Pedestrians and crosswalk duties
ICBC's driving guide: Sharing the road
Pedestrians are unpredictable and hard to see, especially at night. Most of them have no accurate sense of how far a vehicle needs to stop, so a gap that looks impossible to you can look fine to them.
At a crosswalk or intersection:
- Never pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk. It is illegal and unsafe — that driver may have stopped to let someone cross, and their vehicle is hiding that person from you.
- Do not enter a crosswalk without checking it is empty, even on a green. Someone may be dashing across, and people who cross slowly — the elderly, people with disabilities, a parent walking with a small child — may still be in it.
The rest of this card is in the learning area. Go to the learning area
Practice questions on this card
- Q-0216A vehicle ahead of you in the next lane has stopped at a crosswalk. What may you do?
- Q-0217Your light is green and the crosswalk ahead appears to be part of your path. What should you check?
- Q-0218You are turning right at an intersection. Which pedestrians are most easily missed?
- Q-0219You see a person standing beside a crosswalk that has a flashing green light. What does that tell you?
- Q-0220A school patrol or crossing supervisor is on duty as you approach a school zone. What is your obligation?
- Q-0232Why are pedestrians described as unpredictable even when they are obeying the rules?
- Q-0243Why is a stopped transit bus a hazard even when it is not moving?