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John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints |
In Illinois, and probably throughout the USA and Canada, pedestrians are supposed to use a marked crosswalk [pedestrian crossing] to cross the road. Children are taught from an early age to "cross at the corners". If there aren't lines painted on the street, you are supposed to cross at the corner. At all corners a crosswalk is implied. [Which is why the Illinois Vehicle Code specifies where you must stop for a stop sign with the phrase "...before entering a marked or unmarked crosswalk."] You may not see it, but it's there! You also may not walk on the pavement [road surface] if a sidewalk [path at the side of the road for pedestrians] is available.
Jaywalking is the general term for crossing mid-block, etc. People do it all the time, and it isn't a problem in less congested areas. Normally, a person does not get cited for any of these violations unless he or she is disrupting traffic or causes an accident. Pedestrians are banned completely on controlled access Interstate highways in urban areas where they may also be called freeways or freeways). Some isolated areas in western states do allow bicycles on Interstates.
A blind person with a white cane always has the right of way and vehicles must stop or yield when the person crosses the road, wherever they cross.
According to one source, on busy pavements people in the USA tend to walk on the righthand side.
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Most recently modified 25-Jun-02