Halloween is a little over a week away and I am sure you and your family are choosing what costumes to wear and planning both activities and trick or treating routes. During your preparations, it is important to consider some of the laws that may apply to the festivities.
Before crossing the street to find some more candy, consider the following rules from the Nova Scotia Motor Vehicle Act.
- When arriving at a crosswalk, “a pedestrian shall not leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so closely approaching that it is impractical for the driver of the vehicle to stop.” Therefore, even though you are at a crosswalk, it is always important to stop completely and look both ways, ensuring you make eye contact with the driver, so no one gets hurt.
- If there is a pedestrian activated beacon at the crosswalk where you intend to cross (typically a button at the start of the crosswalk that causes a light to flash to advise motorists there is a pedestrian intending to cross) you are legally required to activate it before you step into the crosswalk.
- If you decide to cross the road where no crosswalk exists, remember that a pedestrian must yield the right of way to vehicles that are on the roadway so please make sure no cars are coming before you head on to the next house.
- A crosswalk exists at every intersection, whether or not it is marked. This means there are both marked and unmarked crosswalks. A marked crosswalk has the painted lines on the road and signage nearby to indicate a crosswalk is present whereas an unmarked crosswalk is simply where two streets intersect one another. For example, at a T shaped intersection, there are three crosswalks present, even if the three crosswalks are not marked. Drivers, be sure to stop where there are pedestrians at both marked or unmarked intersections. Trick or treaters – when planning your walking route, consider making use of unmarked crosswalks rather than crossing in between intersections where no crosswalk exists.
We encourage you to be safe while you are out there and keep these important rules in mind. We at Kennedy Schofield want to wish you a safe and Happy Halloween.
