Q&A - People Don't Follow the Rules

Pedestrian CrossingA lot of people don't follow the so called rules when walking or riding bicycles. The rule of ride with traffic ....ride on the right side of the road. The real bad one I see is of all ages. People not walking toward traffic.

They walk on the right and have no chance to get out of the way of on coming dangers.

There was a young girl hit and killed in Winfield a couple of years ago. She might have seen the driver coming at her and been able to get out of the way had she have been walking the proper direction.

This is more of a concern than ever with all the distracted drivers texting etc.

Point is how come there are no awareness programs or advertizing to educate the public?? I learned this in school in the 60s. Someone seems to have dropped the ball these days! Lots of talk of drinking and driving, seatbelts, texting. Lots of talk where there are fines and cash involved.

Where there is some money to be made! If the real agenda is about saving lives then why isn't someone doing something about it?? Maybe it's time to start implementing a fine for people then it would be worth your while??

Why does everyone always seem to see cash for the government in fines? A fine is a penalty for not following the law, which is usually put in place with the violator's safety in mind. It's simple if you don't want to have to pay a fine, then follow the rules. If you don't follow the rules through choice, then don't whine if you end up with a ticket in hand.

In the case of pedestrians walking on the wrong side, there is a law about it:

Pedestrian walking along highway

182 (1) If there is a sidewalk that is reasonably passable on either or both sides of a highway, a pedestrian must not walk on a roadway.

(2) If there is no sidewalk, a pedestrian walking along or on a highway must walk only on the extreme left side of the roadway or the shoulder of the highway, facing traffic approaching from the opposite direction.

(3) A person must not be on a roadway to solicit a ride, employment or business from an occupant of a vehicle.

(4) Except for a person who solicits a ride in an emergency situation, a person who contravenes this section commits an offence.

The fine if you are ticketed for walking on the wrong side is $109.

As for instruction, this is something that is a parent's responsibility. If the schools and other safety agencies want to reinforce the concept this would be a good thing as well.

It's also something for adults to demonstrate so that children realize that it is something worth doing properly.

In reply to by DriveSmartBC

The fine if you are ticketed for walking on the wrong side is $109. Who is supposed to issue a ticket, the RCMP? I have seen them they just drive right on bye. If that is the case my guess would be that it is to much of a headache to collect the fine. They don't have a license plate strapped to them if they are young no ID.Why is such a saftey issue treated so lightly?

Yes, it is a police officer's responsibility to enforce walking on the correct side of the road and if a ticket needs to be issued, they need to do it.

The last pedestrian ticket I issued involved a senior who was walking on the wrong side half way into the curb lane. I stopped to suggest that wasn't such a good idea and he essentially told me where to go and how to do it. I wrote the ticket and ended up in a dispute with him in traffic court. He was found guilty but no penalty was imposed. From then on, whenever he saw me he made a point to "wave" and would spit on the police car.

That pretty much decided my future issuing pedestrian tickets. If the court wasn't going to support it, there wasn't much point in me bothering to write them.