I’m sure it’s all the pedestrian’s fault, wearing dark clothing and all and just tempting those cars to hit them, but I have to be one of the most anally retentive pedestrians on the face of the planet, doing everything they say to do, and I’ve had a few uncomfortable experiences. Hard to hit a pedestrian – even a stupid one, if you’re obeying the rules of the road, you know, stop, look, not roll through, glance while you go.

One of my favorites is the, I see you on the crosswalk, so I’ll slow down, and time it that by the time I get there, you’ll be gone. How about you f**Kn stop and let me cross, and not put my life in the hands of your sure footed braking ability, especially if I happen to slip on the ice while crossing, and it turns out you don’t have the traction you think you do.

One thing to add to the list of driver’s responsibilities is to keep your vehicle’s windows clean. It’s hard enough to see darkly-clothed pedestrians at night through clean windows let alone through windows that have layers of road spray on them. We are all responsible for the safety of ourselves and others while driving and walking the roadways.

I have to agree that it is certainly hard to see some of these people who are walking,. Especially if they are dressed in dark clothing, and it is after 430pm.

I have seen a number of them lately. Dressed in black pants, black coat, black hat.

Drivers need to use extra caution that’s for sure.

“Wear reflective clothing or use reflective gear to make it easier for drivers to see you.” HOW HARD IS THIS?

I’ve witnessed a truck bumping into a guy in a wheelchair at an intersection. It was dusk. I was in the lane beside the truck and just barely made out the wheelchair. HOW HARD IS IT TO PUT REFLECTORS ON A WHEELCHAIR? I felt sorry for the other driver – he was clearly upset.

I can’t say how many times I’ve come upon a pedestrian walking in the neighborhood in dark clothing and only saw them at the last minute. The other night I saw two Golden Retrievers walking away from me and only made their handler out much later. He was between the two dogs, in dark clothing and invisible until only a few feet away.

Reflectors, even better, those small flashing LEDs. would save lives.

I feel sad for the families dealing with their unfortunate losses.
With winter upon us pedestrians also need to take added precaution while crossing the streets, Wear brighter colored clothing, use a head lamp, stay focused to their surrounding and not their mobile devises, reduce the volume while listening to music so you are at least aware of your surroundings. Not implying that that was the cause of the recent fatalities, but could become a contributing factor if left unaddressed. I have witness on several occasions people walking out into traffic while focusing on their mobile devise totally oblivious to the world around. With less day light hours and darker then usual condition because of the lack of snow could also add to the risks as well.

why no talk of the new lights they use that
seem not to light the road very well to save a few bucks
that

The dark clothing many pedestrians wear is the reason I ignore the keep right signs on the Hart when it is dark or foggy or whenever conditions make it hard to see people (or wildlife) at the side of the road.

It doesn’t matter whose ‘fault’ it is. You can be dead right. When walking, use your common sense, be aware of your surroundings, and keep your head on a swivel.

It should be noted that the areas where pedestrians have been struck, each location has next to, or no proper lighting from street lights. Depending on road conditions and weather in Prince George some streets can become deadly and very very dark when driving. It’s almost like an optical illusion, add to that people not wearing the proper clothing for wandering around at night and well sadly people get hurt and or die.

I won’t remove the motorists from responsibility, they need to slow down and look a lot more than they do. Too often I have see near misses as some of the local “cowboys” fly around corners without looking down from the over sized pickup they are driving.

The street lights were changed several years ago from the high output “white light” to the more orange/yellow lights we see now. The logic was on highways when approaching intersections the yellow/orange light was easier on the driver’s eyes (during the transition from dark to light). However the yellow/orange light seems to intensify shadows by not offering the contrast from light to dark helping to make objects more noticeable. This was a Provincial initiative and adopted as a lighting standard for provincial highways and roadways. Maybe it’s time we review this standard, as clearly it’s not helping minimize accidents.

Ski. It’s up to both the drivers and pedestrians to make sure it’s safe to proceed. A Student had their headphones on and started walking even though it was a left signal. His buddy grabbed him and saved him. Also good thing the driver was paying attention and stopped in time.

Can’t wait till it’s cool to wear bright colours instead of black.

I have lived in PG for eight years now and this is what I have observed pedestrians doing OFTEN

– not looking over their shoulder when they cross a side-street to be sure no vehicles are turning

– walking immediately into a cross-walk even though cars are dangerously close (and again, not looking)

– not holding children’s hands when crossing the street allowing little ones to just run

– as for bicycle riders – not walking bikes across the street. Little story on this one – was driving on Queensway near Forestry building – there was a man on a bicycle at crosswalk – van on other side had come to a stop – I did not stop as he was on his bicycle which makes him a moving vehicle and is therefore obliged to stop until traffic is cleared – van probably thought he was in the right by stopping but man on bicycle almost got hit by me as he started to drive across the crosswalk – good thing he looked first. Bicycle riders must walk their bicycles across the street if they want to be thought of as a pedestrian

Remember folks just because drivers are supposed to stop at crosswalks for pedestrians doesn’t mean they will LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET – and, if there are no sidewalks one is supposed to walk facing the traffic

Simple stuff

Notfromhere, good post, I always why cyclists figured that they can play both rules.. Pedestrian or vehicle depending what works for them at the time. Not supposed to ride on sideWALKS, supposed to go with traffic. Obey all traffic rules, helmets mandatory,. Etc. the stupidest thing you see is when a parent(s) are riding bikes with the kids and the kids have helmets and the parents don’t.. What’s up wit dat ???

Same kind of people that dress in black and jog down the dark road.

As a pedestrian in the Hart area, I have mentioned on this site, over and over again, the lack of driver infraction enforcement by the RCMP at the intersection of Austin Road and Highway 97.
I have been nearly hit by drivers turning onto the highway from Austin Road on numerous occasions when I am in a marked crosswalk, with a “walk” signal and very visible clothing.
It is time to put a plain clothes officer as a pedestrian, at the intersection supported by an unmarked police car. The money collected in fines will help out the City’s revenue as well.
When will we see the RCMP on the Hart? Only serious traffic accidents seem to bring them to the area. This, as I have mentioned before, is an action after the fact.

As others have mentioned, the lighting for the streets sucks. The area on Winnipeg where the pedestrian was hit Tuesday is really dark at night. I understand that where the people were killed on 22nd had the lights out, and on First where the fatality was is also very dark. Won’t be too surprised to see someone hit on Westwood between the mall and Ferry either. Drivers, and pedestrians need to be vigilant, but maybe the City bears some blame for these accidents too.
Hopefully nobody else dies in a pedestrian/vehicle accident. And my condolences to all of the families who’ve lost a loved one recently. Christmas can be tough.

Going to work tonight I watched so many people especially young people crossing the street in almost pure black clothing and even though where they were crossing the streets were well lit it was still damn hard to see them and I was looking out for them too. People have to start to understand black clothes at night mean drivers have a tough time seeing you and how many more pedestrians get hit before they learn black clothes may look good but on the roads it could get you killed

See and be seen, take the eyes off the texting, pull the music out your ears, stop look and listen.

If drivers would concentrate on driving and using their situational awareness, it’d go a long way to avoiding serious incidents such as this.

Wonder how much watts those l bulbs are
Many c street lights are so dim plus some goes off automatically too

Ah yes but some pedestrians seem to have a death wish too, the way they act in traffic.

I would like see better lighting on the crappy little side road used to get back on highway 16 and head west from the walmart shopping area. This road should have a sidewalk as well. All too often there are people walking on the road at night in the dark with dark clothing, I am amazed that there has not been a fatality there.

I would bet that if pedestrians were to walk as if they were invisible we would see far less incidents and fatalities.

How about all the @#$%^&& IDIOTS in vehicles,stop blowing through the four way stop at Trent and Simon Fraser,Cowart Rd. and Simon Fraser and all the other locations in town that they feel it is their god given right to do this.

jakeadoo, couldn’t agree more! And remember…

Keep Right Except to SPEED.

I wear the reflectors and always carry flashlight (on). Always follow the rules of the road, corss where I’m supposed to avoid crosswalks at night and walk out of my way to the lights if at all possible. Despite all of this precautions, I still regularly have to jump out o fht eway of maniac drivers who act as if they wan tto kill me!! WHAT ELSE am I supposed to do to keep myself safe? Only reason I haven’t been hit yet because I EXPECT everyone to hit me…and often thye try to.

A kid in my istuation would be dead by now because kids don’t know that adults (drivers) don’t care about being safe and are driving as if to hit.