Gay men have been on Wilton Drive.

[JAblemary]

Why does it matter that the men happen to be Gay? I don't see why Gay has anything to do with the equation of a person being hit by a car crossing the street. Were the men intentionally hit by cars because they where Gay?

[RonnieinDallas]

Can you please start splitting your posts up into paragraphs? It's difficult to understand what you're saying sometimes. I'm not the grammar police, I should proofread my own posts as well, but this post is really confusing.
Paragraphs and When to Use Them

Here let me help

Originally Posted by HotandHumid

It seems to me that since several Gay men in Wilton Manors have been killed by hit and run drivers on Wilton Drive [sic] and that the city government of Wilton Manors keeps saying it doesn't have money to make safety improvements on Wilton Drive.

This run-on sentence doesn't make sense at all. I think I know what you were trying to say, but what you typed doesn't articulate that.

Originally Posted by HotandHumid

Although [sic] Mayor Resnick of Wilton Manors said that the City had floated a bond issue to raise money to build a new city hall building and police station on Wilton Drive when he was a commissioner in Wilton Manors.

A new paragraph is needed when you are talking about a different person

Originally Posted by HotandHumid

the current Vice Mayor, Scott Newton was the mayor, plus he said the city spent $170,000. to buy land to build a parking lot on that isn't even visible from Wilton Drive to let people know it's there and what signs there are for it are so small most people looking for parking don't even know the parking lot is there,

Here's where it gets really confusing. Are you saying the parking lot is causing people to get hit?

Originally Posted by HotandHumid

that [sic] the City of Wilton Manors thinks that the lives of the Gay men who were killed on Wilton Drive attempting to cross the street aren't worth much because the City hasn't done anything to prevent this sort of thing from happening since the last Gay man was run down before the most recent Gay man was, but I always see marked police vehicles with police officers with radar guns in their hands and signs for motorists to slow down to 15 miles per hour when they are flashing in school zones in Wilton Manors where I've never heard of any children being killed by speeding motorists like the Gay men have been on Wilton Drive.

I'm still really confused. Not knowing what exactly happened in each individual case makes it even more confusing. Giving us detail on each event would be necessary for a response. Were they hit at a crosswalk? Were they jay walking? Were they hit by a drunk driver? Was visibility a factor? Are there crosswalks? Were the people who were hit drunk?

In addition to those details, you must state your goal in writing this. Do you want more crosswalks? Less lanes of traffic? More police presence? Reduced speed limits? Better lighting? Public service announcements? Warnings?

[Mr. Lee]

First let me say that even one loss of life is too much, no matter who the life was but once again it seems you wish to blame it on someone else instead of the people crossing the street not paying attention. Why is it that so many people nowadays always feel that it is someone else's fault. Two words come to mind, personal responsibility.

I have been crossing some of the worse streets in the world for my 66 years of life and have not even come close to getting run over, I even cross streets in the Philippines where many drivers do not seem to obey most traffic laws, yet so far I have thankfully not been run over, maybe the people who have been run over were preoccupied but whatever the cause it is usually the pedestrians fault unless the drivers are driving up onto the sidewalk to hit them.

[HotandHumid]

Here in Wilton Manors, the law states that pedestrians have the right of way when in the street. That means that people in cars have to be aware of pedestrians and stop for pedestrians, even if the pedestrians are not in a crosswalk, which drivers have not been doing in Wilton Manors as several pedestrians have been hit by motor vehicles while they have attempted to cross the street.
This is not a case of people suddenly stepping out in front of a car but instead drivers of motor vehicles are not looking out for pedestrians when driving on Wilton Drive in an area lined with businesses that see a lot of pedestrian traffic, especially at night.
I suggested several times to Mayor Resnick in Wilton Manors that a un-manned police vehicle be posted at each end of the Wilton Drive on weekend nights with flashers going because it always slows people down and makes them look around when they see flashing police lights. Mayor Resnick told me an unmarked vehicle with officers in it has been put on the Drive. Sounds pretty stupid to me and a waste of money to pay police officers to sit in an unmarked vehicle and how does this slow people down?
People are allowed to turn right on red in Wilton Manors on Wilton Drive which most cities with pedestrian traffic do no allow. Why is this being allowed in Wilton Manors? Why should a driver be allowed to turn into a pedestrian crosswalk after they have stopped at the stop light when there is the potential for the driver to be hitting pedestrians in the crosswalk who are walking because they have the Walk sign indicating they can?
I've noticed drivers in this area rarely come to a full stop when they can turn right on red before making their turn so allowing them to drive this way by letting them turn right on red in an area where there are lots of pedestrians is wrong.
And, I think it is also wrong for Mayor Resnick to say he doesn't have money to spend on public safety after several people have been killed crossing the streets of the City he was elected to be mayor of, a job which includes overseeing public safety, while he freely spends money in other areas of the City.

[HotandHumid]

Originally Posted by JAblemary

Why does it matter that the men happen to be Gay? I don't see why Gay has anything to do with the equation of a person being hit by a car crossing the street. Were the men intentionally hit by cars because they where Gay?

Because the hit and run drivers were not caught because Wilton Drive lacks a visible police presence, even after several people have been hit by hit and run drivers on Wilton Drive, they couldn't be questioned to determine if their actions of hitting a Gay pedestrian in an area that's known for attracting mostly Gay men to Gay and Gay friendly businesses could be classified as a hate crime.

It does matter that Gay people have been repeatedly hit by automobiles and the City of Wilton Manors has not responded by putting a visible police presence on Wilton Drive because Mayor Resnick has repeatedly stated that the City doesn't have the money to address public safety issues on Wilton Drive but the City of Wilton Manors has repeatedly come up with the money to make sure there are police officers and vehicles, along with flashing light signage in areas where school children are.

Considering that Gay people are the economic lifeblood of the businesses along Wilton Drive, one has to wonder exactly who Mayor Resnick is beholden to since he won't spend any money to insure the safety of Gay people walking across Wilton Drive, has repeatedly spent money in other areas of Wilton Manors while stating he has no money to spend on the Drive and recently warned owners of land neighboring the Drive that their property values might go down if business owners are allowed to raise funds for landscaping and safety improvements along Wilton Drive, which certainly has not been the case in South Beach, Fort Lauderdale along Las Olas, Hollywood and several other South Florida cities where those cities spent money to make landscaping and safety improvements in their business districts and then saw the property values of the homes near those business districts go up.

[Mr. Lee]

Originally Posted by HotandHumid

Here in Wilton Manors, the law states that pedestrians have the right of way when in the street. That means that people in cars have to be aware of pedestrians and stop for pedestrians, even if the pedestrians are not in a crosswalk, which drivers have not been doing in Wilton Manors as several pedestrians have been hit by motor vehicles while they have attempted to cross the street.

So do you feel that having the right of way and being foolish enough to not pay attention to traffic, go hand in hand. Sorry but having a right and using it foolishly, are two different things. Personal responsibility, people need to take it and not always blame others. Not all drivers who transverse that area are aware of those right of way laws, I know that I did not know about it, and then on top of that, way too many people drive drunk, so it is us the pedestrians who have to first make sure the vehicles see us and will slow down to let us cross those streets, not just walk out in front of them because we have a right to.

As an example only, people have the right to drink alcohol but they have to be foolish to drink so much that it kills them.

[Gizmoby]

[quote=HotandHumid;37649463]Here in Wilton Manors, the law states that pedestrians have the right of way when in the street. quote]

I'm no lawyer, but I don't believe that the law "here in Wilton Manors" says any such thing. Here in Florida, the law (chapter 316.130) states: Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. (Emphasis mine.)

My observation is that pedestrians (gay or not) are often oblivious to their surroundings and just plain careless. People cross streets (sometimes in the crosswalk) with their eyes glued to their cellphones, their hearing impaired by earphones, and a general lack of awareness of anything other than their own personal universe.

Whether you has a "right" to something or not, it is just common sense to have a regard for your surroundings and to behave as though you are a part of your environment and not the whole of it.

[HotandHumid]

The last person killed this past week on Wilton Drive was run down by a woman who was texting while driving. The man who was killed was hit so hard that his body literally flew up onto the sidewalk and landed near the City Hall building.

When I grew up in Michigan, I was educated by my driver's education instructor that a driver must always yield for a pedestrian and that pedestrians always had the right of way, I assume because a pedestrian could incur more injuries from a motor vehicle than a motor vehicle could incur from a pedestrian.

If the law does indeed state that automobile drivers in Wilton Manors have the right of way over pedestrians, then it's time to change that law because people in speeding automobiles are not patronizing the businesses that have brought about the resurgence of property values on and near Wilton Drive but are instead speeding and/or recklessly driving though Wilton Manors on the way to somewhere else. The injuries and deaths of pedestrians in Wilton Manors are not because pedestrians are recklessly running out in front of automobiles on Wilton Drive for the sport of it.

The speeding automobiles and reckless/careless drivers are what's causing the death and injuries on Wilton Drive of patrons of local businesses along the Drive. Those businesses are the economic job engine of Wilton Manors and those speeding automobiles and reckless/careless drivers need to have their ways changed by the City of Wilton Manors to protect area businesses from losing patrons because of death and injury and because of a fear future patrons might have and decide to avoid Wilton Drive because of a negligent crop of elected city officials who currently refuse to make changes on the Drive in order to address pedestrian safety issues, such as having the timers set to allow pedestrians more time to safely cross Wilton Drive at crosswalks that currently begin flashing a Do Not Walk signal when pedestrians are only half way across the street in the crosswalk.

[HotandHumid]

So why is it that if there have been so many injuries and deaths on Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors due to automobile drivers slamming into pedestrians who are trying to cross Wilton Drive, there is no effort being made by the City of Wilton Manors in the same manner that the City of Wilton Manors currently uses to protect the lives of children near area schools when it puts police officers out in those areas with radar guns standing next to marked police vehicles with the flashers going?

I haven't read any reports of school children who do or do not use crosswalks being slammed into by drivers where the police are posted with their radar guns and police vehicles but I do see see the City of Wilton Manors not making any real effort to address the issue of patrons (mostly Gay) of businesses on Wilton Drive from being mowed down by automobile drivers passing through Wilton Manors other than some postings in the Publix near the 5 Points intersection warning pedestrians to be more careful. Really?

Where are the signs warning drivers to be more careful in Wilton Manors and why are Wilton Manors officials putting the blame for pedestrians being mowed down on Wilton Drive on the pedestrians and not on the drivers maiming and killing pedestrians who have overwhelmingly been Gay men?

Like a said before, it seems to me that the same efforts that are being used to protect children from reckless drivers in Wilton Manors are NOT being used to protect Gay men.