Seriously?

I recently had the good fortune to visit Savannah, GA, a city of which I am now an avid promoter. It has beautiful park space, spanish moss, a thriving artists community, a diverse population, bikeablility, not to mention open container laws (woohoo!). I was sold, to say the least. However, one completely insane thing caught my eye and made me question this otherwise devil-may-care attituded city.

As I understand it, a young man was visiting from a faraway place (Europe?) and was enjoying himself, as young people are inclined to do in this great city. He was having himself a good ol' time on one of the busiest pedestrian streets in the city, when he stepped out to cross. He was hit and killed by a motorist.

This led the Savannah Police Department (whom, I have heard, are notoriously uninterested in the crime ridden and impoverished areas of the city) to crack down on Jaywalkers.

Mind you, this city is old. There are few handicap accessible curb cuts, let alone cross walks or lights. There are no traffic calming devices on the large one-way thoroughfares down which cars sill speed upwards of 60 miles per hour.

But really, let's not inconvience the automobiles by making them slow down. Let's punish people for walking where they're not supposed to.

Seriously?