Quote:
Originally Posted by 4X4
Picture a busy four lane road like 14th st downtown. Quite a few of the intersections have crosswalks and no traffic lights. Quite a few people turn left.
If you're southbound in the right lane, and there's a vehicle stopped in the left lane up ahead, with his left signal on, you're just going to blow right past the guy because you figure he's waiting to turn left. If you see that the northbound cars are also stopped, you're much more likely to be cautious, and just as you stop, the pedestrian pops out from in front of the guy in the left lane. Instead of hitting her with your car, you get to watch her walk by, thanks to the tip off from stopped northbound cars that could have gone because the pedestrian was past their side of the street.
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What if there is no traffic in the other direction? The situation you're describing is all too common but I don't think it has anything to do with the cars on the other side of the intersection.
Furthermore, if I'm in the right lane and there is a left lane plus a turning lane, who says I'm going to even notice what cars on the other side of the median are doing 50 feet away and blocked my multiple cars on my side of the road?
Those situations will always be unsafe unless pedestrians are cautious or we put in the crosswalk lights above the intersection. It is even more unsafe in Calgary because if you're in the right lane and there is a giant truck or SUV in the left lane (as often happens) it is very difficult to see either the cars heading the opposite direction or the pedestrian who is blocked by the tank in the left lane.
I think that is why we need to get rid of the pedestrian right of way. As has been discussed at length people in Calgary have a special ability to just walk out into traffic, anytime and anywhere, without so much as glancing up to see if there are cars coming.
Not to mention that is only one possible scenario out of hundreds. What if I'm turning left and they are walking through the lane I want to turn into? Then there is absolutely no benefit to me waiting because there is no other traffic on the second half of the road. Those people are all sitting at a red light.