[Image-1]
Dear Folks of Halifax,
For the love of logic and reason, Please stop the amateur directing of traffic! If you are a pedestrian about to cross, please do not motion for a car to “go ahead”. You have the right of way and the car waits for you. You might have pipe dreams of being a police officer, but unless you actually are, the “go ahead” wave just causes confusion. You see, the driver is not supposed to go ahead. You are.
If you are driving along and, in oncoming traffic, you see someone needs to turn left, do not stop all traffic behind you and wave for them to “go ahead”. The car turning left is waiting for a safe time to turn and you are not a reliable source of information here.
a) There could be another lane on your right that you are not paying attention to.
b) How would the left turner know that you are checking all your mirrors for them? Why would they want to take that risk?
I would say if you are waving a “go ahead” you are probably not someone I trust to decide when I should turn at all since you seem to think you can make up the rules as you go. (The old “rotary rules” are a prime example of this.) For all that driver knows, you could be waving a fly away from your head and they could misinterpret you.
Do not, from your car, take this moment, to paste a big smile and to lip sync more enthusiastic “go aheads” with a driver in some sort of delightful argument based on a misguided sense of pride about your ability to rewrite the road rules.
I know you think you are being “helpful and polite” and you get some sort of kick out of it but unless someone is in danger your “go aheads” are CAUSING danger. Defensive driving is not the same as directing traffic. You are not in a cute country town where you can get away with freewheeling driving whereby everyone is meandering there way through the sleepy streets.
There are rules for a reason.
Be part of the solution and follow them.
—Logicwarrior
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2015.
Welcome CFA! We do things differently here. Adapt or leave.
Yup…if everyone just followed the rules of the road instead of making them up on the fly, maybe drivers would stop mowing down pedestrians.
There’s one good thing about being a pedestrian traffic director – he doesn’t have to get a horse. On the other hand, if he were sitting on a horse, his directions would carry a great deal more weight. Get a horse!
I find it annoying when peds signal for the driver to ‘go ahead’ at a crosswalk. The driver already stopped, just fucking cross the street already.
Yes. Probably the most dangerous drivers on the road are the “Go Ahead” wavers.
Hey, lets stop traffic behind us and wave this oncoming person to ‘go ahead’ and turn left in front of us and then watch the hilarity ensure when the people behind us go around and t-bone the person ‘going ahead’.
Idiots.
Agreed
I got halfway through this missive and fell asleep on the keyboard.
My thoughts on this subject were: ‘haielnfapi’eiiam93m,nfsa75a40,me3,s a./gifrjfcuer;rkmkyolm afap;dusa’ quote, unquote.
Carry a mannequin’s arm. Problem solved.
The right-of-way is a responsibility.
Plenty of two lane roads or approaching intersections where the right lane must turn right, so waiving someone out wouldn’t be that dangerous, same as waving someone out of a parking lot on a busy day, It’s nice to show a bit of kindness, Especially for the roads we all travel daily as motorist, McDonalds on Quinpool turning right on a busy day? Ugggggh… Let a mom in a minivan out? She’s exhausted just worked all day at the hospital, loaded up the 5 year old Dodge Caravan with the kids for soccer which she’s running late for, and has a migraine, Probably good to show her a little love, That’s not me but an everyday scenario, the world could use less selfish behavior, Its why the world is the way it is today…
So if an accident occurs because of a “courtesy wave” who do think will be found at fault if a car accident occurs?
Similarly if you wave a pedestrian to cross the street outside of a crosswalk (marked or unmarked) who do you think will be at fault if personal injury occurs?
I’m all for common courtesy but there are rules of the road for a reason.
Agree Completely. Right of way works around the world for a reason, and it works here.
And under no circumstances, never, ever, listen to clowns like ‘Je Sonna’ who want to do the hokey local thing. ‘Geez eh, some fancy CFA with your right of way, but we do it different here”. Just ignore those people at all times.
I disagree. If a pedestrian let’s the car go first, traffic flows a lot more smoothly.
Not always the case, but not bitch worthy. If a pedestrian let’s you go, just go.
It shouldn’t be a of cause confusion.