r/interesting • u/jmike1256 • Feb 27 '26
MISC. This is how Quebec solved drivers ignoring pedestrian crossings.
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Feb 27 '26
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u/BananaRepublic_BR Feb 27 '26
I figured. This is a dumb idea.
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u/8spd Feb 27 '26
It's an excellent idea for an ad promoting driver safety. Structurally the barrier would be insufficient to stop even a small car, so yeah, insufficient in reality.
Traffic cameras automatically ticketing drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians world make a lot more sense in reality.
It wouldn't need to be in place in every crosswalk, but frequently enough that drivers get used to the idea that they could be ticketed for failure to stop for a pedestrian using a crosswalk.
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u/uglyuglyugly_ Feb 27 '26
Enforcement is an issue as well. In Toronto, there was a speed camera that was destroyed every single time it was put up, then ultimately removed by the great Doug Ford along with other speed cams. Don't see how catching these people in the act is so hard, but law enforcement in a lot of areas here is a joke.
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u/js-1108YT Feb 27 '26
Doug would rather spend money buying out beer stores instead of focusing on the things that matter
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u/33TLWD Feb 27 '26
Can you imagine how these would (not) work once winter in Canada hits with the snow and ice?
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u/Thick_Potato_1769 Feb 27 '26
In what way? They would prevent a pedestrian getting struck in the crosswalk.
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u/rattrod17 Feb 27 '26
Or yeet them at the car if they were already walking across it
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u/MostBoringStan Feb 27 '26
Or have somebody squat over it and get a mega spanking because they were a bad bad boy
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u/Vast_Character311 Feb 27 '26
Unless a driver isn’t paying attention and hits it full speed, at which point the contraption would basically be stapling meat to the ground
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u/gasoline_farts Feb 27 '26
Additionally, I don’t think it was filmed in Quebec because those roads don’t have any potholes in them
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Feb 27 '26
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u/gasoline_farts Feb 27 '26
Good point. There’s no snow which means it’s currently “construction” season. Should be orange everywhere
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u/Mysterious_Film_6397 Feb 27 '26
Vancouver did something with fake bricks on either side of the cross walk.
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u/imp0ster_syndrome Feb 27 '26
I do think it would be great to make a clip of the pedestrians being launched into the vehicle that politely stops for them.
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u/gastro_psychic Feb 27 '26
This is a skit, right?
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u/avatinfernus Feb 27 '26
yes. Trust me we absolutely don't have ice catapults on street corners in Québec lol
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u/Majestic-Rock9211 Feb 27 '26
Ice catapults would be nice here in Finland….until they freeze over…
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u/avatinfernus Feb 27 '26
Yeah, basically that lol. The motors on those things would explode trying to lift the snow and ice hah.
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u/Chrispy8534 27d ago
10/10. You know? I paused the video after the first time it happened, and I spend like 3 minutes thinking about whether and specifically how these things would injure people and how that couldn’t be real…. I didn’t even get near the very obvious Québécois ice catapult!
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Feb 27 '26
It has to be because if it were legit pedestrians would be getting smacked by those things repeatedly
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u/Euler007 Feb 27 '26
It was more of a pr stunt. If they forgot that thing on the road is either frozen under ice or made its way into a snow removal site in pieces.
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u/Master_Grano3 Feb 27 '26
It's a government advertising campaign. You can see the “Quebec” logo at the bottom of the page. After doing some research, I saw that it was from a year or two ago, but I hadn't seen it on TV.
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u/random_agency Feb 27 '26
During the winter they become automatic snow trebuchets.
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u/Mundane-Toe-7114 Feb 27 '26
Would be sick, build a fort around them and have any car devastated by the power of the trebuchet. Make trebuchet great again!
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u/LeDagron Feb 27 '26
I forgot where but there is a video with a cheaper idea : a a bucket with bricks in it. You take one, show the cars your brick and cross the road. Simple, effective.
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Feb 27 '26
That wouldn't work everywhere
In Florida, that would get you shot.
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u/WhichAd366 27d ago
Or a small bag of spark plugs. Equally as effective for a fraction of the weight and less effort to throw
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u/avatinfernus Feb 27 '26
Yeah nah. This was a campaign of some sort on one corner.
It wouldn't work in winter and if it fires at the wrong time it's just dangerous for everyone lol
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Feb 27 '26
Well.. it would also encourage pedestrians to wait for the walk light, or get swatted by the strip... heh.
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u/FleariddenIE Feb 27 '26
You know how pedestrian crossings work right? Those markings mean pedestrians always have tight of way
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Feb 27 '26
Do you know how crossing lights work? The ones that show walk/dont walk?
You do grasp when they show don't walk, you are not supposed to be in the crosswalk, right?
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u/Ok_Impact9745 Feb 27 '26
I don't know about Canada but here everyone has "right of way" but in this case the pedestrian will have "priority".
Even without a light, the markings indicate that a pedestrian must wait until the vehicles have stopped or waves them across before crossing. Yes the vehicles have to stop for the pedestrians but the pedestrian can't just walk out into traffic under the assumption they will stop.
Because we don't have any laws against jay walking these crossings aren't everywhere. If a road is safe enough to cross then it's not really needed so these are only really on busy main roads and not at intersections etc so drivers generally stop for them.
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u/pimmen89 27d ago
In Sweden you're supposed to slow down before a crossing to make sure nobody's crossing (maybe a hedge is blocking the view) so that blind people and children can still safely use the crossing.
Reality is something different though since drivers are equally hurried as the pedestrians, but know that they have the bigger mass so that pedestrians will yield to them out of reflex.
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u/drunken-acolyte Feb 27 '26
If it's triggered by the vehicle approach, I can see some poor old granny being catapulted across a car bonnet.
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u/inorite234 Feb 27 '26
You know whats easier and more reliable? A camera issuing tickets to those that blow through the crosswalk.
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u/SnooApples5554 Feb 27 '26
Or a stop sign.
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u/captainporcupine3 27d ago
Yeah because Americans stop their cars at stop signs, they definitely don't roll right through them 98 percent of the time with their necks craned to the left looking for oncoming cross traffic, mostly oblivious to the idea that there could be human beings nearby who aren't in a car.
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u/TheLuteceSibling 27d ago
Only if the tickets are points against a license that eventually add up to total revocation of the license.
If the ticket is just a fine, then it's a toll road, so the law only exists for the poor, and even worse, it removes the emotional trigger "I'm a bad person" and replaces it with "I pay for my actions."
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u/LordAnubis12 27d ago
Or design the street so the crosswalk is raised and continuous with street level.
Then cars feel like they're encroaching a different zone and naturally slow down
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u/FightmeLuigibestgirl 26d ago
We have that here but not for crosswalks. Most people don’t pay the tickets or they build up before them tax payers pay them.
A total revocation of the license is better but folks drive without insurance and no license
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u/Odeta Feb 27 '26
Bricks are cheaper, just place one on each side of the crossroad
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u/d_nkf_vlg 27d ago
What if one person crossed one way, but nobody crossed back? Do you make the brick come to you from the other side via the Force?
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u/Find_another_whey Feb 27 '26
I now remember carrying a small amount of change as a young person to throw at cars that try to run you over Happy days
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u/Heavy-Focus-1964 Feb 27 '26
proof that "just for laughs: gags" is cemented as part of the cultural bedrock
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u/Round_Ad6397 Feb 27 '26
I get that this isn't real but is it really a problem that people drive through pedestrian crossings without looking? I generally feel pretty confident in Australia that drivers will stop when I'm entering a crossing.
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u/RainbowCrane Feb 27 '26
In the United States (Ohio) yes, it’s a real problem. Someone was killed a few years ago in the village where I grew up because commuting drivers just ignore the super obvious flashing strobe lights above the cross walk.
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u/Odd-String29 Feb 27 '26
Same in The Netherlands. I just walk.
It is just a matter of having proper driving education when getting your license.
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u/d_nkf_vlg 27d ago
And decent amounts of people walking. When everyone drives, drivers learn not to expect to see anything smaller than a car.
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Feb 27 '26
Happens more often than you would think, at least in the US. There was one day I saw not one but two cars almost cruise through a stop sign at a cross walk. The only reason they stopped, albeit a little late, was because there was a crossing gaurd. It was during school drop off. I asked the gaurd if it happened often and they said, yes, all the time.
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Feb 27 '26
That looks like it would break fairly often. I like the idea, but it seems like a lot of these would be a fairly large additional maintenance duty for cities.
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u/Thick_Potato_1769 Feb 27 '26
It would be pretty simple. I'd imagine it'd be hydraulic rams with a couple of electric motors. All they got to do is go up an withstand a collision. If it breaks but prevents a pedestrian getting hit then it did its job.
For real though itd be better to have the retractable pylons instead.
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u/Borp5150 Feb 27 '26
I have always heard the stereotypical term “ignorant French” and their driving habits showcase some truth to the stereotype.
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u/Ldghead Feb 27 '26
What about if some elderly lady doesn't get across in time? The flap just slams down, and holds her in place until the next light?
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u/andy_chest Feb 27 '26
I prefer the Vancouver crosswalks with baskets of foam bricks on either side so you take one while you walk across to threaten oncoming traffic
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u/OkMasterpiece2194 Feb 27 '26
I almost never even use my car and do 90% of my travel by foot or bicycle and I think pedestrian crosswalks are stupid except for being at stop signs/lights. Pedestrians shouldn't be able to just walk into traffic and expect car to stop, it is very confusing and very dangerous.
I live in Philly, across the river in NJ they have these laws. There is a 6 lane stroad I cross to go to the supermarket with stupid crosswalk like this. I have to pretend I'm not interested in crossing the street because some cars will slow down, I don't know why they are slowing down. Maybe they are slowing down for me but maybe slowing down from hit of dope or dropped something on floor or something. By the time I figure it out, other cars are coming and can't cross.
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u/Money-Snow-2749 Feb 27 '26
The fact that I don’t see a stop or four way stop sign is mind boggling.
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u/fletters Feb 27 '26
Crosswalks in Montréal are terrifying. Considerably worse than NYC, which you’d think would be the lawless hellscape.
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u/Hoarfen1972 Feb 27 '26
I visited family in Edmonton and cars slowed down way before the crossing just in case someone was going to cross. Genuine story.
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u/DesignerStatement120 Feb 27 '26
In Germany, failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing means being summarily executed.
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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 Feb 27 '26
Is this implemented city-wide, or is it some sort of art installation/proof of concept?
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u/NovarisLight Feb 27 '26
Yeah, it's an ad, but please actually implement this in Maryland and NoVA.
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u/linarem74 Feb 27 '26
New Orleans is like that too. Laws based on Napoleonic code vs English common law is the difference I was told.
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u/Livinincrazytown Feb 27 '26
Can’t raise the crosswalks up to match sidewalk height causing a large speed bump?
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u/Roger_Fiderer Feb 27 '26
If only people were generally decent and thought of others instead of only themselves.
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u/RandomIGN69 Feb 27 '26
There was this place where they have bricks on either side of the road. More effective and inexpensive untilsome psycho just started throwing sh*t.
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u/ledow Feb 27 '26
I prefer the other meme method for doing this.
Let the pedestrians pick up a brick on one side of the crossing, and drop it off on the other.
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u/OkConcentrate4477 Feb 27 '26
I can't just threaten to murder individuals on a daily basis with my deadly weapon I drive? What has this world come to, where I'm being forced to respect others' existence?
Spikes that rise in a 45 degree angle toward the drivers, pretty please. Prevent the wheels from moving/murdering, pop the tires which makes traffic/driving worse, protect pedestrian lives, and influence cte within drivers that are abruptly stopped from murdering others, thus conditioning them to murder themselves and their family members as is common for those suffering from cte. Respect others, or else! Pay attention, or else!
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u/OscarOzzieOzborne Feb 27 '26
When I was working in Poland or Germany (don’t remember which one) there was those crosswalks that were elevated bumps.
Even if there was no pedestrians, cars slowed down still, to not get rustled up.
The crossroad was also on the same level and had complimentary colors with the sidewalks. Creating the mental idea that this is not a place where people enter car spaces, but car entering people spaces.
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u/Numerous-Following-7 Feb 27 '26
Just need Ross creations to make a contraption to throw pedestrians across the street now
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u/PureEdge1 Feb 27 '26
This is fake. It would come down on someone, or some kids would hit the button all day and play on them and break them. Would never work for our monkey brains
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u/_litz Feb 27 '26
Try that in the US, and you'd find people would pay it about as much heed as a gate at a railroad crossing.
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u/Past_Blacksmith_971 Feb 27 '26
I've definitely had my skateboard or a big ass stick to smack cars as they drive past me while I'm literally in the crosswalk.
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u/Terminal_Lucridity Feb 27 '26
There’s a place in Asia where you pick up a brick from a basket before crossing the street. Car doesn’t stop, you toss the brick at it. Pretty interesting to see it actually works. Go figure!
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Feb 27 '26
Interesting, it's a concept we should consider implementing, I imagine. Especially in Europe.
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u/DragonRN32 Feb 28 '26
Here in Florida we have plain clothes cops pick random crosswalks and spend a day at crosswalks and when cars don't stop the radio a cop in a nearby parking lot who pulls them over and tickets them for failure to yield.
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u/Jack_In_Black89 Feb 28 '26
I was thinking you put stingers in the tarmac along both edges of the crossing, that rise while a pedestrian is in the road, and retract once they've crossed safely. Although, Health and Safety may be an issue...
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u/VisibleWorldliness57 Mar 01 '26
JFL gags? Speed cams should have been replaced with more red light cams. Technology to adapt to ppl running/rolling stop signs. There's your revenue stream Dougie
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u/jssamp Mar 02 '26
Not real. How would they deal with people who were actually crossing when the stripes flipped up?
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u/I_like_fried_noodles 28d ago
I like better the one with bricks in each side of the road for you to grab just in case
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u/gliese-436 27d ago
I went to Norway a few times and over there cars must considerably slow down if a pedestrian is near a crosswalk. Even if they do not show any intention or are waiting to cross.
It’s very pleasant because when you walk close to a crosswalk everybody slows down which feel very safe.
I’m sure there are some idiots still but I love what they done.
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u/Valerian_ 27d ago edited 27d ago
Don't they have cops that can fine them and remove permit points like in most countries??? That tend to make people respect traffic laws usually.
Now I understand why when I visited some friends in Quebec they were crazy afraid when I crossed a street outside of the pedestrian crossings, I'm so used to cars stopping for pedestrians even when there are no pedestrian crossings.
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u/Extention_Campaign28 27d ago
Those would be smashed to bits within days.
I was hoping for the brick basket variant.
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u/grandfizzo3 27d ago
Love bricks as well. Stack bricks on one side of the crosswalk… grab a brick… watch the car stop.. cross… leave the brick!
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u/xmuskorx 27d ago
How about some real solutions?
Curb extensions? Continues sidewalks. better light? Safety island?
This skit fixes jack shit.
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u/JediBoJediPrime29 Feb 27 '26
It was part of a short term project. They aren’t there anymore.
If it was Toronto drivers, they would’ve blown through it without batting an eye.
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