And she was in Woodstock last week...

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
August 10, 2010

Crystal Lake resident John Falk's good Letter to the Editor about rude drivers was published this morning in the Northwest Herald. As John was walking toward a store in a Crystal Lake mall, a driver ran a stop sign, almost hit him and then showered him with profanities and flipped him off, when he voiced his displeasure (as it described it).

This same driver was in the Woodstock Wal-Mart lot. When she ran a stop sign and almost hit a woman and two children, I called out, "Stop for pedestrians." I won't repeat the stream of profanities, which were accompanied by "the bird".

Cities and towns need to create Vehicular Control Agreements (VCA) with property owners/managers of major shopping centers, which would allow police to ticket drivers who run stop signs. As it is now, without a VCA a driver can cruise right past a stop sign in a parking lot, as if it's not there.

There had been one in effect at the former Jewel-Osco property in Woodstock. I tried for two years to get a VCA written for the new Jewel-Osco parking lot. One of three property owners wouldn't sign on, and the police department would not write the VCA just for the major part of the lot; it was all or nothing. Jewel-Osco and the property owner where Papa Murphy's is were agreeable, but the owner of the property where a bank was planned would not go for it.

Maybe now that the bank is up and running, it's time to start to try again.

Thanks to John Falk for addressing the issue in Crystal Lake.