To the editor:

I urge everyone to please look out for pedestrians in the crosswalks; they have the right-of-way by law.

I walk my dog Grace every day for three miles; sometimes twice a day for a total of six miles a day so we cover a large area of town. For the most part; there are many courteous motorists that give us the right-of-way at the crosswalks. But this last Thursday as I was crossing Payne Street with my dog we were almost hit by a driver. It was at Payne Street and 10th Street. We were about half way through the crosswalk when a young woman with long brown hair driving a white Mazda SUV came driving right past us and almost hit us. My dog was wearing a reflective collar so she could be seen, but this woman was on her phone so she was not paying attention to things in front of her. We have had many close calls but this one was so close, too close. I hope this person reads this and will stop talking on the phone when she is driving — we don’t need any more pedestrians killed in New Ulm, we’ve had too many. Distracted driving has to stop.

Bonnie Lantz

New Ulm