We do a lot of walking
around the neighborhood with kids, which usually involves some
people getting to intersections a while before others. I'm not
worried about even the youngest going into the street on their
own—Nora's been
street trained for
about a year—but we have to be careful about what signals we
send to cars. Someone standing at an intersection facing traffic
looks to a driver like they're waiting for the opportunity to cross.
Waving drivers to continue doesn't work well: they tend to slow down
significantly, and many of them will wave back in a misguided attempt
at "no, you first" politeness. Instead, what seems to work well is
turning your back to the street:
This isn't perfect: some drivers still read anyone stationary near an
intersection as intending to cross, but it's pretty good. And it's
especially good for little kids: not only do they often like to look
intently at passing traffic in a way that is concerning to drivers and
passers by, but it's a clear signal to the parent that the kid knows
it's not time to cross yet.
I've trained my kids to stay a clear distance away (usually a few meters) from the road and pedestrian crossing, until the rest of us catched up. If drivers stop or slow down nonetheless, they shake their head while waving the driver through. Best solution I have so far.
I do the same for busses, if no one else is waiting with me, so that the bus drivers can just skip the stop (if no one wants to get off).
I wonder if any culture has developed a more complex vocabulary of pedestrian-driver communication. It seems tricky though, since the costs of miscommunication are so high -- you don't want to risk false negatives about intending to cross the street.
We do a lot of walking around the neighborhood with kids, which usually involves some people getting to intersections a while before others. I'm not worried about even the youngest going into the street on their own—Nora's been street trained for about a year—but we have to be careful about what signals we send to cars. Someone standing at an intersection facing traffic looks to a driver like they're waiting for the opportunity to cross.
Waving drivers to continue doesn't work well: they tend to slow down significantly, and many of them will wave back in a misguided attempt at "no, you first" politeness. Instead, what seems to work well is turning your back to the street:
This isn't perfect: some drivers still read anyone stationary near an intersection as intending to cross, but it's pretty good. And it's especially good for little kids: not only do they often like to look intently at passing traffic in a way that is concerning to drivers and passers by, but it's a clear signal to the parent that the kid knows it's not time to cross yet.
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