Back-to-school safety: pedestrians, cyclists, and intersections

Young children walking home from school may not always be paying attention to what’s going on around them. That makes it all the more important for you, the motorist, to be on the lookout for their safety. Between 2019 and 2023, there were 153 collisions involving pedestrians that resulted in a fatality or major injury.

Motorists:

• Be alert for pedestrians

• Pay attention when making a right or left turn at an intersection

• Slow down when driving through school areas and residential areas

• Watch for Community Safety Zones. Fines are doubled in these areas.

• Yield the entire width of the roadway at pedestrian crossovers, or school crossings where there is a crossing guard

  
  

Pedestrians:

• Remove headphones; put away cell phones or other electronic devices when crossing the street. Use your full attention so you’ll be able to see, hear and respond safely to what is happening on the roadway.

• Cross at marked crosswalks or traffic signals, not in the middle of the block where there's traffic or between parked cars.

• Cross when traffic has come to a complete stop.

• Make sure drivers see you before you cross.

• Watch for traffic turning at intersections or entering and leaving driveways.

• At a traffic signal, cross at the beginning of a “Walk” light. Do not cross once the “Don’t Walk” signal begins to flash or once the solid “Don’t Walk” is displayed.

• Wear bright or light-coloured clothing or reflective strips when walking in dusk or darkness.

  
  

Parents and caregivers:

• Teach and reinforce the proper techniques for crossing the road safely with your child.

• Stress the importance of walking on the sidewalk, or where there are no sidewalks, of walking facing traffic as far away as possible from the travelled portion of the road.

• When waiting to cross the street, stop before the edge of the sidewalk.

  
  

In many areas, the City of Ottawa has built infrastructure called pedestrian crossovers. These are designated areas where pedestrians have the right of way when crossing the road. Vehicles must stop for pedestrians who are crossing and wait until the pedestrian has completely crossed the road before continuing. 

Pedestrian crossovers are much like crosswalks. They are found at intersections, roundabouts and midblock, often where a pathway intersects a road. 

All road users have a responsibility to keep our roads safe for everyone. As a driver, regardless of what kind of vehicle you are driving or riding, you need to:

• Watch for and prepare to stop at pedestrian crossovers.

• Wait until the pedestrian has completely crossed the road (curb to curb) before proceeding.

• Vehicles must not pass any other vehicle within 30 metres prior to a pedestrian crossover.

• Cyclists must dismount and walk their bike across the road.

As a pedestrian, to stay safe, remember these tips:  

• Wait for traffic to stop.

• Try to make eye contact to ensure the driver sees you.

The City has more information about pedestrian crossovers online or you can watch this pedestrian crossover video(link is external).

It’s back to school time, a time when our most vulnerable road users can find themselves the victim of a serious collision. Each month the City of Ottawa Road Safety Action Plan’s communication efforts focus on specific areas that are determined based on trends in data collected for fatal and major injury collisions. Educating the public and building awareness is one of the ways we try to make our streets safer for all road users. The themes for the month of September are pedestrians, cyclists and intersections.