Why British Columbia needs a slap to the head...

[thewerewolf]

http://www.thepassinglane.ca/2011/08/car-vs-jaywalker-will-the-law-protect-you.html

If you’re driving in British Columbia these days, be warned: You’re now legally responsible for keeping careless jaywalkers alive

Comments

[tugrik]

Just as a curious comparison point:

Here in CA we now have a law which states that on a multiple-lanes-same-direction road, if a vehicle is stopped in its lane anywhere near a crosswalk or other "pedestrian access area" (which isn't terribly well defined) you must treat the situation as if there was a stop sign there. You need to come to a full stop alongside them in your lane, look to see if its clear, then proceed.

This was done in response to a high number of accidents where one car would stop at a mid-block crosswalk to let pedestrians go (which is also the law; they have the right of way in marked crosswalks) and someone in the other lane would just blow past, nailing them as they came around the stopped car.

While this doesn't cover blatant jaywalkers (nor should it, IMHO) it does at least lean towards that judge's ruling.

[thewerewolf]

Err.. I thought that was the law everywhere. You're never supposed to pass a vehicle stopped in an unexpected place like that.

[brewingtrouble]

No... it isn't the law to do that everywhere (stopping beside a stopped car, that is. Yielding to pedestrians, yes.)

I'll at least slow down to a crawl and look and try to see why they're stopped instead of just blowing around them, generally speaking, unless they're waaaay off to the side of the road on the shoulder. Then I'll stop if/when I see a pedestrian. But there are a lot of idiots here that just stop in traffic for no apparent reason....

That really sucks about that ruling, though, definitely. Why do people try to save potential Darwin Award winners from themselves? If they're going to blame the driver like that, why not put some blame on the parents of those students for failing to teach their kids not to jaywalk, which is still ILLEGAL (right??)? Sheesh.