Pedestrians in "la belle province" are all COMPLETELY INSANE. It doesn't help, at all, that the crosswalk signs are irrational and erratic (Hello? Why the fuck did that crosswalk go WALK IN ALL FOUR DIRECTIONS ALL AT ONCE?), but last night, I encountered, on a two-lane road just across the river, the following situation.
Speed limit: 70.
Time: just after twilight, getting quite dark.
Streetlights: You laugh. No lights worth mentioning.
Weather: Snowing lightly, just enough to make the roads slippery
Oncoming lane: very heavy traffic, moving very fast.
My lane: Stopped, behind me, because of the people in the road.
People in the road? What people, I hear you you ask?
Well, in the middle of the (non-divided, no median) road, there was an adult in a brightly coloured coat. Holding her hand, IN MY LANE, there was a small child dressed entirely in black. Holding *her* hand, further across my lane, as another small child dressed ENTIRELY in black. Holding *his* hand was another adult, safely on the road shoulder.
So, yes: Adult "safe" in the middle, two small children in dark clothing on a dark night with no lights IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, another adult off to the side of the road.
And they were relying that the sparse traffic in my lane (cars every 20-30 seconds, at 70) would see them across the road *and* be able to stop on the slippery road in between the time it takes to recognise their Camo Children and slam on the brakes. I'm a careful driver; I stopped with plenty of room to spare. Other drivers, particularly the kind of drivers you statistically find on that side of the river? Yikes.
Quebec drivers are really bad about pedestrians, but OH HOLY SHIT I can see *why* they don't give a shit sometimes about the car-less scurrying rat people.
