Q&A - Pedestrians Must Yield to Vehicles Signage
My university workplace has just erected signage at a pedestrian crossing leading to a parking lot and I am just trying to determine if this is in contravention of current pedestrian right of way laws in BC (before I submit a formal complaint, so that I have all my facts). There is a one-way road/driveway which leads to a small employee only parking lot next a bus loop. At the pedestrian crossing of this road/driveway the sign reads, "Pedestrians yield to traffic." Should not traffic yield to pedestrians? Even at our pedestrian controlled intersections on campus, the buses & traffic have a hard time stopping to allow pedestrians to walk on the "walk signal." I think this new signage is just begging for an accident.
Comments
In Most Cases, Vehicles Stop for Pedestrians
This sounds like an interesting situation! Like you, I think that it is confusing because that is not how crosswalks are meant to work. When you wait at a crosswalk, traffic is supposed to stop for you, not you for them. That caveat to this is that you must not move into a vehicle's path in such a way that they cannot stop for you.
What happens when the pedestrians obey the sign and the drivers obey the requirement to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk? Confusion! Everyone stands there and stares, wondering who should go.
The Motor Vehicle Act does allow a municipality to create a bylaw:
So, the municipality may not create a bylaw that requires actions different from those required for the same circumstances in the Motor Vehicle Act. I would argue that the university should behave in the same fashion.
You may be interested in these two documents as well:
These are the rules the province follows when it creates a crosswalk.