Raise the Hammer

trying to understand this one. Obviously we need more details, but how did the driver still manage to hit the pedestrian after waving for him to continue crossing?

Driver one waved him on. Driver two nailed him. Unfortunately it happens all the time.

People jaywalk here often because the distance between traffic lights is from Parkdale to Reid (about 4 city blocks apart). The traffic light at Reid also gives a lot of priority to Queenston traffic. I have waited up to 60 seconds for the light to change whilst trying to cross at Reid. There is a strip mall right about where this man was trying to cross along with a Bank of Montreal and a strip mall closer to Parkdale with a Little Caesars in it. I suspect that people often cross here instead of Parkdale or Reid to get to these strip malls and the bank.

To make matters worse, drivers often gun it between Parkdale and the RHVP if they have a green at Reid. Even the B-Line bus often bullets across from Parkdale all the way until about Potruff Road.

Hamilton could use pedestrian-activated yellow crosswalks. I haven't seen a single one since I've been living in this city.

I don't think any of those "yellow" crosswalks exist in the city, they will either put in a full pedestrian activated intersection (see Fennell and east...15th...16th maybe? for example) or they will put up a sign prohibiting people from crossing altogether (see several downtown Hamilton intersections).

I don't know if those "Yellow" sidewalks are encouraged anymore, there used to be several around York University in Toronto, but they were all removed.

Yup. There are several full-out pedestrian-activated stop-lights in the city. Not nearly enough, imho. What bothers me is they almost invariably appear when a private business has need for them. Dofasco has one to connect their main office to their parking lot. MIP has one for the same reasons.

Yeah.. I think those yellow flashing cross walks can be pretty dangerous. I think the problem is that as soon as those yellow lights start flashing, many pedestrians assume it's safe to cross and that cars are going to stop.

I remember when I was a child, my Dad was driving and almost hit someone at one of those types of crosswalks. It would have been my Dad's fault, he didn't see the yellow lights.. I'm not excusing him.. just saying they can be dangerous.

If you're going to stop traffic for a pedestrian, you might as well make it a red/green light. It would be cool if "they" could design the crosswalks so when the person gets to the other side, they could hit the button again and then the light could turn from red to green as soon as the person is across. That way, when a younger person crosses, drivers aren't stopped unnecessarily longer than they need to be. The only danger I could see to this is if some malicious person crossed and pressed the button to turn green while an old lady was still making her way slowly across the crosswalk.

A simpler approach: make a them work like a standard pedestrian stoplight crossing, but use a flashing red instead of a solid red.

Flashing red means "stop sign", which gives the pedestrian the right of way (unlike a flashing yellow crosswalk). That's what we really need - a pedestrian-activated stop-sign.

That's a good idea. Maybe the light could be green when there are no pedestrians and then change to flashing red, as you suggest, when there a pedestrian.
That way, if there is a green light ahead of the pedestrian being there, drivers can see the light ahead of time and anticipate that they might need to stop if the light changes. If there is no light up ahead, drivers aren't expecting or planning for a potential stop ahead.

Sounds like the 25 year old was in the left lane and some speeder came wizzing to his right thus the guy wave the old guy directly into the Honda

when the following comment was made, I contemplated saying something, but didn't. This collision is a perfect example of how dangerous it is to stop and wave on pedestrians.

Ten minutes ago a car stopped to let a small group of elderly women, laden with groceries, cross. The driver of a truck behind the stopped car immediately laid on his horn and he and his passenger began swearing, yelling curses at the driver of the car.

Perhaps now the OP of the above will be more understanding as to why the person was so mad. The OP thought the person was a jerk. Perhaps the person yelling is actually looking out for the best interest of those around him and got angry because something so dangerous was happening in front of him.

I'm with spacemonkey here. You don't get to re-write the rules of the road for the sake of courtesy. It might give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, but unlike transport trucks and emergency vehicles our cars don't have loudspeakers or CB radios. There's no way for anybody else to know what you're trying to do, and it adds a really dangerous element of unpredictability to the road.

I'm not saying those who cruise on by without paying any attention to those around them are without fault. I certainly don't have a lot of patience for those who lean on the horn because somebody in front of them is stopped for a pedestrian. But for gawd sakes, check your mirrors before trying something like this. In general, I'm far more annoyed and threatened by people who act this way than those who (safely) speed by and get out of my way.

> Perhaps the person yelling is actually looking out for the best interest of those around him and got angry because something so dangerous was happening in front of him.

Ha ha ha! (You're kidding, right?)

The issue is not the actions of an individual driver, the issue is why we tolerate a system that reliably generates hundreds of injuries and numerous fatalities every year.

I am not sure I agree with the above statements that it is unsafe to wave pedestrians by. We make these split second decisions mostly for the sake of safety. At the Westdale bottleneck (Bond St. N), it is safe to courteously wave pedestrians across, when they are waiting to cross at the painted cross walk. Perhaps I am wrong to do that, but it is not unsafe. Queenston is a different story. Sometimes people begin crossing (J walking) and you have to decide whether it is safer to speed past, or slow and allow them to pass in front. Sometimes not waving them may result in them hovering precariously on a thin yellow line with traffic zooming on both sides. It is a no-win situation for the motorist on some occasions. Nevertheless, the passing curb lane driver should be passing with caution, given that a car is stopping for no apparent reason.