Global TV is airing a pair of public service ads that purport to educate people on how to increase crosswalk safety. The ads, which are lame even by community PSA standards, tell us that there are two “teams” in the game of crossing the street—motorists and pedestrians. But both ads are aimed at only the pedestrian team, which is told to stay between the white lines and for some inexplicable reason to stick their hands out in front of them while crossing the street.
The two recent crosswalk deaths in Dartmouth were caused by motorists breaking the law and plowing over innocent pedestrians legally and sensibly crossing at marked crosswalks, but the Global ads don’t have any suggestions for how the motorist team can increase crosswalk safety—by like, ya know, stopping at the damn crosswalks. It’s all on pedestrians.
Last year’s Crosswalk Safety Task Force, a body made up primarily of traffic engineers, came to a similar conclusion: the way to make crosswalks safer is to make it harder for pedestrians to cross the street. The task force insisted on the installation of the push-button-required crossing lights popping up around Halifax, and they got pedestrian-related laws amended such that for the first time since the invention of the automobile, the right-of-way is given to cars, not pedestrians.
The Global ads are also a recommendation of the task force and cost taxpayers $19,500, which was split between the province and city, says Cathy MacIsaac, spokesperson with the Department of Transportation. MacIsaac seems embarrassed by the ads, and quickly relays that they’re “old ads designed by HRM…we’ll have new ones out in the fall, for both pedestrians and motorists.” I can’t wait.
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2009.
It’s pretty sad that we’re even paying for any advertisements like this. Those motorists and pedestrians who don’t already know exactly what the rules are for marked crosswalks, for example, are probably developmentally disabled and perhaps shouldn’t be driving, and possibly not even walking without supervision. Education about laws and regulations is not the issue here.
What’s causing the problem are ineptitude, carelessness, apathy, and deliberate dangerous behaviour. What I’d suggest is putting in cameras at known dangerous crosswalks, along with speed measurement, alert the public (both motorists and pedestrians) that they can request a video review for a given time period at a given instrumented crosswalk, and see what transpires. Pay for the system by levying fines on the transgressors. Never happen, though – the powers that be aren’t particularly interested in effective enforcement.
The term “dangerous crosswalk” ought to tell you something. There are far too many crosswalks blithely dropped onto heavily trafficked, fast moving streets without sufficient signage or controls. Time to stop blaming the pedestrians and drivers exclusively and add the designers of these things into the mix of hazards. The city and/or province must also be held accountable.
I just witnessed pedestrian 1 foot away from getting killed at the quinpool and vernon st intersection. It was the fault of the driver who sped through a right turn without checking for pedestrians.
No matter who’s fault it is though, the end result is the pedestrian gets severely injured. I see many pedestrians not even look when they cross the street in Halifax and I am not surprised at these incidents. Halifax used to have a “small town feel” to it. It doesn’t seem that way anymore, and in big cities, you are VERY cautious when walking.
There are too many reckless drivers out there and that will not change. The best the city can do is make sure crosswalks are frequently painted, more noticeable and stricter reckless driving punishments, but most of the people who commit these crimes only realize the consequences after the action has happened.
So, please be more careful when walking these streets.
if i may interject, i’d like to get this off my chest…
Montreal is the ONLY city in Canada (that i know of) that is truly bike-friendly, because many of the bike lanes are ‘buffered’ – *physically separated* from motorized traffic (cars/trucks/etc) by shifting the vehicle parking lane (parked cars) from the right curb toward the middle of the road, and then putting the bike lane where the parking lane was. this turned out to be a brilliant idea, b/c the parked cars provide a buffer/safety zone for the cyclists, since they are no longer in contention with cars/trucks, AND the risk of getting ‘doored’ by a careless motorist (opening his/her door *before* looking in their rearview mirror) is practically eliminated. montreal’s network of bike lanes were carefully planned & thought-out (actual cyclists were consulted, imagine that), and a lot of the bike lanes traverse one-way streets through montreal’s quiet residential neighbourhoods (which we cyclists LOVE).
as an avid cyclist myself, and having lived in montreal for several years, i can tell you that it is an absolute JOY to cycle in that city, especially compared to halifax, which to my mind has been STUPIDLY designed, almost *exclusively* for a mindless/careless/wasteful car culture, where cylists AND pedestrians are forced to take a back seat to motorists, in terms of road sharing, safety and so on.
to we pedestrians & cyclists, HRM is like one big fucking ugly highway/parking lot… it’s just horrible and hostile. bayers lake for instance, WTF is that hideous monstrosity all about?!
Halifax could LEARN a thing or two about how they do things in other cities (like montreal)… but of course, we like to do everything ass backwards HERE!
oh and btw, helmets on NOT mandatory in montreal, which i also enjoyed. sometimes i wore my helmet, other times i didn’t, but at least i had a friggin CHOICE.
anyway, dedicated/buffered bike lanes are the ONLY proven way to provide SAFE road conditions for cyclists, and many lives are spared b/c of it.
google it and find out for yourself, if you don’t believe me.
oh, and those five ottawa cyclists that were struck (and seriously injured) by the hit-n-run minivan, were riding their bikes in a non-buffered bike lane. lesson is, the city can’t just paint some goddamn lines a few feet from the curb and then expect it to be SAFE for cyclists to ride in. there *must* be a physical barrier b/w motorized and non-motorized vehicles. that is why many cyclists choose to NOT ride on the road, but on the sidewalks instead, because the road is simply NOT SAFE.
I agree with the Krusty’s “too many crosswalks” assessment. Vehicles stop for many reasons. Stopping before turning is probably 99% of stoppages. If this estimate is accurate, 99% of stopped vehicles do NOT require other vehicles to stop. So generally, a stopped vehicle is not a reason for other vehicles to stop.
Crosswalks are simply not safe, EVER, they should exist. Pedestrians should just learn to cross traffic safely by using their eyes and their brains, or waiting for the regular traffic lights.
what a joke.they put a crosswalk right across my drive way…hrm don’t care about the people of spryfield..I live here so far for 38 yeras………….
Take a drive by 42 A old Sambro road.Look at the Crosswalk right in the drive way.Taking most of the owners drive way up.Pretty sad thinking by the city.If the city was thinking safty for pedestrian?