There have been many adjustments that I鈥檝e had to make moving back home to Canada, but this one actually jumped out in front of me.聽
This topic has been hotly debated on social media and has been covered on news networks in Vancouver 鈥� and probably every other city in the country. When pedestrians and drivers meet at crosswalks there鈥檚 not a lot of 鈥渟haring鈥� going on.聽
In my instance, I was driving along and this fellow just walked straight out onto the street. He didn鈥檛 look to see if it was clear or safe to cross, he just went for it. Of course, I slammed on the brakes and nearly hit him. I also leaned on the horn, which prompted this man to flip me off in return.聽
After some deliberation, I decided just to gather myself and continue on my way.
I鈥檓 assuming we鈥檝e all come across something like this while driving along, but I can also relate to pedestrian frustrations trying to cross (especially with our kids) as some drivers make it feel unsafe to do so. But imagine living in a place where pedestrians do NOT have the right of way or they are simply 鈥減art鈥� of traffic.聽
You haven鈥檛 experienced traffic unless you鈥檝e been in gnarled Cairo traffic, which I鈥檝e had the joy to experience for many years, where you have to cross the streets 鈥淔rogger鈥� style.聽
You seriously have to guide in between opposing lanes of trucks, cars and other vehicles to avoid becoming roadkill. There is a trick to it 鈥� you simply find a space in between oncoming vehicles and you cross the street at a set speed.聽
It鈥檚 keeping that constant speed that鈥檒l keep you safe, because oncoming vehicles will gauge your rate and will manoeuvre around you 鈥� go back and you鈥檒l get hit, start running and the vehicle in the far lane might hit you 鈥� since they also have a tendency to squeeze three to four cars in the space of two lanes.聽
You can get away with stopping in the middle of the street to let another vehicle pass, but that鈥檚 getting into expert territory.聽
It might sound crazy but there鈥檚 a synergy going on between drivers and pedestrians that seems to be missing here. So let鈥檚 clear things up, according to the Motor Vehicle Act, drivers and cyclists are NOT required to yield to a pedestrian using a crosswalk until the pedestrian is physically occupying the crosswalk.聽
In other words, only when you have stepped off the curb and walked onto the road the driver must yield. The key to remember here is that right of way is always given and never taken.聽
Pedestrians must first look both ways for approaching traffic and only when it鈥檚 safe to step into the crosswalk 鈥� if not, wait until it is. We teach our kids to point their way across, or raise their arms, to be sure drivers understand their intention is to cross the street. Make eye-contact with the driver and be sure they come to a complete stop. Repeat the sequence at each successive lane and do not enter until after traffic is stopped.聽
For the driver, the onus is on you to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian. (More info at www.drivesmartbc.ca/pedestrians/how-use-crosswalk)
聽At the end of the day we all need to learn to share. Problems always start when we have a 鈥漨e first鈥� attitude and that includes crosswalks. Let our good manners and common sense prevail.
