door Jozef » 02 jul 2017, 01:39
Even if there is a "zebra crossing", you don't have to give priority to the pedestrian who wants to cross the street when he has a red traffic light.
However, you have to
be very careful:
- According to article 7.1 of the traffic regulations, you are not allowed to endanger so called "weak road users", like pedestrians and cyclists, and especially not children, elderly people and disbled persons, and you have to be twice as careful when such people are on the road or you can anticipate their presence on the road.
- Many pedestrians don't care about a red traffic light, and they underestimate your speed and your distance. Many "weak road users" are even convinced that they have always and everywhere the priority, and they will insult, if not attack you if you don't think so.
- If an adult doesn't hold a child at his hand, the child may suddenly cross the street. You really don't want to collide with a child, as it is extremely dificult and long lasting to process such an event.
- Juridically, the problem is that, most of the time, you cannot prove that the traffic light for the pedestrian was red.
Let me illustrate this with an example. A police officer had a green traffic light, when a car came from the right. The police officer noticed in his statement that the other driver had a red traffic light. The judge reprimanded the police officer, telling him: "You think that the other driver had a red traffic light, because you had a green traffic light. However, you were unable to see that other traffic light, so you don't know if the other driver had a red traffic light. You have to notice in your statements only what you observed; what you thought is really of no interest at all." Therefore, the other driver was discharged.
Even if there is a "zebra crossing", you don't have to give priority to the pedestrian who wants to cross the street when he has a red traffic light.
However, you have to [b][u]be very carefu[/u][/b]l:
[list]
[*]According to article 7.1 of the traffic regulations, you are not allowed to endanger so called "weak road users", like pedestrians and cyclists, and especially not children, elderly people and disbled persons, and you have to be twice as careful when such people are on the road or you can anticipate their presence on the road.
[*]Many pedestrians don't care about a red traffic light, and they underestimate your speed and your distance. Many "weak road users" are even convinced that they have always and everywhere the priority, and they will insult, if not attack you if you don't think so.
[*]If an adult doesn't hold a child at his hand, the child may suddenly cross the street. You really don't want to collide with a child, as it is extremely dificult and long lasting to process such an event.
[*]Juridically, the problem is that, most of the time, you cannot prove that the traffic light for the pedestrian was red.
Let me illustrate this with an example. A police officer had a green traffic light, when a car came from the right. The police officer noticed in his statement that the other driver had a red traffic light. The judge reprimanded the police officer, telling him: "You [u]think[/u] that the other driver had a red traffic light, because you had a green traffic light. However, you were unable to see that other traffic light, so you don't know if the other driver had a red traffic light. You have to notice in your statements only what you observed; what you thought is really of no interest at all." Therefore, the other driver was discharged.
[/list]
