10.1 Pedestrians, Children, School and Rail Crossings

10.1 Pedestrians, Children, School and Rail Crossings

Quick Summary / Key Rule: Pedestrian questions are roughly one in thirteen of the published pool, and the correct answer is almost always some version of "slow down and be ready to make a safe stop". The underlying legal duty is broader than most drivers realise: you must give way to a pedestrian if there is any risk of hitting them, whether or not there is a crossing, a signal, or a marked line.

For a heavy vehicle driver this is not a formality. A laden truck at 60 km/h needs a great deal more road to stop than a car, and the driver sits high enough that a small child directly in front of the bumper can be completely invisible. The rules below exist because pedestrians lose every collision.

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The General Duty

You must give way to pedestrians if there is a risk of hitting them. That duty applies at all times, and it overrides your right of way. Three consequences follow:

1. At a marked pedestrian crossing, you must give way to pedestrians on the crossing if there is any danger of a collision.
2. When approaching a marked crossing with no pedestrians in sight, you should still slow down and be ready to make a safe stop — because a pedestrian who steps out from behind a parked van gives you no warning at all.
3. When a person is crossing the road you are turning into, you must give way to them. This applies to turning left and to turning right.

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Marked Pedestrian Crossings

The do not overtake a stopped vehicle at a crossing rule is the one that kills people. The stopped vehicle is stopped because someone is crossing; overtaking it puts a 20-tonne vehicle into the space that pedestrian is walking into, with no sight line for either party.

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Children and School Crossings

Children behave unpredictably around roads, are short enough to disappear below your bonnet line, and misjudge vehicle speed.

• When driving near children playing or walking near the edge of the road, slow down and be ready to make a safe stop.
• When you see children on or near the road, slow down and be more careful.
• If a School Crossing Supervisor is holding out a hand-held sign, you must wait until the children are off the crossing and the hand-held sign has been withdrawn before you move.
• When you see flashing lights on the back of a bus, drive carefully at no more than 40 km/h. Those lights mean children are getting on or off, and children who have just left a bus frequently cross in front of or behind it.

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Older People, Poor Light and Parked Vehicles

• When you see older people on or near the road, slow down and take extra care — they may move more slowly and may not see or hear you.
• In poor light, look more carefully for pedestrians, because they are hard to see.
• In wet weather, watch out for pedestrians who may hurry and take risks to get out of the rain.
• Pedestrians affected by alcohol are one of the most common groups involved in road crashes.
• When driving past parked vehicles, the most important thing to watch for is pedestrians, animals and car doors opening. Also check for parked vehicles with turn signals on, or children about to step out.
• A pedestrian refuge is not a safe zone in law. If a person standing on a refuge steps out into your lane, you must give way if there is any risk of hitting them.
• Before getting out of your vehicle, check your mirrors and blind spots for pedestrians, bicycles and other road users, and do not open a door if you are likely to cause danger to anyone.

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Light Rail

Where you drive up to a light rail vehicle that has just stopped at a tram stop, take extra care, slow down and give way to passengers getting on and off. Passengers step directly from the tram into the traffic lane, and a truck passing a stopped tram at speed has no margin at all.

At an intersection where a light rail vehicle is about to enter, wait until the intersection is clear.

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Railway Level Crossings

Level crossings combine the pedestrian problem with the heavy-vehicle length problem.

• Where a crossing has a STOP sign, stop at all times and proceed only when it is safe.
• Where the crossing has flashing signals, stop until the red lights stop flashing.
• Where boom gates are down, you may only begin to cross once the gate is up and the lights have stopped flashing.
• Even when the signals show nothing, slow down, be ready to stop and give way if a train is coming.
• Never enter the crossing if traffic is blocking the far side. You must be able to clear the crossing completely.

Stop signs and flashing lights at railway crossings must always be obeyed because trains are fast, heavy and cannot stop quickly.

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Worked Scenario: The Suburban Delivery Run

A driver in an 8-tonne rigid is on a suburban delivery run at 3:15 pm on a school day.

1. Approaching a marked crossing, a sedan in the adjacent lane brakes and stops. The driver's instinct is to keep rolling in the clear lane.
2. The rule: you must not overtake a vehicle that has stopped at a pedestrian crossing. The sedan is stopped because someone is on the crossing, and from the high cab the driver cannot see past the sedan's roofline to the child who is halfway across.
3. The correct action: stop level with the sedan and wait until the crossing is clear.
4. A block later, a school bus ahead activates its rear flashing lights. The driver reduces to no more than 40 km/h and expects children to cross in front of and behind the bus.
5. At the next intersection, turning left, a pedestrian is already crossing the side street. The driver gives way — a driver turning left or right must give way to pedestrians crossing the road being entered.

Every one of those four decisions costs the driver under a minute of delivery time. Getting any one of them wrong is a fatality.