Many people who come to Canada are surprised by how different the rules of the road are compared to back home. So our English through Journalism team decided to focus on certain aspects of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and how the rules differ from several other countries around the world.
Who has right of way, the vehicle or the pedestrian?
Gema first tells us about Mexico: “Pedestrians don´t have the right of way, because they have their own signals: the man walking and the hand for stop.”
Juliana said, “Colombian pedestrian rules aren’t so organized as here in Canada. Pedestrians never have the right of the way, and usually car drivers never respect them. As here and in many places around the world, cars are allowed to turn right when the light is red, but only if they have the chance, when there's no-one there or any cars.”
Marcelo explained, “in Brazil, the cars have the right of way. They only stop for pedestrians to cross the road where there is a light telling them to do so. Otherwise, the pedestrians need to stay alert and wait for the vehicles to pass by to cross the road.”
Marianna agrees, “Take care if you are a pedestrian [in Brazil]. The cars must stop at the red line and the pedestrian crossing, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. If you don’t obey the signals you aren’t fined, but I recommend you be careful and respect these rules!”
The situation isn’t much different in Taiwan. Shu-yu told me, “Pedestrians don´t have the right of way because they have their own signals: the man walking and the hand for stop. They sometimes need to be careful with car drivers when they don´t have an arrow to turn right on a red light. Everything changes for pedestrians in small towns or touristy places where the car drivers stop to give precedence to pedestrians, who sometimes thank the drivers for this.”
What about catching a bus? Juliana declared, “Buses in Canada have designated stops, whereas in Colombia they stop wherever passengers want to get on or off. To catch a bus you usually put out your hand to make it stop.”
While Marianna describes that in Brazil, “You must put your hand out when you see your bus. If you don’t, the driver won’t stop.”
In Taiwan, however, “At a bus stop in a main area, you don't need to put out your hand out to stop a bus,” said Shu-yu, ”because there will be many people in the same place as you. Then the bus driver must stop.”
What about thanking the driver? It happens quite often her e in Canada, but in Brazil, “It's not common to thank the bus driver when you alight,” explains Marcelo, “Just in some cases people do it, generally, after asking him for some information.”
“Traffic jams are usual in rush hour,” said Shu-yu of Taiwan, “so bus drivers are busy driving buses and maybe they're in a bad mood. If you want to thank them, you can. If not, it doesn't matter. In general, getting on and off the bus without saying thanks is fine.”
Gema told me, “Depending on the passengers, they either thank him or swear at him!”
That’s quite a contrast to Mayuka’s Japan where, “when you get off the bus, the driver may thank you because the customer is a god in Japan. But most customers thank the driver back. If you do it, they think you are polite. Thanking people is very important in Japan!”
And finally, do people on the subway escalators stand on the left or the right side?
Marcelo told me, “In Brazilian subways, there are no specific side to be on an escalator. If you want to walk on, it is highly recommended to use the regular stairs.”
Marianna went on to say, “you don’t need to stay on the right on the escalator. People stay everywhere, and you need to say, “excuse me” (in Portuguese: ’com licença’).”
The situation in Japan, however, is a little more complicated: “When we use an escalator, we stand on the left and make room on the right for people who want to hurry by. But,” Mayuka elaborated, ”if you go to Kansai, you will stand on the right and people move on the left.
Before you go to any other countries (or even to another province!) make sure you familiarize yourself with the rules of the road and the pedestrian etiquette that goes with it.
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