According to the analysis of the State traffic inspectorate of the Russian Federation, the following statistics were revealed: a large number of traffic accidents occur due to the fact that vehicle drivers do not know how to skip a pedestrian. Particular difficulties among motorists cause questions regarding unusual situations - for example, the passage of citizens along the roadway in the wrong places or unregulated areas.
Changes in traffic rules
In accordance with paragraph 14.1, drivers were required to stop in front of a pedestrian or slow down. This wording is recognized as twofold, leaving an alternative to vehicle owners - to slow down slightly, pushing a walking person, or completely stop moving.
The new amendment to the SDA eliminates such a choice, obliging motorists to cede the carriageway to citizens crossing it or having just entered, and thereby eliminating the ambiguity of the question of how to skip a pedestrian correctly. Traffic rules now also stipulate cases when a car slows down in front of citizens in an adjacent lane.
And if earlier it was enough to make sure that there was no pedestrian in front of the hood of the car, now the rule is formulated more strictly: the neighboring car slows down - all the other participants in the traffic follow its example (in the case when the reason for the stop is due to walking citizens, and not an emergency or by turning, for example). Continuing the journey is permissible only after the carriageway is cleared.
Give way or skip?
Earlier, in 2010, drivers had a strict rule - to let pedestrians who had already embarked on the roadway. That is, the car enthusiast was not obliged to stop in front of a person standing on the sidewalk on the highway, and if he did, then for personal reasons. At that time, there was no fundamental difference between the concepts of “correctly skipping” or “giving way to a pedestrian”. From the point of view of philistine vocabulary, there are still no changes, but a legal nuance has appeared.
Now in paragraphs 14.1 and 14.2 there is an important amendment: the owner of the vehicle is obliged not only to let citizens through, but to give them the route, stopping traffic until the pedestrian crosses it.
Roadway or road?
The road consists of several lanes, that is, carriageways. It is not surprising that many drivers are confused by the wording of the SDA. The rule says the following: you can continue the trip only by making sure that there are no citizens on the road “crossing the roadway”.
How to pass pedestrians at the crossing who move in a different lane? In such a situation, it all depends on the direction of the people. If they have passed the driver’s car and continue to move along the remaining lanes, it is not necessary to wait for pedestrians to reach the opposite sidewalk. A similar answer applies to traffic along the oncoming direction (provided that the road is limited by dividing lanes).
However, in the opposite case, when a pedestrian crosses the highway and moves towards the car, the driver must stop with other motorists. An attempt to “slip through” and cross the passage in front of the nose is regarded as a gross violation of the rules of the road.
Tram rails
Another controversial issue of the previous set of traffic rules related to the rail within the city. Tram tracks intersecting with a pedestrian crossing did not give walking citizens any advantage, and therefore motorists had the right not to let them through. This wording of the law created a dangerous situation on the road and allowed the guilty drivers to find a loophole to avoid punishment.
The new amendment to the SDA also addresses the issue of tram tracks, clearly interpreting the rule on how to let pedestrians pass correctly. All versions of the wording of the previous law no longer have a legal basis - the tram section now refers to a pedestrian crossing. As amended by the SDA, this is manifested in the form of an inconspicuous, but important postscript concerning pedestrians: "when crossing roads and on tram tracks."
Night meetings
Unlit tracks and even crossings are a real problem for both drivers and citizens who want to cross the roadway. Obviously, motorists should be more careful in the evening and at night, especially before skipping a pedestrian properly. However, due to this difficulty, the rules of the road are tightened in relation to the last participants in the action.
Since 2015, citizens are required to wear reflective elements, ensuring their visibility for drivers in adverse conditions (precipitation, fog, twilight). Today, such a requirement does not cause difficulties on foot: many manufacturers offer customers clothes with sewn-in reflective strips; stickers and pendants for things for every taste are on sale. True, few were obliged to such a measure of security - for residents of large cities, such a requirement is only advisory in nature.
Unregulated Pedestrian Crossings
Traffic light is an uncompromising traffic controller. However, in places of pedestrian crossing or the installation of special signs where it is not there, drivers often come up with various excuses for their intransigence, ignoring passers-by on the sidewalk.
How to skip a pedestrian on a zebra, if it is not regulated? In this matter, both legal and ethical truths lie on the side of citizens without transport: according to the law, the car owner is still obliged to give way to a person, just as in the case of regulated transitions. And from a moral point of view, this option is much preferable, especially when children, pensioners or pregnant women, for example, are waiting on the sidewalk.
Landing in transport
Often, drivers are faced with the following situation: in places not equipped with a special crossing, transport stops, and brisk passengers rush to cross the road. Often, motorists do not want to let such citizens pass, forcing them to patiently wait for more kind owners of cars and violating traffic rules, which provide not only how to pass a pedestrian at a pedestrian crossing, but also in such a case.
Clause 14.6 states: if a person goes to or from a public vehicle, as well as when passengers disembark from a stop located on the carriageway, drivers of other cars must give way to a pedestrian.
Rules for everyone!
The law on the intersection of the roadway affects not only the interests of drivers, but also pedestrians themselves, who have no less responsibilities. Citizens have the right to cross the road in the prescribed places provided for the safety of people. "Zebras", underground passages, traffic lights, work signs - heralds of proper movement along the roadway. In cases where there are no specially equipped places, movement at intersections along the lines of curbs or sidewalks is allowed.
In addition, another important traffic rule is provided for citizens. Any driver is obliged to know how to pass pedestrians correctly, however this does not relieve the rest of the traffic participants. Before crossing the roadway, people are obliged to assess the real situation on the road and move on, only making sure the safety of their actions.
How to skip pedestrians: tips from the court
The carriageway is provided for transport, for pedestrians - roadsides and sidewalks. However, sometimes a person has a need to get on the other side of the road and the only thing he can do is cross it. Drivers a similar scenario should include, be alert and know by heart how to pass pedestrians correctly. Especially in cases when a citizen crosses the road in the right place.
Judicial practice rarely develops in favor of drivers, because it is they who pose a great threat to people's lives, and not vice versa. In order to avoid fair or undeserved accusations from the traffic police, it is important not only to know the rights, but also to be mutually polite, careful, attentive. The safety of others is a much more significant factor than justice or legal correctness.
Even in cases where a careless pedestrian crossed the carriageway in the wrong place, the responsibility still lies with the driver who owns the car - a source of increased danger. In case of a traffic violation, he will be responsible for the victims, starting from a fine and up to criminal punishment.
Exceptional Cases
Strict road crossing requirements are not relevant in all situations and not for everyone. So, clauses 14.5–14.7 provide for circumstances-exceptions in which they consider the question of how to skip a pedestrian moving along the carriageway in the wrong place.
First, drivers are required to let blind citizens signaling their route with a white cane.
Secondly, motorists should be more vigilant when driving past vehicles marked with the “child transportation” identification mark. In the case of alarms of such a car, the remaining road users must slow down or, if necessary, stop to let the children pass.
In addition, drivers are required to pass organized pedestrian columns. As a rule, these are military, schoolchildren or small children. But not every orderly crowd is a column - only one that moves according to the rules: in rows of up to 4 people and accompanied by two responsible persons with signal flags.
Violation and punishment
An administrative fine is imposed on the driver for deviating from the established traffic rules and for ignoring the benefits to the pedestrian who started moving on the roadway - one and a half thousand rubles (article 12.18 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation).
No discrimination! Pedestrians will also be punished in case of traffic violations in the form of a fine of five hundred rubles or a warning from the traffic police (article 12.29, part 1). For the creation of interference in the movement of vehicles, this amount will increase to 1 thousand rubles (Article 12.30, part 1), and for causing harm to the health of the victim due to carelessness and carelessness - from 1 thousand to 1.5 thousand rubles (Article 12.30 , 2 part). The last punishment applies not only to hasty citizens, but also to motorists.
Drivers and pedestrians often disrespect each other, even being on both sides of the barricades at the same time. Convinced of the priority of their rights, they share the road, like the neighbors of a communal apartment - a bathroom. On whose side is the truth in this endless debate? Definitely, it is somewhere in the middle. That's just the owners of vehicles should not only know how to skip a pedestrian from a legal point of view, but also clearly understand that a car is a danger to a defenseless person, and not vice versa.