2y ago

If I’m at a crosswalk, do drivers have to stop even if the lights aren’t flashing?

www.theglobeandmail.com

Link with no paywall:

https://www.removepaywall.com/https:/www.theglobeandmail.com/drive/mobility/article-if-im-at-a-crosswalk-do-drivers-have-to-stop-even-if-the-lights-arent

Today I Learned @lemmy.world

NarrativeBear @lemmy.world

2y ago

TIL: If I'm in a driver I need to stop for pedestrians at crossovers, even if the lights aren’t flashing.

www.theglobeandmail.com /drive/mobility/article-if-im-at-a-crosswalk-do-drivers-have-to-stop-even-if-the-lights-arent/

28 comments

It doesn't matter how legal it is or not. If a driver is expected to stop because I'm crossing but doesn't and I'm crippled or dead, that law means very little to me.
We should instead design crosswalks that are inherently safer. Ones that force drivers to slow down and look for pedestrains regardless of some flashing lights that may or may not work with a beg button.
- Yup. Crosswalks and pedestrian bridges may not seem like it, but they are actually car infrastructure. They are designed to allow cars to be as unimpeded as possible.
  Real pedestrian infrastructure looks like streets that make drivers uncomfortable to be driving on. Cars and people should not be mixing.
  
  Quiet, peasant! This is a car-centric society! Not driving is a choice to not be a real person!
  Politicians, Developers, police
At crosswalks, drivers can go once the pedestrian is clear of the vehicle; otherwise, they may face a $300 fine (doubled in community safety zones) and three demerit points.
Careful. In Ottawa you're risking a fine. Their rules - and it varies by region - is that the pedestrian needs to be out of the crosswalk completely, and not just clear of the vehicle, before the car can continue.
This, as you can imagine, is always a bit of a surprise where it's in place -- especially in Ottawa where they tend to honk if they think you've had the chance to go and waited more than 5 milliseconds.
- Edmonton has a ton of crosswalks across 60kph roads, with flashing lights that indicate drivers must slow down to 35kph (and obviously stop if there's a pedestrian in the cross walk).
  The problem is a lot of cyclists don't bother to hit the button, then just keep barreling straight on through.
  
  The problem is a lot of cyclists don’t bother to hit the button, then just keep barreling straight on through.
  So they should be expected to stop the bike, get off of it, go push a button, then go back to the bike at every single intersection? Maybe the "problem" is this horrible, cyclist-unfriendly crosswalk design.
  
  They might have different laws in Ontario but in BC that's also the way to do it.
  If they're on the bike they're considered a vehicle and have to cross the road in the same way a car would*.
  If they're walking the bike they're treated as a pedestrian and must walk across the crosswalk
  *( There are exceptions, such as multi use trails, but they are either clearly marked to both the road and trail users or they have a stop sign for cyclists)
In a lot of places you can legally cross the street at the corner regardless of whether there is a crosswalk and drivers are legally required to stop.
But yea if they don’t stop and you are dead you’re dying words can be, “I had the right of way, motherfuh- cough cough”
- @burntbutterbiscuits @NarrativeBear I always told my kids, as they approached driving age, that the laws of physics trump the laws of man where cars are involved.
  
  My first girlfriend’s dad use to always say “two objects can not occupy the same space at the same time” he was a science teacher lol
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“There’s no legal requirement for a pedestrian to activate that [flashing] light – they can cross in the crosswalk and still have the right of way,” said Acting Sergeant Dennis Vink with the Calgary Police Service collision reconstruction unit.
For instance, Section 41 of Alberta’s Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation states that drivers “shall yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk.”
In Ontario, for instance, cars have to stop once a pedestrian has stepped into the crosswalk, Toronto police said in an email.
At crosswalks, drivers can go once the pedestrian is clear of the vehicle; otherwise, they may face a $300 fine (doubled in community safety zones) and three demerit points.
Still, once a pedestrian is in the crosswalk – even if they’ve got a solid red hand and they no longer have the legal right of way – cars should stop to allow them to cross safely, Vink said.
In any province, if someone is standing at any crosswalk, it’s a good idea to slow down and be prepared to stop, even if the lights aren’t flashing, said Angelo DiCicco, general manager with the Ontario Safety League, a Mississauga-based non-profit focusing on driver education.
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