Streets are for cars and sidewalks are for people - if it were only this simple. On many occasions vehicles and people must cross paths, hopefully in a safe manner. Vehicles must turn into driveways and in so doing have to drive over sidewalks and pedestrians have to cross streets to get to where they are going. The Chenango County Traffic Safety Board reminds motorists and pedestrians of the need to respect each other's rights of way. Statistics gathered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveal that pedestrians are among the most vulnerable users of our streets and roads. The NHTSA numbers show that male pedestrians are more likely to die or be injured in a motor vehicle accident than female pedestrians. And the rate of pedestrian death generally increases with age. Similarly, children are at greater risk of injury or death from traffic accidents involving pedestrians due to their small size, their lack of experience, judging distances, speeds, and their lack of experience with traffic rules.
Motorists should remember to always be on the lookout for pedestrians, especially when turning into driveways and parking lots. Pedestrians should be absolutely confident that drivers are aware of their presence and waiting to make sure vehicles come to a complete stop to allow for pedestrian to cross at appropriate locations.
The Chenango County Traffic Safety Board would like to dispel some myths regarding the interaction between motorists and pedestrians.
First, pedestrians only have right of way to cross a street at a designated crosswalk. Motor vehicles are required to stop for a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk; this is the rule in a nutshell. There are some roads and streets that have no marked crosswalk. In those cases pedestrians should cross at an intersection in a straight line as if the sidewalk extends onto the pave roadway.
Secondly, there aren’t any ‘jay walking’ laws in Norwich. “Jay Walking” is the act of a pedestrian crossing a street at an area not a crosswalk. Because there is no local ordinance for jay-walking, the New York State Vehicle and Traffic law is the rule to follow. Here is an edited portion of NYS V&T Law section 1151 and 1152 concerning who has right of way: “a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping for a pedestrian crossing a roadway within a crosswalk”. And for pedestrians, “every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than a marked crosswalk shall yield the right of way to all vehicles on the roadway”.
This is where things get tricky. A pedestrian can make the unwise choice to cross a street at a location that is not a designated crosswalk or at an intersection, but they do so at their own peril. Vehicles are not required to stop for pedestrians who are ‘jay-walking’. There have been times when a polite motorist has caused a motor vehicle accident by stopping for a jay-walker. The polite motorist is actually causing confusion and not following the law. Accidents have happened because a polite motorist has stopped in the middle of a block for a pedestrian in the roadway. The vehicles following are not expecting to stop in the middle of a block and have rear ended the polite motorist. In cases like this, the following motorist was at fault for following too closely and the polite motorist did not follow the law when they had the right of way. Motorists who stop for jaywalkers perpetuate the myth that ‘all cars must stop for pedestrians anywhere in the street’ and also incorrectly teaches pedestrians they can cross anywhere they choose and traffic will wait for them. Of course, we are not advocating motorists striking pedestrians. We are trying to correctly teach or remind the community of the things we should have all learned in grade school.
We would also like to mention that some intersections with traffic lights also have pedestrian signals. Pedestrians are required to obey those signals. Pedestrians also need to activate these signals for their designated turn to cross a signal controlled intersection. If you push the pedestrian crossing button, you will get your turn. Those pedestrians who use the red light/green light method of crossing these intersections may find themselves in the middle of the street with cars turning left across their path. This happens when a pedestrian is not aware of the advance left turn green arrow for motorist that is not visible from a crosswalk.
Some tips for motorists:
• When making a turn at an intersection or exiting a driveway or parking lot, remind yourself to also look for pedestrians crossing.
• Make eye contact with the pedestrian if unsure what their intentions will be at the crosswalk. Eye contact is very important and can be followed by a waving motion to assure the pedestrian you have no intention of moving until they have passed.
• Expect the unexpected. Drive at a safe controlled speed. No matter how much education one receives regarding road safety there is always the chance that a child will run out between parked cars and/or believe that they can run across the road and avoid being struck by a moving vehicle
