Vulnerable road user safety tips — Alaska Permit Test

Use extra caution in hard-to-see conditions such as dusk, dawn, nighttime or bad weather, when pedestrians and bicyclists are hardest to spot.

Low light and rain hide people on foot and on bikes until you are almost on top of them.

Use extra caution when driving in hard-to-see conditions, such as dusk, dawn, nighttime or bad weather.

When turning or otherwise entering a crosswalk, slow down and be prepared to stop.

A turning driver is looking for cars, and a person stepping into the crosswalk is easy to miss at speed.

Slow down and be prepared to stop when turning or otherwise entering a crosswalk.

Establish eye contact with pedestrians and yield to them in crosswalks.

Catching a walker's eye tells you both who is going first, so neither steps out on a guess.

Establish eye contact and yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

Stop well back from a crosswalk so other vehicles can see the crossing pedestrians and stop too.

A car stopped right at the line hides the walker from drivers in the next lane, who may keep going.

Stop well back from the crosswalk to give other vehicles an opportunity to see the crossing pedestrians so they can stop, too.

Never pass vehicles stopped at a crosswalk, because people may be crossing where you can't see them.

The stopped car blocks your view of a person stepping out in front of it, right into your lane.

Never pass vehicles stopped at a crosswalk. There may be people crossing where you can’t see.

Obey stop signs where separated pathways cross an entrance to a roadway.

People on a separate path come out across the entrance fast, and a driver who rolls through the sign meets them there.

Obey stop signs when separated pathways are crossing an entrance to a roadway

Which conditions does the Alaska manual name as hard-to-see times that call for extra caution around pedestrians?

Dusk, dawn, nighttime or bad weather. Low light and rain hide people on foot and on bikes until you are almost on top of them. Alaska Driver Manual, p.48: “Use extra caution when driving in hard-to-see conditions, such as dusk, dawn, nighttime or bad weather.”