Countdown Crosswalks
 

There seems to be some confusion about how countdown crosswalk signals in the City of Vancouver are supposed to work.

The downtown jogger who ran out in front of a right turning car this morning, significantly after the signal had changed to "Don't Walk" (hand), seemed to believe that as there was "still time" it was okay for her to enter the crosswalk - but she had to run.

I think she was wrong, but many pedestrians seem to act as if she is correct.

Are countdown crosswalks a safety feature or a hazard?

safety feature...retarded pedestrians are a hazard.

I find it weird when lights don't change to yellow after the timer reaches 0. Is there a reason for that? Ie. Cambie and 49th has about a 5 second delay, whereas Cambie and 12th will be immediate.

Maybe it has to do with the size/volume of traffic in the intersection? I find them helpful but as Glow mentioned, they're only as safe as the people are "smart" about it.

I think they are great being a driver since you know how much time you will have for the light to change color. Works perfect for a stale green.

Nevermind all that shit......... was the jogger hot?

"Retarded pedestrians" is redundant.

I think it has something to do with the size of the intersection. The larger intersections where pedestrians take more time to cross usually have a delay between the timer or flashing icon and the lights changing. The intersections in DT near my office are much smaller and they flash only 7 times with the lights changing right after that

^Ya that's the only logical explanation. If a pedestrian is used to taking 10 seconds to cross a normal sized intersection I see them taking the risk to cross a larger intersection with the same amount of time remaining and running into some problems when they're half way into the intersection and the light changes.

Everyday I drive downtown and the amount of people who are 3/4 of the way to the sidewalk when the light turns yellow shows that people are dumb.

So you don't walk anywhere in the city?

It's a bit of a broad brush you're painting all pedestrians with. I know when I walk/run, I never ever cross on flashing hand and always make eye contact before crossing even a walk sign. I know too many people who've had close calls to test my luck doing that, especially in Vancouver with some suspect drivers on the road.

I do share your sentiment that some pedestrians deserve to get hit a hundred times over. Just not all of them.

lol.

When I drive, I hate bikers and pedestrians.
When I walk, I hate drivers and bikers.
When I bike, I hate drivers and pedestrians.

^ The world is just full of hate

I just noticed the same thing at Granville & 41st. - there's a delay between "0" and the yellow light. I started slowing down as the timer reached 0 but the light remained green, so I sped up again. If there was someone close behind me, I'm sure I would've pissed them off.

I wish the lights would be consistent!

I've noticed too that they've started doing that at busy intersections in the last few months. I think they're starting at high pedestrian/vehicle accident sites first. We all see how often people are running stale yellows so it really is to prevent pedestrian deaths.

That being said, it's really messing with me trying to figure out how long i have for the light. I've been using the countdown/flashing hand as an indicator for over 20 years.

For global warming reasons cars should have the right of way.

Think about it, every time I have to stop at a crosswalk for someone to cross the street, I have to stop my car, and then re-accelerate. This wastes an enormous amount of kinetic energy, and in turn I burn a lot of fuel to re-gain that energy. Whereas if that pedestrian just waited and crossed after my car, the environment would be much better off.

If you think about this logically, for safety reasons on all industrial sites, such as mines, the biggest equipment has the right of way. PERIOD. A haul truck has right of way over a bus, and a bus has right of way over a pickup truck.

This was implement because statistically (and rather logically) it was proven that bigger vehicles deserve right of way, because more often than not they are harder to stop and maneuver. It is SAFER to have bigger things on the road have right of way.

^
No need for the :troll: - common sense dictates that bigger vehicles should have right of way!

The troll was because although in theory a scale based priority system is the best, but in reality it would never work, and I know this.

Why? because people are too stupid.

And in this kindergarten society of ours we cater almost entirely to these stupid people.

law of the jungle...just like in jurassic park. the mini raptors scamper out of the way of the big T-Rex when it walks by

Drivers hate pedestrians.
Pedestrians hate drivers.
Drivers AND pedestrians hate cyclists.

Fixed it for you.

I love cake.



That being said haters gonna hate hate hate......
No matter what there's going to be stupid people. Why do some drivers run reds? It's the same.

And, cakes love you.

It was the fault of the driver







*flame suit on*

Instead, on public roads, the pedestrians and cyclists have equal rights, which makes no fucking sense whatsoever. It's part of the reason our society, as a whole, just gets weaker and weaker. Rules are put in place to accommodate the people that lack the sense to survive.

I absolutely hate how many Vancouver cyclists are able to "switch" between being a pedestrian and driver (i.e, riding on the road but riding in a crosswalk if the light turns red in front of them).

I've been walking around alone ever since I was 9 and I can count the number of times on one hand that I have had a "close call" with a car.

The number of close calls I have with cyclists? Nearly daily. The entitlement mentality a lot of them have, such as cutting in front of me by 1-2 feet when I am already in the middle of crossing the street AND a car has already stopped for me... man if I was wearing my steel toe boots...

Preach.

What happened to looking both ways before crossing the road and making eye contact with drivers?