Walking in Waterloo Region

[danbrotherston]

Please don't stop. If there is nobody behind you it will take longer for you to stop then to just proceed. If to do have someone behind you they may overtake you and hit the ped. 

And yes, I only put a little blame on drivers. The real problem is inconsistent poor design and inconsistent poor laws.

I get this sentiment, but I also believe that drivers need a constant reminder that they are not the priority.

Having toured much of the rest of Canada I will say that many other cities have a culture of stopping first. Regional officials tell me this is because of their highway acts but I don't buy it (go to north of Thunder Bay and you will see similar driver behaviour to Prince George or Antigonish). Could our infra be better, HELL YES! But we also far too often let drivers have complete right of way everywhere.

I am white and have a ton of privilege so I leverage that. I will happily lay my vehicle, my body across the line to protect vulnerable users and they can come at me all day.

So, laws not withstanding, the problem is consistency, I have been very nearly run over two separate times now, when a car stopped for me improperly and I was in a big enough hury to cross out of turn, because cars behind them overtook on the wrong side of the road, and nearly hit me while looking the wrong way.

Further, most of the time, drivers stop when they aren't going to save anyone time, traffic in the other direction means that I cannot cross anyway, and more, as I said, if you're the last in the line of traffic, slowing down actually takes more time, everyone gets delayed.

Worse, many drivers do not take kindly to me yielding.  I have been called out by a WRPS officer, I have gotten the bird, been cussed out.

Trust me, our crossings are pessimal.

And yes, many other places are far better.