What pedestrian signals mean for drivers and pedestrians

Understanding traffic lights

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This week's correspondence contained a request to explain what pedestrian signals mean.

The gentleman who sent me the e-mail expressed an opinion that many people either did not know what pedestrian signals mean or choose to deliberately disobey them. He asked me to explain so they would know what to do.

Perhaps I should start with the traffic signals themselves. They are designed to move vehicular traffic efficiently. In some cases, when they are close together and not synchronized, they don't do that well. Pedestrians are a second thought.

The email writer goes on to say there are many intersections where the vehicle traffic green light is not linked to the pedestrian crossing indicator, which defaults to a solid red hand. You must push the "beg button" to receive a walk signal.

Design standards for walk signals call for three intervals of operation:

• Steady walk—Pedestrians may start to walk across traffic lanes in a crosswalk. The "WALK" indicator should be displayed for a minimum amount of time, allowing pedestrians time to notice and react to the signal. A walk interval of seven seconds should be used. However, if the sum of this interval and the pedestrian clearance time exceeds the maximum green time of the corresponding vehicle phase, a minimum walk interval of five seconds may be used.

• Flashing don’t walk—A flashing red hand symbol indicates it is no longer safe to begin crossing. If the pedestrian has started walking before the signal began to flash, they have enough time to cross the street. Countdown timers (where installed) run for this duration and countdown at the start of flashing hand phase.

• Steady don't walk—A solid red hand symbol indicates that the pedestrian should not be in the crosswalk at this time. This duration is an interval equivalent to sum of yellow and red time of associated vehicular through phase that allows for any unfinished crossing before a conflicting phase comes on.

Once you press the button, the writer says it seems ludicrous to stand there for two to three minutes while the lights cycle through to permit pedestrians to cross.

Please refer back to the paragraph on traffic signals in general. Nobody likes to wait and that includes drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. Inevitably, someone has to wait and it is usually the pedestrian.

It is the writer’s understanding the pedestrian countdown is a timing mechanism only and does not indicate the legality of initiating or continuing crossing. He's correct.

Leading pedestrian intervals make drivers wait briefly and represent a change in the way pedestrian signals are timed. When implemented they hold back traffic and allow pedestrians into the crosswalk first. This reduces the chance of a collision with a driver making a turn.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Update your driving knowledge

Brushing up your driving

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How long has it been since you read the manual new drivers study to prepare for their first driver's license?

Why bother you say? You've been driving for years and have the necessary knowledge.

I wish I could say that. Let's start with a visit to ICBC's web site and give the practice test a try. The 25 questions shouldn't take you too long, after all, you are an experienced driver. Getting all the answers correct first try should be simple.

The trouble is, you're on your own now. If you want to learn more you will either have to attend a driving school, purchase manuals from a book seller or join a car club that organizes advanced skill training.

I wonder why ICBC doesn't have an advanced training manual for experienced drivers? If it wasn't so simple or you didn't get 100% let's move on.

Recently updated, Learn to Drive Smart is the first of the two “bibles” you will need to review. Download it or pick up a paper version at any Driver Service Centre in the province. Today's version is 177 pages long, almost three times larger than the book I studied from when I was 16.

Once you finish reading Learn to Drive Smart, move on to volume two, Tuning Up for Drivers. Again, this is free to download but a paper copy will cost you $5 at the Driver Service Centre.

That's another 136 pages to read through. Who would have thought that this was so complicated?

Remember, that was just the knowledge you needed to get started. An experienced driver should be well aware of the contents of both manuals and more.

Like any skill, you need to keep learning to practice it well.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Knowing a vehicle's automated driver assistance systems is important

Drive assistance systems

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When I was younger and worked in a service station, we never worried about driving the vehicles we were repairing.

Out on a road test, they all behaved the same. Press on the accelerator or brakes, steer and shift as required. That's not the case today as it can be dangerous to drive an unfamiliar new car.

That ran through my mind as I was reading a “Guide to Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Assist” by Consumer Reports. The guide explained about three systems: lane centring assist, lane departure warning and lane keeping assistance.

Lane departure warning will provide visual, audible, and/or tactile warnings—such as through steering wheel or seat vibrations—to alert the driver when the car approaches or crosses lane markings. These systems do not intervene when the turn signal is active.

Lane keeping assistance gives steering support to assist the driver in preventing the vehicle from departing the lane.

Lane centring assist provides automatic steering to continually centre the vehicle in its lane.

The three systems interpret centring very differently and may be called by different names depending on the manufacturer. If you are unfamiliar with the vehicle and the automated driver assistance systems (ADAS) it uses, you or other road users could be put at risk.

Rental cars could present a challenge as well. I contacted a rental agency and explained I have not driven a car with ADAS before and was unfamiliar with them. Would they be able to show me how the systems work on the car I chose to rent before I used it?

The immediate answer of yes was tempered as I asked a few more questions. What I finally understood was that not all employees were fully familiar and I would be best to make sure that a senior employee was present when I picked up the vehicle.

I always urge people to read their owner's manual about vehicle safety systems when they are unfamiliar with them. In the case of a rental, if you know the make and model, you may be able to read that vehicle's manual on manufacturer's website.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Dealing with a lack of driver courtesy on the roads

A lack of driver courtesy

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Ah courtesy, where have it gone? It is certainly scarce on the highways and byways of our fair province.

When was the last time another driver did something nice for you to facilitate a movement? Did you wave to say thank you afterwards? We can all get along nicely with a bit of courtesy now and again.

Here is the message from the DriveSmartBC inbox that triggered my observation:

“One thing that really bugs me is that drivers almost push their way into traffic. Whether it be coming from a side street or backing out from their driveway, they don't seem to know that they shouldn't be impeding rolling traffic.

“I was always taught that if you are entering a roadway, you should do it so moving traffic doesn't have to significantly slow, or in some cases, jam on their brakes to let you in.”

Yes, there are many drivers who don't know the meaning of the word “yield,” including this reader. They will, no doubt, be shocked to learn that sometimes through traffic does have to yield to those who are trying to enter or leave the highway.

If I am attempting to turn left at an intersection and you are approaching me from the front, if you are close enough to be a hazard, I must yield and let you pass by. However, if you are not, you must yield and allow me to turn left.

Don't ever count on approaching traffic to do this. If I have stopped at a stop sign on a cross street and yielded to traffic passing by on the through street and if you are not approaching closely, you must yield and let me enter or cross the through street.

Drivers who wait patiently for a gap in traffic, when traffic is heavy, may wait for hours, so they creep forward until a passing driver is uncomfortable and stops to let them in. Of course, there are also drivers who jam themselves into traffic without regard for others in order to save a few seconds. They may be charged for failing to yield the right of way as well.

For those who are trying to do this backward, the entire onus to proceed safely is on the driver who is travelling in reverse.

Vancouver's Worst Drivers and Bad Drivers of Vancouver are YouTube channels that are full of examples of a lack of driving courtesy from the Lower mainland.

If you watch a few of these videos, it quickly becomes apparent that many drivers feel entitled to their right of way and will insist on it, right to the point of becoming involved in a clearly avoidable crash.

As all my driving instructor friends will tell you, right of way is given, not taken.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.