VIDEO - The Unpredictable Pedestrian

VideoA lot can happen in just the 23 seconds of this video contributed by Orang Gila, taken in Maple Ridge, just past the Safeway at Dewdney Trunk Road. Keep an eye out for the pedestrian on the right sidewalk mid-block who is clearly dithering about crossing the street and is having difficulty finding a large enough gap in the four lanes of traffic that she must cross on the busy street. He describes it as "When you watch the video, every single one of those cars looks like they're going to jump out in front of me. I can feel it. But thankfully, I think they realize that its been raining, the road is wet and they really shouldn't take the chance. And then comes the moment." He managed to stop in time but was nearly rear ended by the vehicle behind him.

While I chose to title this video The Unpredictable Pedestrian it is a comment on the woman's behaviour and not an excuse for the driver. Continuous scanning and attention to the driving environment would lead you to conclude that she wants to cross the street and is unsure about whether she should or not. You have to prepare yourself to act if the pedestian makes the bad choice shown here.

 

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Maybe I'm mistaken (wouldn't be the first time) but do police or bylaws officer actually ticket pedestrians these days?

The laws are clear under Sections 179 & 180 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

But if nobody's bothering enforcing them (after all, it's much easier to nab speeders, or plant tickets on the windshields of cars that have been parked too long in the same place) then the situation is NOT going to improve, but deteriorate.

There's a saying that if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem.

Can somebody provide some factual evidence that our law enforcement officers are actually doing something about this?  How many tickets did the RCMP issue to pedestrians so far this year?