Pedestrians

We have children as young as 4 and 5 years old walking to and from Ecole Oceanside Elementary school with their families. They cross at the intersections of Wright Road and Highway 19A, as well as Wright Road and Wembley Road (a 4 way stop) without the benefit of school crossing guards.

Alexander Zacher was walking to work early on the morning of October 31, 2014 in Tsawwassen. He followed the walk signal on 12th Avenue at the intersection of 52nd Street using the marked crosswalk. When he was about two-thirds of the way across he was struck by a left turning vehicle driven by Glenn Prescesky and suffered serious injuries.

Q: I am confused by this sign on Pandora Avenue in Victoria that seems to indicate no pedestrian crossing to vehicle traffic yet there is nothing to tell the pedestrian not to cross the street here. There is even a wheelchair ramp encouraging pedestrians to cross. I suspect that there are more examples of this in the area. Can you explain what that sign means?

"Excuse me? There is no wrong side of the road for pedestrians." This is the gospel according to @alaskanmind in a conversation I was involved in on Twitter this week. "It is a drivers legal responsibility to drive with due care and attention, meaning they are solely responsible." Here's an example from our courts where this view is shown to be incorrect.

When the drivers stop to give a pedestrian in a crosswalk the right of way, unless there is a compelling reason not to, the pedestrian should take it and proceed. Yesterday I stopped along with the driver to my left to enable a man standing in the middle of 4 lanes of traffic to cross.

I grew up in a small town 50 years ago where the residential street we lived on was treated as an extension of the front yard by all the kids in the neighbourhood. Playing in the street was normal. We all met there to ride bicycles, play 500 up, street hockey, kick the can and almost everything else that we wanted to do.

Not all collision litigation resulting from crashes on our highways involve motor vehicles. In this case, the collision occurred between Rosario Perilli, a jogger, and Wendy Marlow, a 10 year old youth riding a bicycle. Mr. Perilli fell to the ground in his attempt to avoid the collision and suffered injuries, including one to his shoulder that required surgery to repair.

I was a bit taken aback after reading a discussion on Twitter the other day. The conversation was between a driver and a pedestrian who seemed to hold opposite points of view. The pedestrian felt that they should not have to wear reflective clothing and carry a flashlight to be seen at night.

NHTSA's Getting There Safely Team focuses on pedestrian safety in this 21 minute video designed to teach elementary school children to walk safely in environments that contain traffic or other safety hazards. Designed for pupils in grades 3 to 6, it teaches critical thinking skills for walking around traffic.