Drivers and pedestrians alike have a responsibility to keep both parties safe during their travels. Pedestrians may have the right-of-way, but should not presume that a driver will stop.
Here are 9 tips to stay safe in crosswalks:
- Stay alert and attentive; focus your full attention on what is happening around you.
- Never assume it is safe to cross, even if you have the right-of-way or a crosswalk signal is telling you that you may enter the crosswalk.
- Before entering a crosswalk, stop and look both ways.
- Do not step into the path of a vehicle that cannot reasonably be expected to stop in time.
- Always make eye contact with approaching drivers and make sure that they are coming to a stop before entering a crosswalk.
- Before crossing into the next lane of traffic, always make eye contact with the approaching driver in that lane and make sure that they are coming to a stop.
- Walk, don’t run, through a crosswalk.
- Dismount and walk your bicycle through a crosswalk, unless the crosswalk has “elephant’s feet” indicating that cyclists may ride across it.
- Make yourself more visible to drivers by wearing reflective clothing or gear.