I want to thank Char Phillips for her piece about drivers and the attention they need to pay to pedestrians, bicyclists and horses (“Island roads: We are all responsible for safety,” Sept. 7). She said very well what needed to be said, and I’ll only add a personal note. There are very few of us who don’t drive cars. We are different people when we drive. When we walk or bike or ride horseback, there is a limit to our speed. When we drive, we may go as fast as we like, with no effort. Even 25 mph is fast to a walker. Cars have created a culture of hurry (think of your anger and frustration when I-5 moves stop-and-start, which is most of the time now).

We need to remain the person-who-walks when we drive. We need to slow down and be very cautious when we come on walkers, bicycles, horses; we need to act as if we were passing them on foot. This should become the heart of a Vashon culture of slow down.

— Cal Kinnear