While drunken driving may be on the decline, traffic safety experts remain puzzled over how to deal with another alcohol related danger:drunken pedestrians(行人).

Pedestrians struck and killed by cars often are extremely drunk. In fact, they are drunken more frequently and with higher blood alcohol levels than drunken drivers who are killed in accidents. Various studies have shown forty percent of adult pedestrians involved in deadly crashes have a blood alcohol level of at least 0.10 which by law in most states signifies intoxication (醉酒) compared to only 25 percent of drivers in deadly accidents according to recent federal data.

Some types of pedestrian accidents have been declining nationally especially those involving children, but the number of adult pedestrians who are drunk when killed in traffic has remained relatively steady at 2500 a year. The total number of pedestrians killed annually in US traffic accidents is at least 7 000 or one of every seven highway accidents resulting in death.

"We're dealing here, we think, with a very severe drinking problem that leads to a severe highway safety problem", said Richard Blomberg, president of Dunlap and Associates Inc. , in Norwalk Coon.

Blomberg, whose consulting company found a very high rate of alcohol involvement in a controlled study of pedestrian accidents in New Orleans, was among several researchers who spoke on the topic at the annual meeting of the Research Council's Transportation Research Board (TRE) in Washington in January.

Pedestrian accidents have not received enough attention in the past according to Kay Colpitts who chairs the board's committee on pedestrians. Few methods exist to monitor walking habits she said and researchers have been puzzled about how to prevent disasters.

Being stuck behind crowds of slow walkers when you’re in a hurry is one of the most annoying things. But now, Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, one of the UK’s largest shopping malls, has introduced its very own fast lane(通道) for shoppers in a hurry, aiming to help impatient shoppers avoid slow walkers and the anger that goes with them.

The Lakeside Shopping Center in Essex has introduced a 720-foot “fast lane” reserved for fast walkers only, just in time for the Christmas rush. The Center’s management team said, “The lane will help the shoppers who know where they want to go quickly and don’t want to get caught in behind unhurried shoppers at the busiest time of the year.”

The fast lane was introduced after a MasterCard survey found that 80 percent of consumers found slow walkers their biggest annoyance while shopping. The research also found that the average walking speed slowed down by 21 percent during the Christmas shopping period, as most shoppers spent more time window shopping during this period.

Gary Mortimer, an expert from the Queensland University of Technology, said he wasn’t surprised by the promotion about the launch of the fast lane, and thought the concept would appeal to shoppers all over the world. “Crowded parking lots and busy shopping centers tend to be two of the biggest complaints of shoppers over the festive season,” he said. “I think the fast lanes are a new approach. However, I suspect it will be a bit like fast lanes on the highway, so it might end up being more trouble than its worth.

The MasterCard survey also identified the four most common types of shoppers. They include“Skaters” who try and make their way through crowds politely, “Dodgers” who move down the paths to avoid slow walkers, “Bulldozers" who push their way through crowds, and “Tutters” who express their frustrations to slow walkers.

Last night I was driving from Harrisburg to Lewisburg,a distance of about eighty miles.It was late.Several times I got stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left,and I became increasingly impatient.

At one point along an open road,I came to a crossing with a traffic light.I was alone on the road by now,but as I drove near the light,it turned red and I made a stop.I looked left,right and behind me.Nothing.Not a car,no suggestion of car lamps,but there I sat,waiting for the light to change,the only human being for at least a mile in any direction.

I started wondering why I refused to run the light.I was not afraid of being caught,because there was clearly no policeman around,and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it.

Much later that night,the question of why I'd stopped for that light came back to me.I think I stopped because it's part of a contract we all have with each other.It's not only the law,but it's an agreement we have,and we trust each other to honor it: we don't go through red lights.

Trust is our first inclination（倾向）.Doubting others does not seem to be natural to us.The whole construction of our society depends on mutual（相互的）trust,not distrust.We do what we say we'll do,we show up when we say we'll show up;and we pay when we say we'll pay.We trust each other in these matters,and we're angry or disappointed with the person or organization that breaks the trust we have in them.

I was so proud of myself for stopping for the red light that night.