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Respect for the walkers
There are a great number of marked crosswalks in the town of Uxbridge. A small minority are protected by traffic lights (although the experience of trying to cross safely from the Roxy to Sears, or vice versa, is ample evidence that lights are a false security, and in fact may even invite danger).
Some are designated by large yellow signs, and most of those are staffed by crossing guards for a couple of hours every school day. Again, however, these promise safety where none exists. Without the presence of the crossing guard, the yellow signs are routinely ignored by the vast majority of drivers.
Most of our crosswalks, however, are simply marked by two parallel white lines (often sadly faded) painted from corner to corner. They exist on many, but not most, intersections within the town boundaries, but again, most drivers seem to pretend they don’t exist. They will come to a half-stop and proceed again without even checking to see if someone is standing on the corner, waiting to cross. They seem to assume that at any intersection, they have the right of way over a pedestrian. Where a crosswalk exists, of course, they are absolutely wrong, but most drivers don’t know this. We sincerely doubt that most drivers’ ed. courses pay a whole lot of attention to the rights of the non-driver.
A fourth situation, the one that exists at most Uxbridge intersections (even many with stop signs), is the absence of a crosswalk. In this situation, the legal right of way belongs to the driver; the pedestrian is obliged to wait until the coast is totally clear before proceeding. But even here, common courtesy would dictate that if you see someone waiting at a corner (whatever their age), you take 15 seconds and stop to let them cross. Chances are it’s going to take a lot longer for them to get to their destination than you are, you can afford a moment or two.
Respect for pedestrians seems to be a cultural thing. In Alberta, for instance, where this writer grew up, there was never a need for a pedestrian to put out her arm and gingerly step out, anxiously looking around her for any sign of vehicular danger. If a car was approaching, she could be confident that 90% of the time it would stop for her, whether she was at a crosswalk or not. Alberta drivers learn to watch as they near an intersection, and give a pedestrian the right of way. Most of the time, this applies even if the pedestrian is mid-block; that is, they are respected even if they’re jay-walking!
In Uxbridge, there is a prominently marked crosswalk in front of the Town Hall that goes over Toronto St. to the Presbyterian church. Emerging from a Council meeting, I have counted as many as 30 vehicles going by before anybody bothered to stop. Every one of those 30 vehicles was breaking the law, and could have been handed a ticket. Worse than that in our eyes, however, is that the drivers were just plain rude, so absorbed in their own mission that they were blind to anyone on the sidewalk.
This driver-first culture, which seems to infect Ontario, needs to change. We need to begin to respect the person at the intersection, the person on the sidewalk, even if we have the law on our side. And the change, dear reader, needs to begin with you.
July 14, 2011
