A friendly reminder:
Marked or unmarked, crosswalks exist at every intersection. Signs or no signs. Painted lines or no painted lines.
—Crosser
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2009.
Dear Drivers
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This is not true. Crosswalks do exist at MOST intersections, but not ALL intersections.
For example NW?
The pedestrian doesn’t get the right of way at an unmarked intersection. Right?
HRM should get with the program and make painted, signed and traffic light controlled crossings the only recognised legal crosswalks. The wording currently used makes it sound like a pedestrian could walk out onto Akerley Blvd and expect 4 lanes of traffic to slam to a stop. Walk to the nearest “legal” crosswalk!
From HRM’s website:
http://www.halifax.ca/traffic/TypesofCross…
The confusions comes from this:
“There is a crosswalk at every intersection, whether marked by lines or unmarked. Drivers must always yield the right of way to pedestrians lawfuly in crosswalks.
Every pedestrian crossing at a roadway at any point other than at a crosswalk shall yield the right of way to vehicles on the roadway.”
According to the wording, all sides of an intersection would be considered a crosswalk, no matter whether traffic has a stop sign or not. Technically a motorist would be expected to stop dead for a pedestrian on high-speed and high-volume roads like Main St, Portland St, etc even though through traffic has the right of way.
There is a discrepancy between the road rules in HRM and those covered by the NS DOT plus the common sense applied by most other municipalities.
Also, what is considered an intersection? Two full streets crossing each other? I have to cross Morris onto Church all the time, but because Church does not cross through Morris, but simply starts on one side, does that make it not an intersection? No one ever stops there.
In Canada, the pedestrian always has the right of the way. In the US, they don’t.
Apparently Snoogans doesn’t like to read. Look 2 posts up, you are incorrect.
There is also a clause though in which a pedestrian can’t expect a car to stop in an unreasonably short distance, for instance the people who expect a car that is travelling 50-60km/h and is 30ft from the crosswalk when the signal is pressed to stop in time. One street which is bad for this is Robie St. by the hospital. Most people think they can hit the button mid-stride as they walk past it right out onto the crosswalk.
I don’t understand how the driver is supposed to know if a pedestrian has the intention of crossing or not at an unmarked crosswalk?
Is the person trying to cross? Waiting for a bus? Just standing there?
Is the driver supposed to read their mind?
Perhaps if you see a person at an unmarked crosswalk, you could approach the intersection with a little more caution in case they decide to start crossing. You probably have a stop sign anyway. Pedestrians can help the situation by indicating that they intend to cross (pointing) and trying to make eye contact with a driver before they step out into the road. Everyone should do their part.
From the NS Motor Vehicle Act:
“crosswalk” means that portion of a roadway ordinarily included within the prolongation or connection of curb lines and property lines at intersections *or* any other portion of a roadway clearly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.
I emphasized the “or” so as to make it clear that markings do not a crosswalk make. Crosswalks are created by intersections, plain and simple, regardless of markings. Right of way has to do with crosswalks, in turn, so again, marking has nothing to do with it.
A lot of drivers clearly have no clue that there are 3 crosswalks at a 3-way intersection, even if none of them are marked. Pedestrians have the right of way at each one. Of course a prudent pedestrian had better make eye contact, wave arms, and be ready to jump when they venture off the curb…
One poster mentioned Akerley Blvd. There are in fact a bunch of places where a pedestrian has a legal unmarked crossing on that road, just as is the case for a shitload of other roads. But as is also mentioned in the MVA, the reason they put markings down is where an unmarked crosswalk is considered to be hazardous…a reasonable pedestrian is going to try to use the marked ones vice the unmarked ones…not much point in being correct and dead.
I say on non-busy streets, be a freaking man and cross when the way is clear, provided you are an able adult. Jay-walking be damned. Me jamming on my brakes so you don’t have to wait another 4 seconds to cross seems rather ridiculous to me.
Dear Pedestrian
Though these are crosswalks, vehicles cannot stop on a dime. Please remember what you should do. Stop at the crosswalk/intersection, look both ways (smart people continously look both ways while crossing. Put out your arm (remeber those commercials. Start walking when traffic has stopped. That way everyone lives and no one has a guilty conscience.
Realist – I’d question the wording in my ealier post that states there “is A crosswalk at every intersection”. Does this mean all sides of a 4-way or 3-way intersection is a crosswalk or are we supposed to guess that maybe its the street where traffic has a stop sign or is it telling us to walk out into the traffic lane that has the right of way?
There is no need for every friggin intersection point to become a crosswalk. Walking in front of cars at a stop sign is fine but they should place markings/signs indicating crossing locations where traffic doesn’t have a stop sign. The corner by the TD Bank on Barrington (across from Grand Parade) is a fine example… they’ve signed one of the Barrington crossings and have let the other one fade away, so people should really use the one that is painted and marked.
Time to get rid of the section of the Motor Vehicle Act which defines every intersection as a pedestrian right of way. Mark roads with crosswalks at longer distances, painted, light them, have flashing lights, have a sign telling pedestrians that it is an offence to enter the crosswalk without activating the lights and determining that a vehicle has stopped, and require a pedestrian to walk briskly : not saunter, amble, drag your ass unless old, with small kids or infirm. Drive out to Woodside on Pleasant Street and you have an intersection every 200 feet or less. Same in parts of peninsula Halifax. Today I saw a young woman wander across 4 lanes of Victoria Road near Primrose because it was inconvenient to walk 150 feet to the traffic lights at Primrose. You will even see stupid adults doing it with little kids in the same place because they like walking in straight lines. I wish the cops would put in a few shifts in plain clothes and ticket the stupid pedestrians as well as ignorant drivers.
What’s even better are the idiots trying to cross the Circ between Highfield and Burnside. The only thing that amazes me about that is no one (I don’t think) has been killed there.
Regardless of who has the right of way, pedestrians should ALWAYS stop and look first before running out into ANY road way. It just makes sense. You can argue over who’s right and who’s wrong , ’til you’re blue in the face. Vehicle is bigger and takes longer to stop, every one has a different reaction time, just because I stop doesn’t mean the guy behind me, or beside me is going to. And then there are weather conditions, if it is wet or snowy, I really am not going to slam on my brakes when I see you…well, I could but I’ll probably just slide and possibly cause a collision. And drivers should stop fucking talking on their cells, texting, stuffing thier faces, doing their hair/make up, reading, writing, etc. while driving!!! If you actually paid an iota of attention while you were behind the wheel, we wouldn’t even have to hear complaints from peds, you’d see the car in front of or beside you stopping, and you’d SEE the guy waiting to cross the fucking street at the corner!!!! One more note, the pedestrians that stand at the edge of the road or corner and are not crossing, step the hell back before I run your f’in toes over!!! 😉
Voice_Of_Reason: I agree with you. I’m familiar with that crosswalk by Grand Parade – there are any number of others like it. For 3-ways in particular, one of the three crosswalks is obvious, and it doesn’t need marking, although marking doesn’t hurt. To use our example, that’s the crosswalk parallel to Barrington, across George Street. Of the other two, crossing Barrington itself, I agree – leave one clearly marked and encourage people to use just that one. The MVA should be changed to make it clear that at an intersection where some crosswalks are marked, the other possibilities are no longer crosswalks.
But even if the law changes we do still have the issue of intersections where no crosswalks are marked. For example, Granville at Salter – also a 3-way. In this situation there is no choice – you have to consider all three possibilities to be crosswalks, which of course legally they are now anyway.
JoeBlow, looks like you’re having a bad day. I’m a pedestrian and driver both. Speaking with my ped hat on, I can tell you that the huge majority of pedestrians don’t amble or saunter across crosswalks – they walk at a reasonable pace, and quite a few do in fact speed up over their normal walking pace when in a crosswalk. Yes, there’s the usual 5 or 10% who are assholes, but you won’t get them to speed up under any circumstances. As for the stretch of Pleasant from say Five Corners out to the Circ, sure, there’s lots of crosswalks, but based on 3 decades of driving (and I’m from downtown Dartmouth) I’d guess that your chances of having to stop for a ped at *any* crosswalk on that stretch, anywhere other than at traffic lights, is at most 10-20% on any given trip. At least 4 trips out of 5 on that stretch you’ll never have to stop for a pedestrian. One exception – if you’re passing through at rush hour, then you may stop at 1-2 crosswalks in the course of driving over 2 klicks…that’s not exactly real hardship, and you’ll make up any stop time during the rest of your driving.
It should be noted that it’s legal to cross any street anywhere along that street as much as your heart desires as long as you yield to the vehicles. Crosswalks merely give the pedestrian the right of way. If you want to cross anywhere else when the road is clear go ahead.
I agree with pedestrians exercising caution. I don’t own a car, so I rely on my feet and my heartbeat to get me where I want to go. But I am extremely cautious. I never cross in front of someone that doesn’t see me, and I jaywalk only when I have time to do so. I see a lot of pedestrians being assholes and thinking that since they have the right of way, they’re invincible.
Just so you drivers know, we’re not all asshole pedestrians. We’re good people. I wave and mouth “thank you” to drivers that stop for me. Don’t hate on us because you have to stop at a crosswalk for 15 seconds. Please!
A friendly reminder: Marked or unmarked, look both ways before walking (or better yet, pushing your baby carriage) into on-coming traffic.
People that are to lazy to walk 2 feet to a crosswalk really jerk my chain. I won’t stop for a pedestrian if they aren’t at a crosswalk. They can stand there and wait for all i care.
I’ve found that by putting both your hands in your pockets and looking up like a meek schoolgirl, drivers are more likely to stop for you. Hands have to be in the pockets though.
Walking is my main mode of transportation around Halifax. I’m smart enough to cross on crosswalks (which exist at all intersections, marked or not, as stated above several times). I can also manage to cross where there is no crosswalk, if there is no traffic within range. I do it often. I certainly DO NOT expect a driver to stop for me when I am crossing in the middle of the block. I would prefer that they did not stop. I’m not going to step out and it takes no time for them to drive by. If they stop in the middle of the block they risk getting rear-ended by the next driver back. If I’m in a cross walk, please, don’t run me down. If I’m taking a short cut, I’ll wait until it’s safe.