Last week’s article was about e-bikes and e-scooters and the applicable Vehicle and Traffic Laws (VTL) for both. In that article, I cited violations by e-bike riders on a daily basis and listed just some of what I was seeing. This week, I am focusing on pedestrians who violate VTL while walking on roadways in Franklin County. I’m sure this is not unique to the North Country, but likely everywhere.

For pedestrians, section 1156 of VTL “Pedestrians on roadways” is applicable: 1156. Pedestrians on roadways. (a) Where sidewalks are provided and they may be used with safety it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway.

(b) Where sidewalks are not provided, any pedestrian walking along and upon a highway shall, when practicable, walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing traffic which may approach from the opposite direction. Upon the approach of any vehicle from the opposite direction, such pedestrian shall move as far to the left as is practicable.

This law is not without basis – it is safer for pedestrians to face traffic. As I stated in my article in late April, pedestrian fatalities are up 48 % in the U.S. in the past 10 years. In 2021, some 7,388 pedestrians died and more than 60,500 were injured in traffic crashes in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While there are many reasons for this increase, one of them is walking on the wrong side.

A number of years ago, on Elm Street in the village of Malone, a pedestrian was struck and killed while walking on the wrong side of the street — the sidewalk along the street was difficult to walk on because of snow and ice. The driver who struck and killed the pedestrian stated the pedestrian was not seen because of glare from the sun. The pedestrian could not see the car approaching from behind.

Had this pedestrian been walking as the law requires, they would have been on the other side of the street and the deadly collision could have been avoided.

A Saranac Lake reader of these articles in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise e-mailed me last summer with this quote; “I have a sad story from the past about the death of a woman walking on the right side WITH traffic and with two children, one walking and another in a stroller, all killed by a car coming from behind. I bristle when so often we see similar walkers, sometimes with earphones and hoodies, oblivious to traffic coming from behind on roads without sidewalks.”

Since I first began writing weekly articles on VTL and traffic safety in 2007, I have issued 24 articles dealing with pedestrian safety. I intend to bring this pedestrian problem to the June meeting of the Franklin County Traffic Safety Board for discussion. It’s time to take action with more education and enforcement.