Runners’ Safety

Runners’ Basic Safety Tips for avoiding vehicle/runner collisions.

Where there are no sidewalks run on the left side of the road facing traffic. Use sidewalks where available and don’t run on roadways. Where there are no sidewalks run on the left side of the road facing traffic. You will be in a better position to anticipate and react to vehicles if you run on the left side of the road facing traffic. Run single file when running in a group, particularly in high traffic areas. Run on roads with wide shoulders. Be cautious on blind curves where you will not be visible to approaching cars.

Run defensively. Yield the right-of-way to vehicles at intersections. Drivers may not heed traffic signals or signs even when the Highway Traffic Act requires drivers to exercise care. Always make the first move to protect yourself. Do not expect cars to alter their paths to avoid you. Be aware of factors that affect motorist visibility – glaring sun, rain, snow, fog.

Beware of vehicles turning right. Many runners agree that the most common near collisions occur when runners approach the right side of a vehicle that is turning right. While turning, these drivers are looking left for oncoming traffic. If you do not make eye contact with these drivers, stop running and get out of the path of their vehicle.

Watch out for the second vehicle. When a line of vehicles approach pedestrians running on the left hand side of the road, the first vehicle in the line blocks the view of subsequent vehicles. If they are following too closely, the second vehicle may not have enough reaction time to avoid colliding with the pedestrian. Anticipate potentially dangerous situations and be ready to deal with them.

Be visible and alert at all times. Be wary of “runner’s high”, fatigue, or any lapse of concentration. Avoid running alone in isolated areas – vary your route. Use your ears as well as your eyes – don’t wear headphones. Wear reflective clothing at dawn, dusk or night time and bright visible clothing at all other times. Select running gear from sport clothing stores that have reflective stripes. Inexpensive, highly effective traffic vests are available from safety supply stores. Some runners wear small headlights and flashing lights attached to belts. These are very practical on dark winter nights. They are very useful in situations when reflective stripes are not directly illuminated by a vehicle’s headlights, for example, around curves in the road, or when running in the path of bicycles in the park or on footpaths.

Manitoba Highways Traffic Act

Winter running conditions are especially hazardous. It is the season when runners take to relatively clear roadways to avoid the ankle bending hazards of the sidewalks. But in doing so, they may be running foul of the law. To provide a clearer understanding of our rights on the roads, these are the sections of the Manitoba Highways Traffic Act that most affect runners:

Run on sidewalks where available. According to the Manitoba Highways Traffic Act, it is the duty of pedestrians to use sidewalks where available. Section 143(1) states, “where there is a sidewalk that is reasonably passable on either or both sides of a highway, a pedestrian shall not walk on a roadway.”

If you have to, run on the left side of the road facing traffic. The Highway Traffic Act recognizes that sometimes, running on the road is unavoidable. Section 143(2) states that “any pedestrians proceeding along a highway where no sidewalk is provided or where the sidewalk is not passable, shall walk as closely as is paracticable to a) the left-hand edge of the roadway or of the shoulder, as the case may be; or b) any person who may be walking on his left side; but persons walking on a roadway shall not walk more than two abreast.”

Drivers are not necessarily being obnoxious when they give you the horn. Section 142 states that “a driver shall a) exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian who is upon the roadway; b) give warning by sounding the horn when necessary; and c) observe proper precaution upon observing a child or an apparently confused or incapacitated person who is upon a highway.”

Enforcement. The police will enforce compliance by runners of the Highway Traffic Act. According to Section 144, “where a peace officer has reasonable and probable grounds for believing that a pedestrian has committed or is committing a breach of those provisions of a by-law that relate to pedestrian traffic, he may require the pedestrian to stop and there and then to state correctly his name and address, and to prove his identity to the satisfaction of the peace officer. If a pedestrian refuses or fails to stop and state correctly his name and address or so to prove his identity when so required, the peace officer may arrest him without warrant.”