Halifax, we have a problem: people walking across and near our streets are getting killed and maimed by cars. And yes, we all have dealt with erratic and irresponsible pedestrians, but the data overwhelmingly suggests that this is by and large a driver problem, not a pedestrian problem.
Consider: A recent police review detailed 74 pedestrian/vehicular incidents in 2013. Of those, 55 occurred in marked crosswalks. One was in an unmarked crosswalk. Eleven were in parking lots. Just seven were “other,” but those aren’t all classic jaywalking incidents. Police spokesperson Pierre Bourdages says the “other” category includes jaywalkers, but it also includes people hit while walking across a driveway or otherwise behaving responsibly—two women hit by a car walking on the sidewalk near Agricola and North Streets were classified in the “other” category,” for instance.
Perhaps the most telling data point in the police review concerns weather conditions. Seventy-three of the 74 incidents occurred in rain or snow or fog. Think about it: When it was nice out, with good visibility, just one pedestrian was hit, but when conditions reduced visibility, dozens and dozens of pedestrians were hit. This strongly suggests that drivers are going too fast for conditions.
Still, pointing fingers at drivers in and of itself won’t solve the problem. People should drive slower in crappy weather, but will they? Probably not, unless we get some real police enforcement. But there are engineering changes that can help make pedestrians more safe. With the help of readers, we’ve identified 12 problem spots for pedestrians, and make some suggestions about how to improve the design of those crosswalks to, hopefully, prevent future accidents.
Perhaps you have better ideas for these problem spots, or know of other intersections that could use some help. If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Cunard and Robie Streets
WHAT’S WRONG
Here’s another misaligned Cunard Street intersection, which was made that way purposefully by a city determined to turn narrow 19th-century streets into 21st-century expressways for cars. Cunard and Robie have been four-laned to the east and south of the intersection, but Cunard is two lanes to the west and Robie is three lanes to the north. We’re told that as part of the Bayers Road widening project there are secret plans to four-lane Robie all the way from Cunard to Young Street, so obviously the desire here is speed for cars. For pedestrians, it’s another story. Robie Street is a wide stretch of road to cross, with drivers turning south onto Robie going too fast for an intersection that seems designed to make them not see pedestrians. From one direction, Tony’s Variety Store makes the crosswalk a blind spot. From the other, the crosswalk is at an unexpected place, too far into the turn. Pedestrians are struck here, often.
THE FIX
Dig up the asphalt on the south side of Cunard and add it to the North Common, return all the roadways to two lanes–one lane in each direction into the intersection–and disallow right-turns-on-red from Cunard going south onto Robie. That’s probably not going to happen in our all-bow-before-the-car culture, so let’s at the very least get some proper overhead flashing lights for pedestrians.
Mumford Road at the driveway into the shopping plaza near Walmart
WHAT’S WRONG
We’ll leave this one to reader Andrea Patterson, who writes: “Getting off a bus at Mumford terminal and trying to cross on the crosswalk going west along Mumford Road is a problem, even when the walking man light is in your favour. There is a bus-only lane where buses make right- hand turns. The drivers only look left to make a right-hand turn on the red light to get back onto Mumford. Pedestrians often wait two or three lights so as to avoid getting run down by a bus.
THE FIX
Continues Patterson: “Buses have, prior to the walking man crossing signal, their own turn signal. A simple solution would be to disallow right turns on reds here for the buses. It is a major disembarkation point for pedestrians and very dangerous.”
Pleasant Street at RR Bridge past refinery
WHAT’S WRONG
The speed limit on Pleasant Street is 60kph, but this is a wide open stretch of four-lane road that drivers typically travel in the 90-100kph range. Speed is particularly a problem for northbound vehicles, which travel a broad clockwise curve before crossing under the railroad bridge and suddenly coming upon the crosswalk. Drivers can’t see pedestrians, and vice versa, until it is too late for a fast-moving car to stop. There’s also a fundamental design error at this crosswalk: the bus stops, especially on the south-bound side, are placed before the crosswalk, and so departing bus passengers crossing the street walk in front of the bus, where they can’t be seen by on-coming vehicles. This seems too have been a contributing factor in an accident that killed 19-year-old pedestrian Peter Archibald in the crosswalk in 2012.
THE FIX
Some enforcement of the speed limit would be good. Lacking that, flashing lights placed on the railroad bridge to warn of the impending crosswalk, along with a fixed sign telling drivers of both the speed limit and their actual speed (like the one before the toll plaza on the MacKay Bridge), would likely slow drivers down. As for the bus stops, simply moving the southbound bus stop a few metres south, to the other side of the crosswalk, would make a big difference. Also, when we visited the site a full week after a snowstorm, the sidewalk around the push button to activate the crossing light was iced up. To walk across the ice to push the button requires great care, meaning time, and so the light changes before one can walk all the way across the street. The city should make sure the ice is removed.
Bell Road/ Sackville and South Park Streets
WHAT’S WRONG
Pedestrians walking from the east side of Bell Road south across to South Park Street, by the CBC Radio building, face two problems. First, drivers turning from Sackville Street right onto Bell Road get to turn right-on-red for a long time, giving drivers a sense of entitlement so they don’t actually stop at all, even after the walking man appears. For pedestrians, there’s a second danger point at the other side of the street, as the crosswalk is at some remove from the corner. This gives drivers turning right from South Park Street onto Sackville Street the false impression that there are no pedestrians to worry about, and the short space between the corner and the crosswalk becomes a tangled mess. But don’t take our word for it—you can see repeat performances of horrific driving behaviour at this intersection in this video taken by reader John van Gurp, starting at the 1:18 mark:
THE FIX
We realize this is probably a treasonous statement, but the city should do away with right-turn-on-red at this intersection.
Five Corners (Pleasant, Portland and Albert Streets)
WHAT’S WRONG
There’s an optical illusion for drivers travelling east on Portland Street, away from downtown Dartmouth. Those who intend to keep going “straight” on Portland Street, toward the Penhorn area, have to get in a left turn lane, while those turning right, onto Pleasant Street, toward Woodside, travel in what appears to be a mostly “straight” direction, albeit it one with right-turn-on-red privileges. There’s also a slight hill that shifts the drivers’ sight lines into the intersection to the left and away from the sidewalk on the right. Combined, these aspects of the intersection create a problem for people walking east on the south side of Portland Street, crossing Pleasant Street: Drivers tend not to see them, and tend not to stop for them.
THE FIX
There should be a street level light, just before the intersection, that flashes in sync with the walking man light the pedestrian receives.
Bayers Road at Romans Avenue
WHAT’S WRONG
People hoping to walk across Bayers Road from south to north must wait a long time for the light to change–the don’t-walk sign is up for one minute and 25 seconds, by far the longest light we know of. Obviously people shouldn’t cross against the light, but humans being human, many pedestrians give up hope the light will ever change, and they dash out during a gap in traffic. This bad pedestrian behaviour is matched by bad driver behaviour: the speed limit on the westbound lanes of the BiHi is 60kph, but cars are regularly travelling 90kph or more, coming into the blind curve onto Bayers Road, just before the crosswalk at Romans Avenue.
THE FIX
The long period for the red light for pedestrians demonstrates traffic engineers’ view of Bayers Road as an expressway for cars. Remember, the engineers’ plan is to widen the road to six lanes at Romans Avenue–decreasing pedestrian safety even more. But instead of speeding traffic up, we need to slow it down. The light cycle should be reduced to at most a minute, probably less. And some warning lights should be placed on the BiHi off-ramp, alerting drivers to both their speed and the crosswalk around the bend.
Almon and Gladstone Streets
WHAT’S WRONG
Perhaps because it’s a T intersection and not a four-way intersection, drivers seem disinclined to treat this crosswalk with respect. There used to be push button-activated flashing lights above the crosswalk, but for some reason they were taken down when the building on the corner was being constructed. And who’s a tenant in the new building? The Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Also, the contractors hired by the city have not yet this winter cleared the crosswalk on the post office side.
THE FIX
Hello? Blind people! Crosswalk! Ice! Can we get someone to remove the icewall along the curb? And let’s return the push button-activated flashing lights, pronto.
Titus Street at Evans Avenue
WHAT’S WRONG
Fairview is a first-ring suburb never designed to handle the loads of traffic now travelling through to Clayton Park and the giant apartment complexes in the Washmill Lake Drive area. The Dutch Village Road-Titus Street corridor is a mishmash of indistinct roadways with no clear curbs, the roadway blurring into parking lots and lots and lots of pedestrians. We could’ve looked at any of the pedestrian crossings–those at Rufus Street and Rosedale and Central Avenues are also bad–but we chose the one at Evans because a reader told us she “saw a woman and her daughter cross there a few years back and a older gentleman [driver] didn’t see them as the bus blocked his view and hit them. The woman was thrown about 50 feet and her daughter was barely missed. The mother died on the scene.”
THE FIX
The entire corridor needs some major traffic calming features added, including proper curbs, street trees, rumble strips and pedestrian bulbs.
Back in 2009, this particular crosswalk was one of five in HRM picked for the “Side Mounted Flashing Beacons for RA-5 Crosswalks Trial Installations Report,” an oddball study with very questionable methodology (see the report here) testing the effectiveness of “lower-level side-mounted flashing lights,” basically the kind of driver-level lights we say should be installed at Five Corners (see page 6). The study’s results: at this crosswalk, such lights actually decreased pedestrian safety.
One finding gives us pause: “Lone drivers, i.e. drivers of vehicles not part of platoons, were more likely not to stop than the lead drivers of platoons.” In other words, if drivers have another driver behind them to witness them driving like assholes near crosswalks, then they are less likely to drive like assholes near crosswalks. But if it’s only the one driver and the one pedestrian, drivers asshole away.
If we can’t get traffic calming or driver-level flashing lights at this crosswalk, at the very least the bus stop should be moved north, next to the unnamed park with the giant rock, so stopped buses don’t block drivers’ view of pedestrians.
Cogswell Avenue/ Rainnie Drive/North Park, Trollope and Ahern Streets
WHAT’S WRONG
There’s so much wrong with this intersection, but here’s the biggest problem: This is the major pedestrian route for thousands of people walking from the north end, around Citadel Hill to Spring Garden Road, the hospital or universities. When these walkers get to this intersection, they have to cross Cogswell Avenue, but there’s not enough time to also cross Rainnie Street, so they have to wait once more for the light to change. Then, the pedestrians have to deal with drivers turning from North Park left onto Rainnie, who are pulling the same “let’s try to beat the oncoming cars after we lose our advance green” stunt that drivers pull at Gottingen and North (see adjacent), also while pedestrians already have the walking man.
THE FIX
The city very much wants to build a roundabout here, and is undertaking a PR offensive to defuse citizen skepticism of roundabouts. This is good. Trust us on this: A properly designed roundabout will be much safer for pedestrians than the current mess they face.
In the meanwhile, like on Gottingen Street, we need a lag time before the pedestrians’ walking man light comes on. But the combination of the crossing lights for Cogswell and Rainnie is already timed far too shortly–why should a pedestrian have to wait two light cycles to get through the intersection? So, the timing of all the lights needs to be adjusted in pedestrians’ favour.
Gottingen and North Streets
WHAT’S WRONG
Pedestrians walking on the south side of North Street, crossing Gottingen Street towards the Macdonald Bridge, are put at danger each light cycle. At issue are drivers coming off the bridge, turning left onto Gottingen. They have an advance green light to make it through the intersection, but then the light turns to a regular green at the same time as the eastbound North Street traffic (toward the bridge) gets a green light, and at the same time the walking man light comes on for eastbound pedestrians. When these lights change, the drivers attempting to turn left onto Gottingen Street are out in the intersection. They could wait until the oncoming cars pass, but no. Instead, they see the oncoming cars, and accelerate to get through before being hit by the cars. But pedestrians, having already reasonably responded to the cue of the walking man light, are two or three steps off the curb. Cars swerve, pedestrians jump, horns blare, middle fingers extend. Seriously: stand near the intersection during rush hour and watch the same situation unfold over and over again, all day long. It’s a miracle no one has been killed there.
THE FIX
As much as we dislike rewarding fundamentally unsafe driving, we see no realistic chance that these drivers will ever change their behaviour. They’ve got jobs to go to in their downtown office towers. People to see, probably wearing suits. Coffee to purchase. They’re in cars, for dog’s sake. Unlike those pesky pedestrians who are just walking, maybe to the bus stop, the losers. Who’s more important here? The drivers win. So, the walking man light should be delayed two or three seconds after the traffic light turns green, so the left-turning drivers can reign supreme and make it through the intersection. It’s not worth a dead pedestrian to prove a point.
Cunard and Windsor Streets
WHAT’S WRONG
Cunard Street doesn’t continue in a straight line, but rather jogs right along Windsor Street, and then left again to resume its course, leaving uninitiated drivers perplexed and veteran drivers frightened. We’ve seen drivers stop mid-intersection, thinking the Windsor light controls the left back onto Cunard–it does, but only for those who were previously on Windsor and not those who were previously on Cunard…got that? And because Windsor is too narrow to be a true four-lane road, drivers travelling straight on Windsor skirt dangerously around those turning left onto Cunard, and by this time, everyone is freaked out. Throw in a poor pedestrian simply trying to cross the street, and it’s mayhem.
THE FIX
We’re told that some years ago the city turned down an opportunity to buy the Needs property so it could realign the intersection. Too bad. Failing that, what’s needed is overhead flashing lights for pedestrians.
Portland Street, Alderney Drive and Prince Albert Road
WHAT’S WRONG
People walking straight west on Portland Street, on the south side of the street, towards downtown, face a combination of problems. First, this winter, or at least when we visited a week after a snowstorm, the sidewalk in front of 176 Portland disappears under a pile of uncleared snow and ice. To get to the corner, pedestrians have to walk up the DFO building parking lot, then back down a different sidewalk leading from the building. This places the pedestrian at a slight remove from the actual crosswalk, and from that point the walking man sign across the street is blocked by a pole in the median of Alderney.
Additionally, people driving north on Alderney Drive often get a red light/green arrow signal that allows them to turn right onto Portland without stopping. While there’s no conflict with pedestrians in that part of the light cycle, the arrangement conditions drivers to approach the intersection too quickly, even when they don’t have the green arrow, like when pedestrians have the walking man signal. There’s also a brick wall parallel to the street that blocks drivers’ view of pedestrians waiting on the corner.
THE FIX
The city should make sure that snow and ice is removed from the sidewalk in front of the DFO building, and consider moving the pole in the median a few metres to the south, so pedestrians can clearly see the walking man sign across the street. More substantially, the red light/green arrow arrangement should be ended: Require drivers to come to a complete stop before turning right, just like they have to do at every other intersection in town. This will break drivers’ habit of approaching the intersection too quickly. Finally, if the brick wall can’t be removed, at least place a flashing light on its southern end, warning drivers that they are approaching a pedestrian crossing.
Pushing our buttons
While we’re discussing pedestrian safety, let’s not forget the most dangerous public policies affecting pedestrians. We first wrote about this five years ago (see “Crossing the law,” March 12, 2009), when there was a two-fold change in long-held policies. First, new crossing lights are programmed so that the pedestrian don’t-walk/walk signal doesn’t come on automatically but only changes if first activated by the pedestrian pushing a button. Second, the motor vehicle code was changed so that pedestrians don’t automatically get the right-of-way–they must also have the walking man light. Except for when the walking man light is activated, the two changes take the right-of-way away from pedestrians and give it to vehicular traffic instead. We argued then, and now, these changes budge drivers’ collective gestalt towards a sense of entitlement vis-a-vis pedestrian that results in drivers being less careful. Our fears seem to have been realized.
Related Stories
Here’s the guy who keeps hitting pedestrians
This article appears in Jan 9-15, 2014.
Quinpool Road at Quinn and Prince Arthur. People speed up from and down to the Armdale Roundabout, and ignore the crosswalk sign. I have had cars attempt to drive through the crosswalk, after stopping, when I’m crossing with small children, who are unpredictable and difficult to see from a car.
A fix is easy: a traffic light like the one at MacDonald’s on Quinpool.
Every single crosswalk on Lady Hammond is a death trap. Drivers should not assume an absence of pedestrians in a heavy-traffic area.
Cross-walk safety is a complicated issue that requires engagement of many stakeholders.
Pedestrians need to take responsibility for their own safety and not count on drivers to do what they are supposed to.
The city needs to ensure proper maintenance and regular painting of all cross-walks.
Drivers have to drive more appropriately for the weather and be more aware of their surroundings (ie. less distracted by other things going on inside their vehicle), and then there are the police.
With the HRPD, it’s not just a problem with enforcement, it’s a problem with attitude. I’ve reported failure to yield 4 times and only had the problem resolved satisfactorily once.
1. A driver parked at pizza corner backed into me in a cross walk as he was attempting to leave his parking spot. The police tracked him down and issued a ticket.
2. A driver speeding down Argyle street failed to yield. It took the police so long to track down the driver, who turned out to be an employee from a car rental agency, that no one could say for sure which employee was actually driving. Case dropped.
3. While I was crossing on a walk symbol at a signaled cross walk, a Halifax police officer making a left turn onto Rainnie Drive from North Park failed to yield. I was very pregnant and wearing a bright orange jacket at the time. I had to explain to the investigating officer how the timing of signaled intersections works, with a time delay that allows cars that enter properly to clear the intersection before the walk signal comes on. HRPD could not determine which of the two officers in the patrol car were actually driving. I could not pick the driver out of a photo line-up so the case was dropped.
4. A driver failed to yield to myself and my double stroller while in a cross-walk on Barrington Street, in front of a daycare. The HRPD officer spoke to the drivers father, who gave him some story hoping to avoid a ticket. I still wanted the officer to proceed. He investigated further and informed me that the painted lines in the cross walk were worn off too much so he couldn’t issue a ticket.
not sure if you know, but some of your pictures seem to be out of sync with which intersection they go with. It confused me, even though I know every intersection you mentioned. Rearrange?
Some of the proposed “fixes” in the article are just not fixes. Particularly the repeated theme of flashing lights. Even places with those (they are very expensive) and signs prohibiting right turns on red are not safe. Most of these problems emanate from drivers going too fast, because the street is designed to a standard that invites speed outside of rush hour. Several of the intersections included here need a complete re-working as they are also unsafe for vehicles and confusing to visitors – they are bad, and don’t meet any modern expectation of design and safety. Let’s hope the proposed roundabouts are done right, and allow a safe distance for vehicles to stop for crosswalks as they exit the circle, and safe means for bicycles to navigate them (hint: it’s about reducing vehicle speed while maintaining flow) unlike the Armdale Traffic Circle (not a modern roundabout).
I looked at that video, and at Sackville and Bell Road I did not see any case of cars cutting off pedestrians when they were allowed to go. If you look at the traffic light the left turn signal is on, and I know the walk sign on both sides is a red hand because I go through this intersection daily. You cannot see that clearly, and barely see it later in the clip.
If anything, check 1:50-1:52 where a pedestrian illegally enters the crosswalk when the sign is still a red hand. Technically if she were hit by someone turning right (or left) then she should be liable to get a ticket.
The drivers proceeding to not stop at a right hand turn is a problem, but during the course of the video they did not do so when the pedestrians were allowed to cross anyways. Are we watching a different video?
IMHO, the only way to ensure the safety of the pedestrian is to separate the two flows of traffic.
Using a north-south and east-west layout.
N-S Pedestrians get a crossing cycle (Green hand and a red count down) for a period of time (depending on the size of the crosswalk). All motor vehicle traffic has a red light and no right or left turning on red.
The crossing signal goes red and the N-S traffic light turns green. Cars proceed and pedestrians can not cross at this time.
Light changes and E-W pedestrians get their cycle. No cars move.
Crossing Light changes to red and the E-W traffic gets their turn.
This may add time to the intersection (not much), but it will ensure the safety of both traffic flows. Yes, as mentioned above, pedestrians do cause accidents at intersections.
If the two modes of transportation are separated, then accidents should not happen and if they do, blame can easily be assessed.
I must chime in on this, normally I wouldn’t, but I’ve had so many problems like this driving recently that I decided to say my peace.
1. I agree that drivers need to slow down, a lot. I’m a driver and I’ll admit that I do go a little fast sometimes during normal conditions, but I reduce my speed drastically and even turn my phone off when weather/driving conditions are bad. Delivery trucks and buses are some of the worst offenders; I’ve seen delivery trucks block crosswalks so neither drivers nor pedestrians can see each other, especially on Agricola, Spring Garden and Barrington Streets. I watched the video you have posted and if you pay attention, you’ll notice the pedestrians started walking before THEY had the signal and in a few cases they drivers didn’t have time to stop when the light turned yellow because they were committed to the turn. On several occasions at Ochterloney/Maple, I have seen drivers under the spell of the “sheeple effect”; this is the car in font of them runs a red light, so they do, then the car behind them does and so on.
2. Yes, the HRM needs to overhaul light timings and crosswalks. More lights on streets and many more crosswalk signals are needed. Police enforcement of vehicle, bike and pedestrian laws are ALL needed. Recently I almost hit a cyclist during bad visibility because she was going down the wrong way on a one way street, wearing all black, no lights (it was night time) and no helmet.
3. OK, pedestrians, your turn now. LOOK BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET. Seriously, this is Life 101 stuff. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve seen pedestrians walk out into the street with their hoodie up, headphones on and face in their phone. Especially from behind buildings, buses and trucks. Cars don’t stop instantly, they require a couple car lengths to stop and that’s with normal driving conditions and driving a safe speeds. It would be a marvelous start if you all actually used the crosswalks, not the one you imagine is five feet away from the real one. And why can’t people actually press the signal button? Maybe because our hipster-entitlement-I’m not responsible for my own actions-culture expects somebody else to do it for them.
Wake up people, your life is more important than a text or getting to the light a nano second earlier.
I am a conscientious pedestrian (or at least try to be), I have never been hit in Halifax but have come close a few times. The only reason I have almost been hit was drivers rushing and not checking. Safety does go both ways and once as a kid was hit by a car and make sure to always check before crossing. I find two bad habits with drivers in this city:
1. When turning left onto a busy street drivers check right for cars but many times do not look left to see if anyone is crossing the street in front of them before turning (the worst street for this is William Hunt).
2. When a pedestrian hits a crosswalk button drivers should start to slow down…many (esp at Robie near the Irving) will wait till the person starts walking…I find this nerve wracking as I do not want to start walking in front of car that is still going full speed…expecially as I have seen many cars ignore the flashing crosswalk sign during rush hour and drive through.
Pedestrians also need to act safely as was mentioned in previous posts.
Tim,
There is much right with the need for this discussion and the need to tackle this safety problem. But there is also so much wrong with you and your approach to this issue (or really most issues it seems)
“As much as we dislike rewarding fundamentally unsafe driving, we see no realistic chance that these drivers will ever change their behavior. They’ve got jobs to go to in their downtown office towers. People to see, probably wearing suits. Coffee to purchase. They’re in cars, for dog’s sake. Unlike those pesky pedestrians who are just walking, maybe to the bus stop, the losers. Who’s more important here?”
How about you grow the fuck up and stop othering everyone that doesn’t fit your insanely narrow view of real people.
Shit like the above quote is in every damn article you ever seem to write about. You and your insufferable north end elite are not the only real members of the city or region. Not everyone who wears a suit each day is some evil money grubbing Satan, nor anyone who has a job that involves working in an office tower. And coffee?? Really? Are the only real people out there just tea drinkers then? People that wear suits or have a meeting with people in suits all drive cars? Thats funny… I see several high powered lawyers on my way into work each morning getting off the same bus as I, but I guess they are only half real people?
Either way, elevate your dumb ass self out of your apparent permanent teenage angst and show the world the intelligence that is so clearly there beneath the veneer of holier than thou contempt. Maybe if you weren’t so cantankerous the wider world would take you seriously for once. (Like that brief glimmer of hope when you were researching our former mayor)
Ok, so from what I’ve read before, gentrification is bad. But but but the people who wear the suits who WALK to downtown are better than the car folk in suits from the country….but but they live in the gentrified neighourhoods! Help me, The Coast! Who is good and who is bad? Two legs good! Four wheels bad!
Fuck. Only The Coast could do such a well researched paper and still turn people off of supporting what it is getting at.
Seeing as how I can’t afford to live on the Peninsula I guess I’ll just have to continue to “Asshole Along”….
Tim’s nonsense “people who drive cars are meeting people in suits and are more important than bus people” comment was unfortunately the first thing I laid eyes upon when I skimmed this article. That’s too bad, because I agree 100% with NoMoreStrawMen’s comment that this is the kind of asinine, childish bullshit (of which Tim has a rap sheet about a mile long) that takes the bite out of any semi-legitimate reporting or constructive suggestions that Tim offers up for the ills of the city. You can be subjective without being a full-on asshole in every post and story. Being the Howard Beale of Charlie’s Club probably plays well at home, but the constant smarmy chest-beating is doing more harm than good for the issues you’re trying to highlight.
I walk, drive, motorcycle and bicycle and basically if every one followed the rules of the road (and sidewalk) there would be no problems. Human nature being what it is every seems to push the limits of what they can get away with. The problem is that when people do it in cars the consequences are sometimes deadly. They win by shear mass and hazard. Looking at stop signs and amber lights in Halifax what’s obvious is that time and time again, car drivers approach them with no intention of ever coming to a stop, or of yielding to any traffic other than other car traffic. cars roll through stop signs as the drivers are planning their turns and way forward long before they even come to sign. Drivers anticipate amber lights with their foot on the accelerator. They look at oncoming traffic an pedestrians as obstacles that are simply a challenge to get around. Where’s the traffic enforcement? Are stop signs unimportant options now? Drivers have been conditioned they can drive like this with impunity.
Sorry JohnvG, but all I am hearing from you is, “It’s not me, it’s car drivers”. All my modes of transportation are good, but cars are the problem. Funny, it is a similar attitude that many car drivers have as well.
I would like to make a few observations concerning the recent accidents concerning pedestrians. While, I have never been hit while crossing the street, I have had the steel toes of my safety boots ridden over. That is about as close as you can come.
Like many Haligonians, I wear many transportation hats or helmets. At times I am a pedestrian. Until recently, I was a year round bicycle commuter. These old bones do not heal as well as they once did, so I only ride during the parts of the year that does not involve snow and ice. I am also a motorist.
Whichever mode of transportation I use, I try to watch out for the others on the road. I will admit that I am not perfect and on occasion have driven through a crosswalk with pedestrians present. Inattentiveness, blind spots and poor visibility are my reasons for why this sometimes happens. I am not making excuses. When, this happens, I accept that it is my fault and feel very bad and thank my lucky stars that someone was not injured.
Another reason why this happens is what I call the “ninja pedestrian” effect. More and more, I am seeing (or more correctly, not seeing) pedestrians walking around in dark coloured clothing at night and in bad weather. I do not want to make excuses for my fellow motorists, but I would say that some of these accidents or near misses are a result of the ninja pedestrian.
As a motorist and a cyclist, I am required by law to make my means of transportation as visible as possible. I am required to display lights and reflectors on my vehicles. I am require to have safety features, such as wind screen wipers, a horn and brakes. Most motor vehicles are required to have day running lights on their vehicles.
My cars are red. I wear bright cycling clothing and my bike is a light colour and has all of the required safety equipment. When I walk in the evening and in stormy weather, I wear yellow or orange outer gear.
So, having said all of that, why are pedestrians, not required to perform ANY form of due diligence to make themselves more visible. Pedestrians are only required to obey one law. The must cross streets and roads at crosswalks and not walk on the roadway. I think to make our roads safer, pedestrians should also be required to have some sort of visibility enhancing device on their persons, so that they can make themselves more visible during the night or during bad weather. There are plenty of products on the market that could be used to make pedestrians more visible.
The knee jerk reaction to a pedestrian hit in a crosswalk or a near miss is to automatically blame the motorist. I would say that a pedestrian who is hit in a crosswalk who is displaying ninja apparel is as much to blame as the motorist who did not see them.
Again, motorists and cyclist required by law to be as visible as possible. Pedestrians, not so much. Motorists are responsible for the safety of others on the roadways. Pedestrians have no responsibility for the safety of others and many pedestrians do not even take responsibility for their own safety.
That needs to change or I will wager that there will be more accidents rather than less in the future.
Maybe the author of this article should have done a little research before posting this story. In regards to the “unnamed park with the giant rock” at the corner of Titus St. and Evans Ave. The park’s name is, get this “Titus Smith Park”. I disagree with moving the bus stop from where it is. People J-walk enough as it is through that intersection without adding more J-walkers trying to get from and to this bus stop.
I live in that area and although people who are getting hit in this cross is mostly the driver’s fault, there pedestrians in this area of town take absolutely no responsibility for their own safety. If I’m crossing the street and the bus is in the right hand lane, I stop at the bus’ corner and I don’t keep moving forward until I’m sure traffic has stopped. As a driver in the left hand lane (heading north), my passenger has many times had flag a car coming up in the right hand lane seemingly not going to stop. If I’m a pedestrian in that intersection I don’t proceed until I know the cars have stopped. The solution for that intersection should be a set of lights, synchronized with the ones at Main Ave and Titus St.
I think the solution for the entire city should be, time is given for pedestrians to cross at intersections before cars can go. Once the cars are allowed to go, no pedestrian traffic.
THANKS for offering solutions. See how the author showed a problem and actually offered a workable solution? This may be anti-maritimer, but very refreshing!
If we just followed the basic right-of-way rules that work everywhere else we wouldn’t have such problems.
Rule #1: In each case, someone has the right-of-way. Do not block that right-of-way.
This is the same if you are walking, biking, driving, rickshawing or crawling and it doesn’t have to complicated.
Walking: Watch where you are going, and do not block any vehicles that have the right of way.
Biking: Watch where you are going, and don’t abuse the fact that you can easily go through sidewalks and short-cuts.
Driving: This whole town needs a driving lesson. Do not block the intersection, and observe right of way. If you are alone in a car, and a bus is carrying 30 people, then yield to it. That bus is 40 times more important.
DO NOT waive people through to break right of way (is this an effort to be ‘nice’? Its just dangerous).
Aside for Taxis (not really a right-of-way rule, but a global common sense thing)
Cabs: Use your roof light. Its on if you are available and off when you are not. Its really that easy. By making it difficult you lose tons of business… its your call if you want to make a better living; but it doesn’t have to be as complicated as you are currently making it.
Respect each other! We all just want to get around town; whichever mode of transport we happen to be using.
Nice to see this issue getting coverage, but I wish that the article was about the root causes of pedestrians getting hit, rather than a technical debunking of each intersection by authors who aren’t technically trained.
The root problems of marginalization of pedestrians and other non-car road users could begin to be addressed by:
– Get rid of flashing yellow crosswalks. Install red lights at all crosswalks: this is the only way drivers are guaranteed to stop. Think about it, why the hell do we use a flashing yellow? It makes no sense.
– Mandatory minimum fines and/or sentencing for hitting pedestrians in crosswalks, cyclists in bike lanes, etc.
– Make the fines associated with ALL traffic violations based on the VEHICLE MOMENTUM and severity of infraction. This would create an incentive for motorists to switch to lighter more efficient vehicles and slow down at the same time.
–>That way if you run a red light in a delivery truck or bus, you will get a ticket that is proportional to the amount of damage you could have potentially done, and pedestrians/cyclists would get extremely cheap tickets, reflecting the disproportionate risk they are exposed to as road users.
I think a better solution, rather than the use of red lights at crosswalks would to remove the blue light from the Police and give it to crosswalks and areas where pedestrians are prevalent. The Police and emergency services already have RED lights to signify that they are to be obeyed. Similarly, red lights at intersections and on school buses are strictly obeyed. I see no good reason why the Police need to be distinguished from other emergency services.
On the other hand, giving pedestrians a singular colour (BLUE), might greatly add to their safety. You see a blue flashing light, stop for a pedestrian. The Halifax Shopping Centre has made the crosswalks blue. They are very visible. Disabled parking is also blue. Disabled parking areas are mostly for the benefit of disabled people once they become pedestrians. They park close to businesses, so that mobility is easier.
I think if HRM and NS were to set a precedent and make blue the singular colour of pedestrians and our disabled, that might go a long way to making pedestrians safer.
The Motor Vehicle Act also needs to be changed. Presently, it does not say that motorists are required to stop for pedestrians. It only states that they “shall yeild” to pedestrians. Yield does NOT mean stop. STOP means stop. Act should be changed to reflect that.
FROM THE MVA
Pedestrian and vehicle rights of way
125 (1) Where pedestrian movements are not controlled by traffic signals,
(a) the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way to a
pedestrian lawfully within a crosswalk or stopped facing a crosswalk;
If everyone stopped wearing suits and working in business professions, we’d all be so much safer on the streets.
Yup, this is the kind of penetrating analysis we’ve come to expect from Timothy Buckets.
Way to raise the public discourse.
Pedestrians need to wait till the car is stopped before crossing, make eye contact
Motorists need to stop in a safe manner.
Remove those yellow flashing lights because it gives a false sense of safety. I put the onus more on pedestrians as they’re at more risk.
(Yes I am a pedestrian too, I put the responsibilty on me as I have more to lose if hit)
addendum:
Putting my garbage out one night this week, its a little rainy and as usual only a few street lights are working. I’m startled by the sound of screeching tires. I look up and there’s a pedestrian crossing at a crosswalk, and normally I would consider that near miss the drivers fault. Nope.
Said pedestrian game out from behind the utility pole, wearing all black (another pedestrian ninja), hoodie up, didn’t press the button and gave the driver the middle finger. The driver gets out of his car, walks over and presses the button and says loudly “sorry I forgot to press the button for you sir, I’ll do better next time sir” gets in his car and drives away with me, the other drivers and another pedestrian applauding.
Sorry North-end-hipster-elite-entitled, but that was funny.
In Finland and the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) pedestrians *must* wear safety reflectors in dark conditions. Poland is moving to make them mandatory. In a number of other European countries the percentage of pedestrians who voluntarily wear them is very high.
I’d seriously consider making safety reflectors for pedestrians mandatory here. You cannot see a pedestrian in dark clothes in certain conditions at all, not in time.
Crosswalks *in front of* a bus stop – major problem. It still baffles me how anybody could ever have thought this was OK.
The Gottingen-North crosswalk: so true. As a ped you learn to wait those extra 5 seconds to let the last 3 or 4 cars make their left turns on red…if you naively step out as soon as you are legal, you’ll die.
Drivers must yield to pedestrians is the law.
Pedestrians must yield to drivers until they see the driver yielding.
If the pedestrian doesn’t yield he gets hurt and it’s his fault.
It is that simple. Any city in the world knows that.
Ninja pedestrian is right! Street lighting and headlights often result in a confusing scene of glare and reflections bouncing here and there, especially in rain or fog. We need to stop blaming and start studying what light conditions and technology could help. And people need to wear light coloured and/or reflective clothing.
I’ve had a pedestrian jump off the curb 10 feet from the crosswalk, go by way of the street to the crosswalk yelling and gesturing because I didn’t stop for her. By the time she was on the crosswalk, I was fully past it. She is probably telling everyone who listens that her rights were violated. Or they expect drivers to read their minds and stop because they were striding down the sidewalk “obviously” intending to cross. Drivers don’t need to consider walkers until they are at the curb, stopped. Walkers are going to have to break stride now and then.
This issue seems to be the crosswalk itself. People will make mistakes, but with this number of accidents, it appears to be another issue. Crosswalks are randomly placed throughout the city; just around a bend, or a hill, and on 60+ km/h roads. Drivers dont have enough time to react. To really fix this issue, is to remove the danger, and that is 1. the drivers, 2. the pedestrians, or 3. the random crosswalks. If NS does what most of the world does, this woundnt be such an issue. Make pedestrians cross at intersections. Simple.