One difference
between my Aussie family and me is our understanding of the role of pedestrians and drivers. In BC
when a pedestrian approaches a highway at a crosswalk they first look to the left,
then the right and then to the left again before crossing the street. The
assumption we make as pedestrians is that we have the right of way and that
traffic will stop.
We teach our children to stop and look both ways, we also
teach them to cross at marked crosswalks or at lights whenever possible. The
law is on our side as well, if we attempt to cross a road and a car does not
stop the driver could be in serious trouble even if we are not hit.
In Australia
at least in the state of Victoria, the driver has the right of way and a pedestrian has no expectation that a driver will stop if the pedestrian tries
to cross the road. I found that hard to get used to, first I had to learn to
look to the right, then to the left and back to the right before stepping out.
I also had to make sure that there were no cars close unless I was at a light.
Pedestrian right of way appears to be a foreign idea to my Aussie friends. When
we were in Rye, which is on the Mornington Peninsula we were staying at a house
that was across the road from the beach. The road was heavily used and the
speed limit was 70K along the stretch we had to cross. There were no crosswalks
and no lights within at least two kilometres, so we had to dodge traffic to get
to the beach.
At least twice during our stay, the owner of the house, stopped
traffic after we had been waiting along with about 10 other people to cross the
road. He went out in a break in the traffic and held up his hand and the traffic
stopped or at least slowed down so we could get across the road. Each time he
was surprised they had stopped.
I am sure
that in many parts of the world, the idea that the driver is king and
pedestrians have no rights is also in place, but I love what we do here and
found that I like the idea of a pedestrian having some rights as important. My
Aussie friends thought it was a strange idea, and have grown to live with and
accept their own unique way of looking at the role of the driver and the
pedestrian.
