Quote:
Originally Posted by IanWatson
Yeah, this is for crosswalks at intersections. A while back (maybe 10ish years?) HRM started making it so the pedestrian walk light wouldn’t change unless you pushed the button. So you could be faced with a "don’t walk" signal while cars going the same direction had a green light. It sucks as a pedestrian because if you arrive at an intersection even 1 second after the light turns green you’ll have to wait a whole light cycle to get a "walk" signal.
They’re switching back to the old way of doing things where the walk signal will go white when the car light is green, even without a button push.
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This makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.
As a pedestrian, and one who refuses to jay-walk unless the traffic signal is broken and/or there are no vehicles in sight or within earshot, I've been frustrated arriving at a signal that just turned green but have to wait an entire cycle for the walk signal.
As a motorist, you never blindly make a right or left turn on a green, whether there's a walk signal or not. You just can't predict what pedestrians (or cyclists, unfortunately) will do. And every time you drive your car or truck, a second of inattention has the potential to seriously harm or kill a pedestrian or cyclist. So, if motorists now know (though they won't by reading the article posted) that a walk signal will predictably come on when the light turns green, even the inattentive ones should expect that a pedestrian could be crossing.
This is a good move by HRM, IMHO.