The death of a man hit by a vehicle last Saturday morning as he crossed New Brooklyn Road to collect his mail is still being investigated by police as to wrongdoing – if there is any to assign.

One could argue that the accident should never have occurred since it happened in broad daylight, although that stretch of the road – not far from the North Madison Avenue intersection – is heavily traveled as a feeder in and out of Winslow. In other words, pedestrians and bicyclists beware.

This accident aside, it’s a wonder there aren’t more collisions between pedestrians and tje various modes of transportation that share the island’s narrow rural roadways, most of which don’t have sidewalks. Most drivers realize caution is important here because of the constant danger of striking a person walking or bicyling on our hilly, twisting and lightless two-lane roads. Most, not all.

Some people, excluding those who have had first-hand experience with death or injury on a highway, often behave as if they are indestructible. They drive too fast on roads unsafe for their two-ton projectiles on wheels. They ride their bikes as if regular rules of the road don’t apply to them. Or they walk five feet into the road with traffic to their backs in pitch dark wearing hueless clothing. It’s almost as if they don’t want to be seen.

The wheelers – two and four – often know the beaten path to and fro downtown or the ferry terminal to such a degree that they forget they’re not the only ones travelling. They roll through stop signs with the greatest of ease and quickly show their impatience when traffic is slow. And even pedestrians seem to think they have special rights.

Granted, travel here is nowhere as dangerous as it is in big cities, but it seems that’s where too many of us obtained our bad driving habits. As always, one death is one too many. Slow down, cautiously approach our dangerous crossroads and where people and machines are too often put in harm’s way.