We have all faced the problem. Situations on the roadways where it is not clear what state law requires of those sharing the road. These are times when a pedestrian, a bicyclist and a driver all have some doubt about who can do what when.
I was reminded of this dilemma last week on a short ride through the streets of North Wildwood. Within the span of five minutes I was part of two potentially dangerous situations.
In one a woman crossing the road on her bicycle expected me to stop as though she were a pedestrian. In the other an actual pedestrian crossed against the light, motioning to me that he had the right-of-way.
Of course, the only course of action in any situation is to do what is most likely to result in the safety of all concerned. That is what happened in these two instances. Yet a better understanding of the rules might reduce the number of times we all have to make those judgments.
It has been almost a decade since New Jersey’s crosswalk law went into effect. Ten years later we still see behavior that suggests the law is not fully understood. Add to the mix a steady increase in the number of bicyclists on the roadways, many of whom appear to equate themselves with pedestrians, and the confusion increases.
Some general principles make the rules of the road easier to understand.
Under the current law drivers must stop for pedestrians in designated crosswalks. The old law required drivers to yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks.
Crosswalks may be signalized or have no signals. If signals exist, the signals must be obeyed by pedestrians and drivers. The man walking against the light did not have the right to be in the crosswalk despite his belief to the contrary.
It is also important to know what constitutes a crosswalk. Crosswalks may be marked or unmarked. Marked crosswalks may be at locations other than intersections. In New Jersey all intersections are legal crosswalks whether they are marked or not.
It is also critical to know that pedestrians and bicyclists are not the same and the rules for them are not the same.
The law gives pedestrians special rights in crosswalks, but those rights come with obligations.
Pedestrians must obey available signals at crosswalks and do not have the right to cross when the signal is giving drivers the right of way. Pedestrians not at a crosswalk must yield the right of way to all vehicles.
Pedestrians are also required to use sidewalks when available or walk on the left side of the road when sidewalks are unavailable.
Bicyclists must adhere to the same rules of the road as drivers. This means that bicyclists must obey all traffic signals and signs, must use turn signals and must travel on the right side of the road.
State law does not ban bicycles on sidewalks or boardwalks, but many municipal ordinances do. Where bicycles are allowed to use the sidewalks, the bicyclist must yield to pedestrians.
Bicyclists may travel no more than two abreast and that only when it does not impede traffic. Otherwise bicyclists should be in single file.
In Cape May County bicyclists may also have the benefit of on-street bicycle lanes which provide exclusive space on the road, but they do not remove the requirement for bicyclists to obey the same rules of the road as drivers.
The crosswalk law remains confusing to many. There have been attempts to change it.
In 2017 a group of South Jersey legislators proposed a bill dubbed the Driver and Pedestrian Mutual Responsibility Act. The bill would have limited pedestrians to crossing at crosswalks. It also would have removed the responsibility for a driver to come to a complete stop in such situations. Rather the driver would have been required to yield. The bill failed.
Of course the current laws are in place with good intentions. The goal is to reduce the number of fatalities involving bicyclists and pedestrians. It is fair to ask how well the laws are working.
Two years ago a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association showed the number of pedestrian fatalities has increased steadily in the last decade. With other traffic deaths decreasing, the percentage of pedestrian deaths as a proportion of all motor vehicle deaths is growing alarmingly.
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) also reports that last year the number of bicyclist deaths in roadway accidents increased 6% over the prior year.
Here in New Jersey for the year in 2009, the year before the new rules went into effect, State Police statistics show that 28% of roadway fatalities involved pedestrians or bicyclists.
In 2018 and 2019, the same statistics through September 17 show 32% of the fatalities involved pedestrians and bicyclists. For the same period of 2020, the number continued to move up to 35%.
This is not a problem of inexperienced children. USDOT says that the average age of pedestrians and cyclists killed in traffic crashes is 46 years old, with one fifth of pedestrians and one third of bicyclists struck at intersections.
Certainly drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists are all responsible for knowing road use laws. Yet we daily see evidence that many do not.
It may also be time for a focused campaign to educate those of us who share the roadways on the rights and responsibilities of all concerned. More importantly it may be time to rethink the laws that give an illusion of rights to pedestrians that do not in fact exist.
