Is it really that difficult to figure this out? Although I do drive, I am a pedestrian about 90% of the time. It never ceases to amaze me how many people, fellow pedestrians, are out there who do not understand the concept of a crosswalk.
Folks are quick to holler at drivers and cyclists, yet often it’s the pedestrian who is in the wrong.
This topic comes to mind after a tragedy this week here in Montreal that resulted in the death of a seven-year-old girl who was hit by a car. I have no idea what the circumstances of the incident were, but it got me to thinking. Folks are quick to holler at drivers and cyclists, yet often it’s the pedestrian who is in the wrong.
I don’t mean those of us who understand traffic lights, yet still cheat. It’s wrong, and it’s illegal, but at least we grasp the rules we are breaking. What leaves me gobsmacked are those pedestrians who think they are within their rights, when in fact they aren’t. Many have somehow managed to live to adulthood without being killed.
When I honked at him, thinking only of his safety, he pointed out that the light was green, and, to his logic, it was his turn to cross. You’d think an adult would know better…
When I was a child, they told us to ignore the colour of the traffic lights when there was a pedestrian component involved. If the orange hand is in sight, regardless of the green light, it is not the time to cross. Conversely, if the little walking man can be seen, even if the light is red, now is when pedestrians can safely cross.
Not a week ago I was driving when a man crossed against the orange hand, not only in one direction, but then pivoted, and did the same across the other street. When I honked at him, thinking only of his safety, he pointed out that the light was green, and, to his logic, it was his turn to cross. You’d think an adult would know better…
DCMontreal 
As a child growing up in Montreal I was somehow made aware of the dashing culture of jaywalking that is a Hallmark of Montreal Pedestrian Locomotion. Maybe that is gone now….crossing the street has become too “safe” and protected. Bring back the senses; eyes, ears, swivelling neck, and above all the adrenaline of sprinting to the other side as a bus bears down on you!