Section 1: Situations of Uncertainty -- Page 3 of 22 Self-Study Guide | OUTLINE | INDEX | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 |Section 5 | REVIEW |
Crossable Gaps
What is a gap in traffic?
A gap in traffic is the space and time between vehicles, OR the space and time between YOU (e.g. as a pedestrian) and an approaching vehicle.
Short gaps in traffic: The gaps between vehicles in the first photo are very short -- there is only a second or two between the time that one vehicle passes a point and the next vehicle arrives.
If you were standing at the crosswalk, the gap in traffic between you and the next approaching vehicle is extremely short -- yikes!
Long gaps in traffic The gaps between vehicles in the second photo are very long.
Hey, we can't even see the next vehicle, so we know it will be a while before it arrives -- that is a long gap in traffic!
If you were standing at the crosswalk, the gap in traffic between you and the next approaching vehicles is much longer than the gap in traffic at the other crosswalk.
What are "crossable gaps" in traffic?
The definition of "crossable gaps in traffic" is that they are at least long enough to allow time to complete a crossing.
For example, if it takes you 7 seconds to cross a street and the nearest approaching vehicle is at least 7 seconds away, you have a crossable gap in traffic.
Whether a gap is crossable would depend of course on the pedestrian's crossing time -- crossable gaps in traffic can be shorter for pedestrians who can cross in a shorter time than they are for pedestrians who need more time to cross (for example for slower pedestrians or wider crossings).
The O&M specialist is responsible to teach students to determine whether the gaps in traffic are crossable.
This will be addressed in later sections of the Self-Study Guide.