Survival Guide for urban pedestrians (Article written by David Nettleton)

In our cities, the pedestrian may have the sensation that s/he is being "hunted" by the vehicles; at traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, even on the pavement (sidewalk), motorcycles can pursue you. However, pedestrians may, by following a series of guidelines, increase their chances of survival. These guidelines are in many cases, common sense.

First, when approaching a pedestrian crossing, especially when the traffic light is in intermittent mode for traffic, you must wait until you have right of way, ie, the little man turns green. Do not cross when it is about to change to green, nor when it changing to red.

Second, we must look in the direction of where the traffic is coming from, and you have to look at the face of the driver of the approaching vehicle. Do not assume that just because the pedestrian has right of way, that the car will stop. Looking at the driver's face (and not the car number plate), you can observe if s/he is distracted by something (talking on the phone, tuning the radio, crazed expression, etc.) or not.

Third, choose a suitable place to cross the street, especially if it is wide and very busy. You should not do tricks or shortcuts, even if you pass every day through the same place and know the timing of the traffic lights to perfection, this is because traffic IS NOT predictable. If the street is wide with lateral lanes, you may not have time to cross them all, remain on the paved area of the last lateral lane, is it safer. DO NOT cross in points of restricted visibility, behind a truck, bus, or between parked cars.

Fourth, if you are accompanying small children, elderly people, or persons with reduced mobility (PRM), one must exercise special caution. Children must be held firmly by the hand. It is also important to explain to children "in situ" the need to respect the traffic signs, traffic lights, etc.., and the hazards of traffic. Do not run from one pavement (sidewalk) to another, or out in front of vehicles which will clearly have to brake hard to stop in time. Many multiple traffic accidents in the city occur due to sudden movements of pedestrians or other vehicles. So we must act in a predictable manner.

There are some points in the city that are dangerous by nature, which may be due to the volume of traffic, poor traffic sign indications or the type of intersection. In these cases you should avoid the dangerous place and walk a little more until finding a safer crossing place.

In the pedestrian crossing, you must exercise caution when the traffic lights are just changing. This is because often a driver decides to "gamble" and pass in amber or red and also at a higher speed and acceleration in order to achieve it. It's just at this moment when some people start to cross. For this reason, we must wait until all traffic has definitely halted before crossing, even though the signal is in favour of the pedestrian.

In summary, you see that these guidelines are common sense, but how many times have we risked our lives by forgetting one of them?

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