DriveSmartBC

"Don't pedestrians have to use the sidewalks?" asks a reader. The concern expressed here is that when a safe place is provided for pedestrians away from traffic flow, some people choose not to use it. The reader observes that these people make life difficult for drivers by adding one more hazard on the roadway.

The word roadway in the last paragraph is an important one to this discussion. The roadway is the part of a highway between the yellow center line and either the solid white line at the right edge of the pavement, or if there is no solid white line then the right hand edge of the pavement. The shoulder is the area to the right of that solid white line or to the right of the pavement edge. Finally, a sidewalk is the area between the edge of a roadway and the adjacent property lines that has been improved for the use of pedestrians.

When a reasonably passable sidewalk is present beside the highway, a pedestrian must not walk on the roadway. If there is no sidewalk present on either side, the pedestrian may walk on either the extreme left side of the roadway or on the shoulder, and must face oncoming traffic. If the shoulder is passable, it would likely be unsafe to choose to walk on the roadway even if it is legal to do so!

Pedestrians must not be on the roadway to hitch hike, solicit employment or to conduct business with the occupant of a motor vehicle.

Finally, drivers take note, when there is no sidewalk you must be prepared to share the roadway with pedestrians.

References:

Section 182 MVA - Pedestrian Walking Along Highway