Gather around folks… I am on the soap box!!
This time, I am here to address a growing issue that has come to my attention in recent years. As the weather has improved, for most of us, people are getting out more. I respect those who get off their duff and walk, jog or run along the streets of their quiet little neighborhood or town. What I do NOT respect is you doing so on the roadway! If your neighborhood or town is fortunate enough to have sidewalks…USE THEM FOR CHRIST SAKE!! Sad fact of the matter is, homeowners are responsible for them, so in reality it could be considered “trespassing”…oh never mind that, anyway…I can PROMISE you that they weren’t there, you would be jumping on your own soapbox demanding they get installed.
I reside in a rather large neighborhood. EVERY DAY, or maybe EVERY OTHER DAY, I encounter a gauntlet of cars parked in the streets – that’s another blog post – and it is worse when pedestrians CHOOSE to use the roadway INSTEAD of the provided sidewalk. Even more crazy, they CHOOSE to use the roadway IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!!
As we had to begin teaching our young drivers, we noticed this happening more and more. I had always been of the mindset, probably because I was taught, that as drivers, we yield to pedestrians – AT ALL TIMES. However, I began to do a little research and have since discovered that is an old MYTH….the ONLY time vehicles are to yield to pedestrians is when these pedestrians are in a clearly marked crosswalk, according to the KRS 189.57o document:
(5) Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the operator of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.
(6) (a)Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway.
(8) The operator of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian on a sidewalk.
Also…reading further into this KRS 189.570 dcument, we see this….regarding the sidewalk use:
(12) Where a sidewalk is provided and its use is practicable, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway.
(13) Where a sidewalk is not available, any pedestrian walking along and upon a highway shall walk only on a shoulder, as far as practicable from the edge of the roadway.
(14) Where neither a sidewalk nor a shoulder is available, any pedestrian walking on or along a highway shall walk as near as practicable to an outside edge of the roadway, and, if on a two-way roadway shall walk only on the left side of the roadway.
(15) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any pedestrian upon a roadway shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway.
I think it is pretty clear…if there are sidewalks, USE THEM!!
It is unsafe for you and the driver. I am sure that your desire for exercise is far greater than your desire for injury or perhaps causing a young driver a lifetime of regret because YOU CHOOSE to disobey the laws.
CLIMB ABOARD MY SOAPBOX 