Impatient Scooter rider causes traffic stoppage

“Ok honey, I am just going to go over to the store and get some smokes!!!” says the retired fellow. “Alright Sweety” replies his wife.” Be careful out there on your scooter and watch for traffic, those drivers are crazy these days!!!” Off goes Bill down the street, whistling one of his favourite tunes by Fats Domino “ain’t that a shame!!! ”. It is a beautiful day to be out enjoying the sunny summer near Vancouver British Columbia and Bill has everything he needs. On his way with a fully charged scooter, his favourite cowboy hat, and his Canadian flag waving off the rear.,Bill seems to have forgotten one thing, his awareness. The mobility scooters of today are incredible. With new battery technology the electric models are replacing the old smelly, air polluting gasoline powered versions of days gone by. Generally these electric scooters come with around a 30 mile range, but for those long distant travellers an extra battery pack can be hooked up to double that range to 60 miles, a great way to enjoy a full day in the fresh air. With this much available distance to travel, Bill may actually keep on going to spend some time at his buddy Fred’s, 5 miles away and still have power to make it back home for dinner. With a maximum speed of around 8 miles per hour, Bill can actually get around pretty swiftly. Although on the day this video was recorded he appeared to be in low speed mode, carrying him along at 4 miles per hour or so. As you will see, Bill was quite oblivious to his surroundings as he approached the intersection. Most definitely for Bill, the crosswalk control signs were displaying the ORANGE HAND telling him to NOT WALK. Well, did Bill think since he was not walking, that signal was not for him? Possibly. Approaching the still red light for him, Brent the driver with this dash cam took note of Bill and was wondering what his actions were going to be…Brent was correct. Bill was Blowing Through the Red ! Along with the other drivers at the intersection, Brent slowed and gave way for Bill to cross and continue on his way. As most know, obeying traffic signals is law for both drivers of motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. Although pedestrians do have the right-of-way over all vehicles it is still safest to be aware that not all drivers follow this rule. Once again pedestrians do have right-of-way if they enter an intersection or cross walk before a DO NOT WALK signal appears as it may have for Bill on this day, but it is best to turn back if just leaving the sideway. Drivers are sometimes in a hurry and it would be a shame to have any pedestrian injured for taking a chance at crossing on a DO NOT WALK signal. In the end we all see that Bill made it across safely and no drivers were impatient enough to honk at him. Lets all hope Bill made it back home after his little venture out on this gorgeous sunny day.