With the weather changing and the evenings growing dark earlier, now is not the time for pedestrians to fall back into bad, and unsafe habits when crossing streets.
That was the message a group of Richmond RCMP volunteers were impressing upon commuters early Wednesday morning as they streamed across the pedestrian crossing adjacent to the Canada Line's Brighouse station on No. 3 Road.
The volunteers were handing out reflective armbands and a safety tip sheet, as this is the time of the year when there is a spike in pedestrian-related incidents.
"In Richmond, from October to December there is an average of 45 pedestrians injured," said Joanne Bergman, a road safety coordinator with ICBC watching the waves of heavy foot traffic passing in and out of the SkyTrain station.
"People are in a hurry and they forget," Bergman said, adding some tips to remember is to make eye contact with drivers when crossing the street, and to wear bright clothing.
Obeying the signals at the Brighouse station crosswalk seemed to be a hard one for pedestrians to follow Wednesday morning as many crossed against the lights.
The fine for crossing improperly is $109 - a hefty hit to the pocketbook for a reminder of rules many people learned when they were young, said Sgt. Robert Quilley of the Richmond RCMP's traffic section.
At one point, a pedestrian who readily accepted the reflective armband and tip sheet proceeded to walk across the street without any regard for the "don't walk" signal.
And another commuter who Quilley took aside and informed them they had just jaywalked turned a multitude of red hues when schooled about the importance of proper crosswalk use.
