As both a pedestrian and a driver I notice the way one group treats the other.
Some people walk against the lights while some drivers do not let people cross at the crosswalks.
We have to learn to share the street.
Especially with the street conditions being the way they are during the winter, sometimes there is very little a driver can do to stop in time before hitting a pedestrian.
When calculating stopping distance, reaction time is also part of the distance travelled before the driver notices the hazard, also known as thinking distance according to www.drivingtesttips.biz.
Speed is also a factor, says the website.
The higher the speed the more distance it takes to stop.
It can take between 40-75 feet to stop at low speeds, between 20-30 miles/hour, or 32-48 km/hour if you are not American, like the website.
When it comes to wet conditions those distances are doubled. When it comes to icy conditions, those distance are multiplied by 10.
Putting that into perspective, that is between one to two Canadian football fields long to stop on ice.
I have seen people speeding down the street well over the 40 km speed limit so that means that if they had to suddenly stop it would take even further.
It takes cooperation from both parties to make the streets safer.
Especially with snow covered crosswalks, seeing pedestrians waiting to cross can be an issue so drivers must be aware of what is going on on the sidewalk as well as on the street.
I was very happy to see the new lit crosswalk on the 17th and Hwy. 5 intersection. Before I had my vehicle and was walking to work, I took that corner everyday. It was very difficult to get people to stop to cross.
At night it was nearly impossible.
For this reason, I can understand the reason people jaywalk.
Sitting in on Main Street improvement meetings there is always a discussion about how there has to be a balance between people and vehicles, especially in a downtown core.
Communities are not built for cars but yes, it is a necessary evil that we have to deal with when it comes to making the streets drivable and accessible for parking.
We need to live here and also be able to move around.
For that matter, we both are responsible for making sure the streets are safe for both vehicles and pedestrians.
