Halton Hills Newspapers

Independent & Free Press (Georgetown, ON), 7 Jul 2006, p. 13

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Pedestrians must obey traffic cop too I need to revisit my Driving 101 series as I left out a very important topic-- police-controlled intersections. Section 134 of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act reads as follows: "Where a police officer considers it reasonably necessary, a) to ensure orderly movement of traffic, b) to prevent injury or damage to persons or property, ... he or she may direct traffic according to his or her discretion, ...and EVERY PERSON shall obey his or her directions." This section not only applies to drivers of a motor vehicle, operators of vehicles such as a bicycle, but also applies to pedestrian traffic. EVERY PERSON! As I stood in the center of Main Street and Confederation at the end of last weekend's Canada Day parade, in my bright lime green police safety vest, I was absolutely disappointed to see how little of my "traffic direction" was being adhered to by the pedestrian members of my community. PLEASE remember no police officer wants to stand in the middle of a busy intersection with irregular or dangerous traffic flows. Standing in between, or in the path of moving motor vehicles is not particularly safe or enjoyable. I've been nicked, clipped, and even had to jump out of the Const. Chris Borak way of several inattentive motorists. Perhaps I owe my graying hair to them? The next time you have the pleasure of having one of my colleagues directing traffic at an intersection, if you want to get through the intersection whether you are in a car, on a bike, skateboard, or on foot, PLEASE wait and follow their direction with care and attention. Contact me personally for crime prevention tips at 905-878-5511 extension 2470 or by emailing chris.borak@hrps.on.ca. Please reserve the 911 system for emergency calls only. Const. Borak is the Halton Regional Police Service's community support officer for District 1 (Halton Hills/Milton).

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