Pedestrian Crosswalks, Are They Safe?
Marked crosswalks are widely classified as safety devices and most jurisdictions give the pedestrian the right-of-way when within them. However, there is strong evidence that these very facts prompt many pedestrians to feel overly secure when using a marked crosswalk, to the degree where pedestrians may aggressively place themselves in a perilous position with respect to vehicles. Often pedestrians may believe that the vehicle can and will stop in all cases, even when it may be impossible to do so. It is not unusual, for this type of pedestrian behavior to cause rear-end collisions. By contrast, a pedestrian using an unmarked crosswalk generally feels less secure, less certain that the vehicle will stop and exercises more caution in waiting for safe gaps in traffic before crossing. The end result is fewer accidents at unmarked crosswalks. More Information…
