Pedestrian Safety
“Pedestrians always have the right-of-way”, is one of the
most vicious myths ever propagated by the general public. It is, quite simply,
not true. An even harsher version of that statement, “In Florida, the
pedestrian always has the right-of-way” is often (mis)quoted.
The problem with the above statement(s) is that it empowers
pedestrians to simply cross where they want, ignoring signs and signals and
even traffic…almost daring you to hit them.
This link is from the FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
It cover the “rights and responsibilities” of pedestrians, as outlined in the
Florida Statutes (something not needed if they always had right-of-way!).
One of the reasons I take each of my students on a beach run
(Beach Blvd), is to explain to them what to watch for in pedestrians; errors in
walking across, using/not using the provided green flags, flashing lights at
some crosswalks, anticipation of what a pedestrian might do based on location,
body stance, and visual search.
Pedestrians do not have the right-of-way, except in certain
cases where they are WITHIN a crosswalk. This is why we often read in the paper
where a pedestrian was injured/killed and the driver WAS NOT CITED. How can
this be if the pedestrian always has the right of way?
No comments:
Post a Comment