To The Lady That Jumped A Red Light and Raced Around A Corner Through A Pedestrian Crossing;

Hi.
     Remember me? I'm the poor innocent pedestrian that you very nearly ran straight into as you zoomed your way around the corner at a time when every vehicle coming from four different directions should have been stationary.
     And this - =points= - this is my dog, another pedestrian and as innocent as innocents get.

I bet you felt real smug, didn't you, beating all those other cars (the drivers of which, incidentally, were all obeying the law and staying put) by those precious few seconds. How many was it? 45? Maybe even 60?
     You certainly looked smug. Even as I - after darting out of the way pulling my dog with me - spread my hands and glared at you in angry disbelief, the realization that your impatience had very nearly caused a collision didn't seem to concern you in the least. Instead, you looked right at me, your phone to your ear - which is another bone of contention, by the way - with an infuriatingly casual expression and shrugged. Actually shrugged. 
      'What is all the fuss about', your face was clearly saying?

I'll tell you what the fuss was about, shall I?
      It's perfectly simple:
     OK, so I managed to get out of the way. Just. No lasting harm done. But what if I hadn't gotten out of the way? Would you have felt as smug and indifferent about your blatant and reckless law breaking if you had actually hit me with your car? Or how about my dog? Or how about if it hadn't been me, but a little old lady pulling a trolley? An elderly man with a walking stick? A person in a wheelchair? A mother pushing a pram?
     And how about if the person you ploughed into died? 
     Would those few seconds shaved off your journey have been such a boon then??

I doubt it.

So next time, for whatever reason you feel tempted to ignore the rules of the road, think about it. This time you were lucky. And thanks to reflexes I didn't know I had, so was I. Next time you might well encounter someone with slower reflexes and your luck, and theirs, may just run out.

And when that happens - and believe me, if you keep on doing what you are doing it will, eventually - that person's blood will be on your hands, and be there forever.
     Could you live with that?
     I couldn't.

So seriously, think about it.
     Please.

Yours (currently utterly despairing of human nature),
     The Random Girl You Nearly Killed.