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10. Sharing the Road

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6. Driver Responsibilities to Pedestrians

The driver of a vehicle has the responsibility to exercise care and caution for the safety of a pedestrian on any roadway. It is a good driving practice to always yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway, regardless of who legally has the right-of-way.

You should stop for the safety of anyone crossing the street on foot. Just because you make eye contact with a pedestrian doesn’t mean that they will yield the right-of-way to you.

You should drive slower when you see bicyclists riding or pedestrians walking near the edge of the road. Give them plenty of room when passing.

If you stop in the crosswalk, you put pedestrians in danger. Those pedestrians will often have to get into the traffic lanes to avoid being hit by you because you have violated their right-of-way.

Always stop for a pedestrian at corners and intersections, and at crosswalks which are at places other than a corner. You must not pass a vehicle from behind that has stopped at a crosswalk. A pedestrian hidden from your view may be crossing.

Always look to the side at intersections, crosswalks, and railroad crossings. It is illegal to park in a crosswalk (marked or unmarked) or on a sidewalk. Look for school safety patrols or school crossing guards when you see a crosswalk near a school.

You must obey their instructions and can be cited for not doing so. You must allow crossing guards to get safely to the side of the road before driving ahead.

You must stop behind the limit line at a stop sign or stop signal and must not intrude into the crosswalk.

At yield signs, you must also give the right-of-way to pedestrians and bicyclists using the traffic lane.

At a green light, you must first let all vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians remaining in the intersection get through before entering the intersection.

Make a left turn only if you have enough space to complete the turn before any oncoming vehicle, bicycle, or pedestrian becomes a hazard. Before turning a corner, watch for people who are about to cross the street.

Remember, if you have a green light, the light is also green for them.

Never drive on a sidewalk unless you are crossing a sidewalk to enter or exit a driveway or alley.

When crossing a sidewalk, stop for any pedestrian: pedestrians always have the right-of-way on sidewalks.

Do not park on a sidewalk, even if your vehicle is partially in a driveway.

Watch for pedestrians and drive slower near:

  • crosswalks
  • schools
  • buses
  • school zones
  • parked cars
  • shopping centers
  • business districts
  • playgrounds
  • residential streets
  • shopping centers
  • parking lots
  • downtown areas

Be especially careful when you encounter pedestrians with umbrellas in front of their faces or hats pulled down over their eyes.

Look for signs indicating that pedestrians are likely to be near or crossing the roadway such as school zone and pedestrian crossing signs.

Always drive more carefully near schools, playgrounds, and parks because children may suddenly dart into the street. Near a school, the speed limit is 25 MPH when children are outside or crossing the street.

No matter what the speed limit sign states, you should never drive faster than 25 MPH when the school ground has no fence and children are outside.

Sometimes lower speed limit signs are placed near schools, so look for them. Watch for bicycles and pedestrians near parks and schools.

Lesson Summary


  

Lesson 10 Quiz


You will now answer 5 questions to test what you learned during this lesson. You must answer all questions correctly to receive completion credit for this lesson. You may answer the questions as many times as necessary to get them right.

You should review the lesson material if you don't do well on the quiz.

  1. If you fail to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights:


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  2. Pedestrians comprise about what ratio of traffic fatalities?


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  3. The most common collision in a work zone is from:


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  4. An orange triangular sign on the back of a vehicle means:


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  5. In the United States, a bicyclist is killed:


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