The walk sign flashing red sometimes means delayed walk sign but sometimes it means the light is going to change from green to red. How can you tell which it is?
Put your head down and run as fast as you canThe walk sign flashing red sometimes means delayed walk sign but sometimes it means the light is going to change from green to red. How can you tell which it is?
If one assumes that the light will be changing to amber, then one would slow down a bit in anticipation. If it then turns out to be the delayed walk signal, it means the driver may lose 1-1.5 seconds. Non-issue.The walk sign flashing red sometimes means delayed walk sign but sometimes it means the light is going to change from green to red. How can you tell which it is?
Cheers for WULA!! The walk sign is for pedestrians and tells them when they are permitted to enter the crosswalk, and when they shouldn't. Drivers should ignore those signals, and pay attention to the Red-Amber-Green ones that govern car movement.Driving a vehicle on the basis of what a Walk Sign for pedestrians is signalling, is a great recipe to create a 'rear-ender'.
I have had a couple of close calls with dickhead drivers abruptly slowing to almost a stop at a green light that is staying green.
Regrettably, unless there are good witnesses and a 'with it' cop, the vehicle following will be charged with 'driving too close'.
Walk Signals are for pedestrians, whether they follow them or not. They are not meant for drivers of vehicles.
Disagree to an extent. The countdown timers are at most intersections and were placed to give drivers more of a heads up as to when the lights will be changing. As such, the driver is doing no wrong to occasionally take a quick glance at them. They should not however be a driver's main focus.Cheers for WULA!! The walk sign is for pedestrians and tells them when they are permitted to enter the crosswalk, and when they shouldn't. Drivers should ignore those signals, and pay attention to the Red-Amber-Green ones that govern car movement.
Actually if you rear-ended them you would still get charged for 'following too close' and rightly so.Driving a vehicle on the basis of what a Walk Sign for pedestrians is signalling, is a great recipe to create a 'rear-ender'.
I have had a couple of close calls with dickhead drivers abruptly slowing to almost a stop at a green light that is staying green.
Regrettably, unless there are good witnesses and a 'with it' cop, the vehicle following will be charged with 'driving too close'.
Walk Signals are for pedestrians, whether they follow them or not. They are not meant for drivers of vehicles.
Good answer. I have wondered the same thing as I use the crosswalk signal as a heads up that the light will change and then it does not.At more and more intersections there are magnetic sensors in the road which detect the presence of a car and send this signal to an intelligent controller. If there is no car, the walk sign will flash as it gets towards the end of it's timed sequence but because there is no car wanting to cross the main road (detected by the sensors) the traffic lights won't change and the time sequence begins anew and the walk sign changes from flashing a warning to "walk".
So if you're driving along the main road and you see the "walk" sign flashing - you know that the light is about to change. But if there are no cars waiting to cross the intersection, the light won't change IF it has intelligent sensors. The gamble is, not all intersections have this - so if you happen to speed up at an old intersection - you might end up running a red.
They are meant for the pedestrians to gauge how much time they still have to cross, a bit more information than a flashing "don't walk" light. Nothing wrong with looking at them as a driver of course, so you can decide whether to gun it or coast down.Disagree to an extent. The countdown timers are at most intersections and were placed to give drivers more of a heads up as to when the lights will be changing. As such, the driver is doing no wrong to occasionally take a quick glance at them. They should not however be a driver's main focus.
100%. That someone stops unexpectably is no excuse to run into them . You would be 100% at fault for hitting a stopped vehicle.Actually if you rear-ended them you would still get charged for 'following too close' and rightly so.
It doesn't matter why they slow....you're supposed to be in control of your vehicle and not hit them.
You are quite correct about when pedestrians are legally prohibited from entering the crosswalk, but they do NOT become 'fair-game' if they do, and the law clearly says cars must give way and let them cross if they do, even if it takes longer than the countdown.The instant the countdown timer begins on the pedestrian signal, it is technically illegal for a pedestrian to enter the intersection via the crosswalk. The countdown timer becomes a gauge for the motorist as to when the light is changing.
Ask a Toronto Police Officer as they do a blitz every now and then in Downtown TO... My suggestion is that you do not ignore their lesson as they'll slap you with a ticket.
These fucking things are a danger more than anything - so many times they do not countdown properly - they hit zero and the light doesn't turn amber till a few seconds later. Why do they make shit that does not work properly?Disagree to an extent. The countdown timers are at most intersections and were placed to give drivers more of a heads up as to when the lights will be changing. As such, the driver is doing no wrong to occasionally take a quick glance at them. They should not however be a driver's main focus.
At some intersections, typically low traffic ones in one direction, if cross traffic is not waiting at the light, the light will remain red and the "walk" symbol will re-trigger. That's why you sometimes get the flashing hand, returning to the walk symbol and a repeated countdown.Resurrecting this thread because I’ve notice an experiment going on in my neighbourhood (Yonge/Lawrence area). I’ve noticed that the walk signals along Yonge in this area have been programmed to count down from 15 seconds then repeat, continuously. So it might count down from 15 and repeat many times before the light actually changes. When the light IS about to change, the walk signal countdowns will NOT repeat. This has been going on for about 3 weeks now along Yonge Street. I think it’s a very bad idea. One problem I witnessed was a car waiting to turn left onto Yonge from Lawrence. I was right behind and I could see the car edging forward as the walk signal started to count down towards zero. When it was at 1, he started to turn, anticipating the light to change but it didn’t so he had to gas it to avoid being hit by an on-coming car and a pedestrian had to wait in the intersection to let him through. I also notice that pedestrians are trying to guess when the countdown will repeat vs when it actually is about to turn red. It makes crossing with the signal a guessing game. Not sure what the point of this experiment is.
Thank you for the insight. I can see how someone sitting behind a desk might think that way and put out an instruction that should be the set up.At some intersections, typically low traffic ones in one direction, if cross traffic is not waiting at the light, the light will remain red and the "walk" symbol will re-trigger. That's why you sometimes get the flashing hand, returning to the walk symbol and a repeated countdown.
If cross traffic is present and it still happens, there's something faulty in the system. The countdown should not have repeated if the guy in front of you was stopped at the intersection.
I'm aware of this when it's not busy (eg: at night) and commented earlier in the thread about this. What I just descibed, above, is different. For about 3 weeks not, all the lights along a stretch of Yonge Street (north and south of Lawrence) now have walk signs that count down from 15 repeatedly, even during rushhour, even when there are cars waiting for the light to change (so typically in the past, the in-road sensors detect a car and the light changes). It's the strangest thing - I'm not sure if this is an experiement or a system malfunction.At some intersections, typically low traffic ones in one direction, if cross traffic is not waiting at the light, the light will remain red and the "walk" symbol will re-trigger. That's why you sometimes get the flashing hand, returning to the walk symbol and a repeated countdown.
If cross traffic is present and it still happens, there's something faulty in the system. The countdown should not have repeated if the guy in front of you was stopped at the intersection.