Section 1: Situations of Uncertainty -- Page 21 of 22        Self-Study Guide | OUTLINE | INDEX | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 |Section 5 | REVIEW |

Sue and Gordon were each hit while relying on the strategy "cross when quiet." Sue didn't know what a Situation of Uncertainty is, even after she was hit. We'll never know whether Gordon realized that at certain times of the day, he was crossing in a Situation of Uncertainty, nor what would have happened if the risks of crossing there had been analyzed and compared to the risks of crossing at the signal (we will cover how to analyze risks of Situations of Uncertainty in Section 3).

We should prepare all our students who may, at some time in their lives, face situations and have to make decisions similar to the ones Sue and Gordon faced. If we avoid the issue by simply telling our students not to cross where there is no traffic control, or that it is always safer to cross at a traffic signal, or tell them that every uncontrolled crossing is a Situation of Uncertainty, or share misleading myths such as "the crossing will be safe as long as the street is narrow, the traffic speed and volume are low and the visibility is good," we are leaving them unprepared to evaluate situations and make decisions based on good analysis and information.

The fact is, there are many Situations of Confidence at streets with no traffic control; many instances where crossing at the traffic signal is not the safest way to get across a street; many instances where the myths are misleading, and many Situations of Uncertainty where the risk of crossing is acceptable. Each situation should be analyzed and our students need to be able to do so.

O&M Best Practice

Let's learn from these tragedies and commit ourselves to prepare our students with the skills they need to deal with uncontrolled crossings so these tragedies can be avoided. According to the members of AER's O&M Division, the largest O&M professional organization in the world, this preparation is considered best practice.

In 2022, the AER O&M Division approved a position paper which is the consensus of the O&M profession. It explains that best practice for O&M programs is (among other things) to
prepare students to:
• understand that in some situations it is possible for them to hear or see vehicles with enough warning to be confident as to whether there is a gap in traffic long enough for them to cross [Situations of Confidence], and in other situations it is not possible to do so, even when it is quiet and no approaching traffic is visible/audible [Situations of Uncertainty];
• be able to recognize situations where they cannot hear or see approaching vehicles with enough warning to reliably predict crossing gaps in traffic [Situations of Uncertainty];
• be able to determine the level of risk for crossing.

Teaching our students about crossings with no traffic control

The remaining sections of the Self-Study Guide address how to teach students to
• recognize Situations of Uncertainty, and Situations of Confidence (Section 2);
• analyze the risk of crossing at Situations of Uncertainty, and use alternatives when the risk is unacceptable (Section 3);
• be able to reliably determine crossable gaps in traffic at Situations of Confidence (Section 4).
  
  
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