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Today I was making a right turn from Spadina onto College, and was stopped to let the pedestrians cross College. There was only one young lad in the crosswalk, crossing toward me.

He deliberately and obviously altered his path to go to my rear, despite the fact that he had a clear path on the crosswalk in front of me.

He was sending a clear message that said "I relinquish my stand-on status, and signal you that I plan to pass to your stern."

Be careful with that one the law just changed he has the right of way no matter what side of the road he is on now


J

While I was not a pedestrian in T O today, that could very well have been me, because his actions are logical from many points of view, and are precisely what my own habits are. Unfortunatly the action appears to be practised mostly by those who have a stronger than average sense of survival and self-preservation, hahaha!

Highlander wrote:Be careful with that one the law just changed he has the right of way no matter what side of the road he is on now


J

Hey J! Are you talking about the bicycle laws that changed, I didn't know the pedestrian rules changed?
-B

When I was in NYC recently (frequent trips there for business, and I used to work there), I witnessed a short cab-over van body (box) truck with three young guys in the seat, turning right on a green light. The driver was blowing his horn at the pedestrians, who of course also had a cross signal, and yelling at them, and gesturing at the green light he had. The other two guys were yelling at him, and gesturing at the cross signals the pedestrians had. It looked like his first time driving in the city, and he didn't know how it works (the peds have the right-of-way, and vehicles have to just sort of nudge their way into an opening until people start crossing behind them.

Reminded me of the typical boating scene where the noob with the big power boat has no clue what the rules are, but has the size.

That's NYC for " have a nice day"

seahouse wrote:

Highlander wrote:Be careful with that one the law just changed he has the right of way no matter what side of the road he is on now


J

Hey J! Are you talking about the bicycle laws that changed, I didn't know the pedestrian rules changed?
-B

The old law ped,s had the right of way @ a intersection or crosswalk crossing on their half of the roadway until they crossed the center of the road then it versed onto the other half of the road they were on , that no longer applies now when they set a foot on the cross walk they have total right of way to the whole cross walk so all traffic has to stop in both directions , total stupidity because now in rush hour u,ll never be able to make a turn because of someone has there foot on the cross walk 50ft away from u on the other side of the road u must stop , where as before @ least 3-6 cars could make their turn & get through until said ped,s crossed over the center of the road then had right of way on that half of the roadway

Glad I do not live or work in the city

J

Highlander wrote:

seahouse wrote:

Highlander wrote:Be careful with that one the law just changed he has the right of way no matter what side of the road he is on now


J

Hey J! Are you talking about the bicycle laws that changed, I didn't know the pedestrian rules changed?
-B

The old law ped,s had the right of way @ a intersection or crosswalk crossing on their half of the roadway until they crossed the center of the road then it versed onto the other half of the road they were on , that no longer applies now when they set a foot on the cross walk they have total right of way to the whole cross walk so all traffic has to stop in both directions , total stupidity because now in rush hour u,ll never be able to make a turn because of someone has there foot on the cross walk 50ft away from u on the other side of the road u must stop , where as before @ least 3-6 cars could make their turn & get through until said ped,s crossed over the center of the road then had right of way on that half of the roadway

Glad I do not live or work in the city

J

Me 2...

Highlander wrote:

seahouse wrote:

Highlander wrote:Be careful with that one the law just changed he has the right of way no matter what side of the road he is on now


J

Hey J! Are you talking about the bicycle laws that changed, I didn't know the pedestrian rules changed?
-B

The old law ped,s had the right of way @ a intersection or crosswalk crossing on their half of the roadway until they crossed the center of the road then it versed onto the other half of the road they were on , that no longer applies now when they set a foot on the cross walk they have total right of way to the whole cross walk so all traffic has to stop in both directions , total stupidity because now in rush hour u,ll never be able to make a turn because of someone has there foot on the cross walk 50ft away from u on the other side of the road u must stop , where as before @ least 3-6 cars could make their turn & get through until said ped,s crossed over the center of the road then had right of way on that half of the roadway

Glad I do not live or work in the city

J

Ah, I did see that in the paper but failed, until you pointed it out, to notice the subtlety of the difference from the way it used to be. There must have been prior problems with drivers crowding pedestrians that would make them change the law. It will be interesting to see how it gets enforced - maybe only if there is an incident. (Hopefully).

I guess that's all on the Canada side, right? Over here we are not allowed to run over any people at all - we never get the right of way in our cars. I like the way Canada does it that it's okay to run over them once they get halfway across the road.

Highlander is up there in the highlands and seahouse is real close right below him and Captain Dave426913 is up there too. You guys will need to give us a lesson on driving when we go to the Great White North.
(thanks for the washers brian!)

In NYC at least, you're not allowed to run someone over, but if you don't gently nudge (without contact, of course) your way through an intersection, you'll never get through, and folks will simply go around you for two or three lanes worth of cars turning while you sit there like a rock in a stream. Everybody understands the rules, even if they're a stretch to follow (lane markings are suggestions) - when it's the cars' turn, don't so much as put a toe out where it can get run over (green light for cars, red light for peds) as traffic may be doing 50 mph between lights, but when it's green for pedestrians, you'd better not be stuck in the crosswalk, or pushing through when you shouldn't, at least if you like your car without scratches, and/or a hard time from traffic control or police. But turns are always a balancing act, but it all works smoothly if you know how to play.

It's confusing over here - if they are live people you are not allowed to run over them, but if they are already dead (zombies) the law is not clear. A guy ran over a bunch of zombies here in San Diego because they were blocking his car and he did not get arrested for it but the zombies sued him because he crunched up an arm on some lady and they took him to court and did find him guilty of "running over pedestrians" which is against the law in California - so now we can't run over dead people either. I guess 'people' are 'people', dead or alive.

http://deadline.com/2015/06/zombie-walk ... 201440930/

The police will not let us run over dead people or zombies now, but the zombies are not supposed to block cars anymore with their arms or legs or heads.

Lol, nice. Just returned from thanksgiving in the Big Apple. Most thankful to be back in Nowhere, VA. Heavy traffic for me is 3 deer and a tractor on my 14 mile commute.
I've been everywhere courtesy of Uncle Sam's canoe club and the traffic in NYC is worse than Mexico City, New Delhi, Madrid, and anywhere else I can think of. Got "nudged" by a COP and he looked at me like I was the one making a totally illegal turn...smdh.

Come to Australia. We drive over Kangaroos and Wombats as they stop in our path and gaze in wonder at our Navigation lights. Fortunately they do not seem to travel in shipping lanes but a few fishermen in tinnies with no lights do!

BB

What about the wallabys?