Every time I come home to New York, I feel as if the roads are more and more crowded to the point where it almost makes me feel claustrophobic. However, it is not only in New York that I feel this way. In fact, in the particular area of North Carolina that I live in, I have been able to witness the population growth that has taken place over the brief amount of time that I have lived there. I can still drive around on the local streets and recall a time when there never used to a road in a particular location, or where there are now rows of houses where only a year before there were miles of running trails.
In a lot of ways all of the construction that has taken place should be viewed as a positive thing I suppose. However, in a lot of ways, this population explosion has also been causing a lot of problems. For example, there used to be a time when I could go for a drive or even go running in an area where there weren t that many cars driving through. However, if I want to go for a run near where I live now, it isn t a pleasant or relaxing experience because of all of the noise pollution that is in the area from all of the numerous vehicles zipping by on their way to wherever it is that they are going.
Much of the overcrowding on the roadways has led to the inevitable construction projects that have taken over a lot of the various areas in North Carolina. Business owners and others are glad for the population boom because it means that there is more potential for them to pick up more customers and yield a greater profit. Additionally, when there are more people in a particular area, this means that there are more jobs in that area. So, in essence, it can sometimes have a snowball effect. On the downside, however, more crowds of people mean more opportunity for crime, which means that police departments may need to hire more people.
The increase in the number of people also means an increase in the number of people becoming involved in motor vehicle accidents, as well as an increase in the number of people who experience road rage and get into near miss accidents with pedestrians, cyclists and runners. In the past two years alone, Raleigh, North Carolina has seen its share of motorist versus pedestrian accidents and deaths; and there has even been a recent lobby of local Raleigh cyclists to have more bicycle lanes installed along the sides of popular roadways so that we can make the town more pedestrian friendly.
The main thing to remember with areas where there are a significant amount of motorists is to be aware of your surroundings and act defensively. This goes for both licensed drivers as well as pedestrians. If you are a driver, make sure that you come to a complete stop before you enter an intersection or make a turn onto a main road. More importantly, make sure that you give yourself time to look both ways as many pedestrians are struck by motorists who only cared to look in one direction while failing to look in the other direction prior to entering a roadway. If you are a pedestrian, never assume that a motorist sees you. Make sure that you have made eye contact with a motorist before you cross in front of their path. The last thing you want to to is get struck by a vehicle.
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