How To Cross The Road Safely

Crossing the road is the most dangerous part of any voyage of walking. The road is the part where the cars are most likely to hit you and so you must take care to avoid them. Many people die when crossing the road and hopefully this article will help to curb this old tradition and help you to walk more safely.

Many people will know of the main three things to remember when crossing the road, stop look and listen. It's good advice and adhering to these simple three rules will see you over the road safely in almost every case. In this article I will go through the three rules to follow and how best to use them in your every day road-crossing. Perhaps try practising crossing smaller roads first before building up to large ones. Never try to cross a motorway, that's just stupid.

The first thing to do when reaching a road is to stop. If you just carry on without stopping you might get hit by a car or worse, a lorry. Stopping at the side of the road will allow you to assess your surroundings and start to begin thinking about the next two rules. If you can, try to cross at a designated pedestrian crossing. These zones will have coloured lights to help you cross and motorists will be expecting you and so should be driving more slowly. Stop at the side of the road, even if you don't think there will be traffic it's always better to be safe than apologetic.

The next thing to do is to look and see if anything is coming. It sounds obvious and it is but you'd be surprised at the amount of people that just walk blindly without looking into the road. If you don't look and see if anything is coming then you won't be able to accurately judge whether it is safe to cross. Remember that the human sense of smell is not as well developed as dogs so we must rely on eyes. When looking be sure to use both eyes as depth perception is important. You need to be able to see how far away the car is and how fast it is driving to make a good estimate as to whether you can cross safely in time. Look both ways, cars drive on both sides of the road.

You'll also need to use your ears to listen for cars. We can't do echolocation like bats but we can hear what direction things are approaching from. This technique is pretty handy if you can't see round a corner or your view is obstructed for some reason. The best use of ears when crossing the road is a supplement to your eyes. Do not rely on listening but use it as an aid for vision, some cars are pretty loud so you'll be able to hear them a long way away.

After combining these three techniques you should be fit to cross the road safely. Only cross when you feel it is safe. Never run across a road, you may trip over and lose your window of opportunity and get crushed under some wheels. Use your senses and keep alive, good luck.

About the Author

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Gatwick parking and Gatwick hotels.

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