Pedestrians

ICBC's annual pedestrian safety campaign started yesterday. The campaign is partnered with BC police who are conducting their own drive relative to conditions initiative that will be focused on speed and pedestrians. (BCACP has not published any details on this.)

A recent study by Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI) concluded that the average city spent about 1 percent of its infrastructure budget on sidewalks, even though walking accounted for 11 percent of residents’ trips every day and pedestrian fatalities constituted 17 percent of all traffic deaths. Walking (including wheelchair, scooter and handcart use) is the universal travel mode. Improving walking conditions can provide many benefits

The University of British Columbia's Research on Active Transportation Lab has released information on their study about the Perceived Safety and Comfort of Pedestrian Interactions with Self-driving Vehicles (SDVs). The study was conducted to inform strategies for the responsible introduction of SDVs in a way that does not degrade the walking experience.

Vancouver's Worst Drivers is a YouTube channel that features submitted dash cam video from BC's Lower Mainland highlighting examples of terrible driving. The videos show collisions, people being dumb behind the wheel, people having no idea how rules of the road work, pedestrians doing stupid things, along with rants on things that drive the channel author nuts about other drivers.

QUESTION: My father is buying an electric scooter. He is wanting to know if there are any driving regulations that he should be aware of including;

The case of Huang v Wamboldt involves a collision between a driver and a pedestrian at the intersection of East 3rd Avenue and Cotton Drive in Vancouver. Lily Huang was walking westbound on the north side of East 3rd Avenue crossing Cotton Drive and Dwight Wamboldt was driving eastbound on East 3rd Avenue intending to turn left onto Cotton Drive.

The case of Panganiban v Sovdat involves the crosswalk on 160th Street about 130 metres south of 96th Avenue in Surrey. Ms. Panganiban, aged 14, was walking home from school with a friend and began to cross 160th Street in the marked crosswalk. Ms. Sovdat was driving southbound on 160th Street and collided with the two pedestrians. Ms. Sovdat denied liability for the collision stating that the girls had walked in front of her when she was so close that she could not avoid striking them.

Part of Parachute Canada's Vision Zero Collection is an explanation of centerline hardening strategies that are intended to make intersections safer for pedestrians by reducing the turning radius for motor vehicles. The use of physical objects such as bollards, delineators or rubber curbs encourage drivers to make left turns at slower speeds.

Question: A pedestrian was on the sidewalk mid block and an approaching driver stopped to allow the pedestrian to jay walk. The car in the adjacent lane behind this driver stopped abruptly and almost caused a collision because the car following that vehicle was not expecting the stop. Should the second car have stopped or just kept going?

Here is a public safety video from the province of Quebec that has the aim of convincing pedestrians to cross in crosswalks rather than jaywalking. Here in B.C. jaywalking or crossing the road at a place other than a crosswalk is generally not illegal and may not be as unsafe as some people think. It is only prohibited in municipalities where a bylaw against the practice has been enacted.