Being a pedestrian

There are dos and don't when being a pedestrian and that is something I think people forget sometimes when they are busy.

One of the biggest things I see people forgetting is that when they are going to cross a road is to look to make sure that drivers have seen them. I have noticed at intersections people just starting to cross without even checking to make sure that the cars have stopped around them. Cars that are turning right sometimes think they can beat the light and that is when problems happen.

Mobile devices have also caused problems for pedestrians because they become so involved in whatever they are doing on their mobile devices that they don't look to see what traffic is doing. One day we were out and noticed a lady almost cross a busy road on a red like because she was looking down at her device and not at the intersection. For me, if I need to check something on my mobile device while walking I will move over to the side of the sidewalk and normally stop. I will not check my device while crossing a road because I need my attention on the other pedestrians and the vehicles around me.

In our area the one thing that I see is how people look for traffic before they cross the road. People have a habit of starting to cross the road before looking for traffic and they are only looking at the traffic going in one direction. Yes, it is normally the traffic farthest from where they are so they don't see the vehicles that are going to come into contact with them first. The other thing around our area is people figure they can cross anywhere on the street and cars will just stop for them to let them finish crossing. I am really amazed that there aren't more accidents involved pedestrians in our area.

Weather is another factor that I have been causes major issues with vehicles and pedestrians. Pedestrians in bad weather figure that they have the right to stay dry so don't look for vehicles in intersections. Umbrellas play a big part of that because some people hold their umbrellas so low that they can't even see anything around them.

If you have ever driven or walked in downtown Toronto during rush hour you will understand this point. People are in such a rush to either get to or from work to their trains that they forget about anyone else. There have been instances where people are being pushed out of the way so that one person can get their train. These people think that they are the only individuals wanting to get where they are going. At intersections I have seen streams of people walk against the light so that they can to where they are going not thinking about the fine that they could get for doing this. Also cars seem to be very impatient during rush hour because they also want to get to where they are going. Can't people just slow down just a little bit and thing of others. If you have to run to or from your train everyday maybe you need to look at your schedule and adjust it.

Pedestrians do have their rights but vehicles also have their rights as well. Remember when you dealing with the road and vehicles, the vehicles are a lot bigger than you are and cause a lot more damage to you than you can to them. Take a second when you are at an intersection to make sure that the cars see you and if that thing on your mobile device is so important take a break from walking and finish dealing with it.

Pedestrians are all of us so let's take those couple of seconds to think about our surroundings before we do something that could result in the end of our life.