The Red Octagon

Just spotted a tweet by Montreal police who are looking for people to act as school crossing guards.

Good luck with that.

You get to clutch a red octagon in your hand as you step in front of crazed Montreal drivers who have no clue what the red octagon means! Most are under the impression that whatever it means, it is easily ignored.

They’re free to ignore its significance because its significance is not enforced. It’s infuriating.

Many jurisdictions are considering closing the roads around schools to cars, a measure sure to help keep crossing guards safe.

I want to live in the first Quebec municipality where stop signs are strictly enforced. Are you out there, municipality where stop signs are strictly enforced? Do you exist? What is your welcome tax like?

Crossing the street while walking to the dep, I, inevitably, end up screaming at motorists who keep rolling while I’m crossing. It’s to the point where I, as a pedestrian, obey the stop sign - and wait until a motorist makes eye contact before I cross, although the motorist coming in the opposite direction is rarely ready to participate in such civil behaviour.

Some police force, somewhere, must be strictly enforcing the red octagon. Are you out there, police force strictly enforcing red octagons?

Walking the dog, walking to the dep, or train, or driving in my car, the vast majority of motorists roll, at varying speeds, right through stop signs. I worry for my significant others and all pedestrians, young and old. 

As I understand it, the law states that the first vehicle to come to a complete stop is the first vehicle to leave the intersection. I do the complete stop, no one else does, so, inevitably, as I advance through the intersection and the other moron motorist just keeps moving forward, there is a spontaneous flourish of displayed digits and honking horns. I’m obeying the law and yet I’m subjected to the idiocy of a motorized ignoramus. 

In Quebec, obeying the red octagon is optional, but I, for one, would appreciate it if someone put a stop to it.