What rules do pedestrians have to obey? Not many people know!
Do you have the answer to this question?
“From the moment we took our first steps, walking became an integral part of our lives. Yet, it’s intriguing to realize how vague a lot of people’s knowledge about pedestrian traffic rules can be. We think we know what we’re doing, but let’s put this assumption to the test with an example from a real-life driving test. We have 4 pedestrian involved traffic-situations where you might not know the right way to handle.
Examining the provided image, we can observe a traffic scenario at a T-intersection. In this situation, the green car wants to go to the right, and the pedestrians on the sidewalk want to go across the street. Do you know who has the right of way in this situation? Does the green car need to stop and let the pedestrians cross, or do the pedestrians have to wait for the green car to pass?
If you’ve already chosen an answer and want to check whether you’re right, click on the next page! There, we’ll give you the right answer.
The correct answer
In general, at a T-intersection where multiple road users are appearing, the right of way is typically granted to the user on the through road, which is the one without the need to make a turn. But one thing a lot of people seem to forget is that pedestrians are also considered as road users. This is because the sidewalk is also a part of the road.
- The pedestrians are the ones who want to move straight on the road here and since there is no car coming on the road that they want to cross they have the right of way.
- The green car wants to turn right so he has to wait for traffic that wants to go straight trough. This includes the pedestrians so the green car must wait for the pedestrians to cross before he can make the turn to the right.
Lets try it again with a new picture on the next page!
Can you provide the answer to this question?
Examining the provided image, we can observe a man starting to cross a busy road. Now, the question is simple: Is this man allowed to cross this road? Watch the surroundings closely to help you find the answer if you don’t already know.
If you made a decision and wish to verify if it is correct, proceed to the next page where we will provide you with the accurate answer.
The right answer
In this given scenario, we see the man crossing the road, while a small distance away there are people starting to cross the road on a dedicated crosswalk. The man that is crossing the road in this picture is in the wrong here.
The man is in the wrong because when there is a dedicated crosswalk you have to use that in order to cross the road. Crossing the road next to a crosswalk is not allowed. When there is a dedicated crosswalk nearby, cars on the road will expect pedestrians to cross the road on this location. So when when you cross the road outside of this area vehicles won’t expect you and you might bring yourself and others in danger by doing so.
Lets try it again with a new scenario on the next page!
Do you know the answer to this question?
In the illustration above you can see a blue car crossing the pedestrian crosswalk. However, there is an actual pedestrian trying to cross the road via the crosswalk at the same time. One thing to mention in the picture is that there is an island in the middle in the road splitting the road in two.
The question here is simple: Is the car in the wrong here for crossing the road while a pedestrian is trying to cross the road on this crosswalk?
If you have already chosen an answer and want to check if you are right, click on the next page! There we will give you the right answer.
The correct answer
Besides regular crosswalks, there are also crosswalks with island in the middle. This ‘island’ we are referring to is a specific area in the middle that splits the crosswalk in two crosswalks.
Because of the island, there are 2 different crosswalks. therefore, the car doesn’t have to stop in this situation. The car only needs to stop when the pedestrian is about to cross the crosswalk on the car’s side of the road.
We have one more tricky situation on the next page. Let’s see if you know what to do in this final scenario!
Can you provide the answer to this question?
In this last scenario we can see a man walking on the right side of the road. The question is simple: Is it allowed to walk on the road here?
The correct answer
The man on the picture above are allowed to walk on this road. Pedestrians are allowed to walk on the road if there is no sidewalk. Obviously you are not allowed to walk on the freeway. It is also advised to walk on the left side of the road so that you can see the upcoming traffic. So the man in the picture should ideally walk on the left side on the road and also walk a bit closer to the side but he is not in the wrong.
How many did you get right? We hope you learned something new about pedestrian rules. Stay safe!
Source: nidirect, drivingtests
Source: https://www.tips-and-tricks.co/various/pedestrianrules/