You are hereAPD actually doing something to look out for the little guys.
APD actually doing something to look out for the little guys.
Earlier this week the local Fox affiliate ran a story on something the APD is doing to bring to justice drivers who do not yield to pedestrians. You can check the story below, but the basic gist is that they send out an plainclothes cop to walk through the cross-walk (currently the 8th Street intersection near the cop HQ) and if a car doesn't yield the right-of-way to him then a motorcycle cop chases them down and tickets them. Here's the full story:
Though this doesn't apply to cyclists directly, this is a great move by the City of Austin's enforcement arm to do something to protect a group of people whose rights are rarely looked out for: the pedestrians. If they're willing to defend the rights of that group of "alternative" transportation users ("what, you aren't DRIVING?") maybe they'll step it up and look out for us bikers a little bit more. We'll see. Thanks for pointing this out Erik!
P.S. Nice job, officers! This is a lot cooler than ticketing people crossing South Congress on foot or hitting up cyclists for safely rolling a stop sign. More enforcement protecting the more-vulnerable of us goes a loooong way towards showing some public good-will. I appreciate it.
Here's the applicable section from the Texas Transportation Code. It's not just the lane, but the whole "half" of the road if it's a road of more than two lanes:
Sec. 552.003. PEDESTRIAN RIGHT-OF-WAY AT CROSSWALK. (a) The operator of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing a roadway in a crosswalk if:
(1) no traffic control signal is in place or in operation; and
(2) the pedestrian is:
(A) on the half of the roadway in which the vehicle is traveling; or
(B) approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a pedestrian may not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and proceed into a crosswalk in the path of a vehicle so close that it is impossible for the vehicle operator to yield.
(c) The operator of a vehicle approaching from the rear of a vehicle that is stopped at a crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross a roadway may not pass the stopped vehicle.
Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
It's telling that pedestrians basically have no rights outside the crosswalk, which I think is different from other states.
Sec. 552.005. CROSSING AT POINT OTHER THAN CROSSWALK. (a) A pedestrian shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle on the highway if crossing a roadway at a place:
(1) other than in a marked crosswalk or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection; or
(2) where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided.
(b) Between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation, a pedestrian may cross only in a marked crosswalk.
(c) A pedestrian may cross a roadway intersection diagonally only if and in the manner authorized by a traffic control device.
Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
... as it depends on how they define yield.
Many (most?) cyclists will slow if needed and go around a single pedestrian rather than stopping.
Does that count as yielding? I don't know. Does it matter if the cyclist slowed and gave the pedestrian lots of room and the pedestrian never even had to slow or stop walking? I don't know ...
Either way, it sounds like a good thing they're doing. Cyclists may complain that cars rule the streets, but pedestrians have it even worse.
Speaking of the police, they're photographing us! :)
We're having the same crosswalk issue in my neighborhood. Drivers on the main street disregard the mid-block crosswalk going into a park.
One of my neighbors looked up the law and it is not very ped-friendly. Vehicles (bikes too, yo) must yield to pedestrians IN the crosswalk (not headed for it) and IN the vehicle's lane. So the letter o' the law, via 3rd hand info, is that as long as we don't buzz them in the same lane of traffic everyone's cool.
~~
The best substitute for good manners is fast reflexes.
552.003. PEDESTRIAN RIGHT-OF-WAY AT CROSSWALK.
(a) The operator of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing a roadway in a crosswalk if:
(1) no traffic control signal is in place or in operation; and
(2) the pedestrian is:
(A) on the half of the roadway in which the vehicle is traveling; or
(B) approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.
...
Now, is `half of the roadway' -- I'm guessing that means that the entire road is split into two parts, usually one going each way, so that's larger than `just your lane'.
Ultimately, it depends on what yield means. It could mean you must stop when there's a pedestrian `in your half of the roadway', or it could just mean that you can't impede his progress. The latter makes more sense -- you could pass behind him, or ahead of him if there's enough room to not make him pause or feel threatened by you.
The situations they showed in their video were pretty clearly violations -- they weren't as `gray' as what I'm talking about above.
In any event, cyclists fail to yield to pedestrians (in crosswalks, intersections) at least as often as cars do. And I'm guessing that the police will happily cite cyclists for it -- as they should. So be nice out there ...