The Minnesota Department of Health recently released this educational video on its Youtube page. Set to a hip and catchy jingle, the video does a good job communicating the message that people walking have the right of way at every corner in Minnesota–not just at marked crosswalks.
The video description, however, makes it seem like to walk in Minnesota is to take one’s life into their own hands. It really disappointed me to read it and it even includes my least favorite soundbite that always comes up in any discussion of street safety, “The pedestrian always loses” and/or “the car always wins.” Our streets are not a playing field or a war zone although many of them are designed in ways that make it seem that way.
The description from Youtube:
Pedestrians of all ages are injured and killed trying to cross – or walking along the edges of – streets, roads and highways in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Injury Data Access System (MIDAS) site contains current Minnesota-specific data. Often, it is the very young, the old, those with disabilities and those impaired in some way who are the most vulnerable. When a motor vehicle or a bicycle hits a pedestrian, the pedestrian always loses. Bicyclists, motor vehicle operators and pedestrians all have a shared responsibility for awareness and safety. And, Minnesota has clear laws designed to protect pedestrians walking along or needing to cross a roadway.