Comment 80900

By kevlahan (registered) | Posted September 13, 2012 at 09:36:03 in reply to Comment 80898

What is crystal clear is that pedestrians crossing at an unsignalized intersection are crossing lawfully and have the right of way provided that it is not "impractical" for a motorist to stop (i.e. the pedestrian didn't dart out in front of a car).

Every intersection is a de facto crosswalk, according to the HTA, and downtown Hamilton has hundreds of such unsignalized crosswalks.

However, you would be risking your life to assert this right of way at any of the numerous unsignalized intersections on Main or King because Hamilton motorists just don't believe they need to stop for pedestrians crossing the road. Even on minor arterial and residential streets most motorists do not understand that they must yield to crossing pedestrians (not continue at full speed to force the pedestrian to run out of their way!)

This is a big difference from western Canada (e.g. B.C.) where motorists seem to generally understand that they need to stop for crossing pedestrians, and there are many more painted and signed crosswalks.

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2012-09-13 09:38:08

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