The back roads

This construction on County Road 49 is prompting me to drive different roads to avoid the chaos and delays. The other morning on my way to work, driving one of the back roads in the County, I saw a person walking their dog. There was a car coming toward me so I slowed right down to wait for them to pass.

Now, I’m not going to complain about this situation. There were a lot of good things that happened. I saw the person in time to slow down. It wasn’t easy to do that with the bright sunshine causing shadows on the road. The walker was wearing dark pants and a dark top with a brown dog. They were wearing a white cap, which was helpful for visibility. They were also walking facing traffic. So many folks seem to have missed learning that fundamental rule to walk facing traffic when walking where there are no sidewalks.

Because I had slowed down to wait for the car going the other direction, I pulled up to the walker and rolled down my passenger window. I shared that it was hard to see them and that a reflective vest or armband might be helpful to the other drivers they encounter. They smiled at me and said things that made me think they might actually go and get a reflective vest to wear when walking. Such vests are available at Canadian Tire for under 10 bucks. A really good investment it seems to me.

Last year the Seniors Support Action Team of the municipal Community Safety and Wellbeing (CSWB) Plan group held a pedestrian safety campaign. From 2020 to 2025 police reports showed that there were 12 collisions where a pedestrian was struck by a motor vehicle. This safety campaign was a pet project for me because of the number of times I have encountered pedestrians on back roads doing all the wrong things. A small grant made it possible to hand out reflective gear for free and many people benefitted from that. Here’s hoping that they’re wearing the vests and armbands, etc. so that they’re safer when walking.

Then OPP Detachment Commander John Hatch and I modelled the vests at a CSWB meeting. They’re bright and not very stylish, but style won’t matter if a car can’t see you along the way. It just seems so practical to wear something that enhances your visibility when walking along a road. Next time you’re driving consider the background when you’re looking ahead—trees, grass, gravel on the side of the road, shadows from the sun, etc. Then there’s the bigger challenge of seeing a pedestrian at dusk.

My parting words to the walker that I chatted with on a backroad were “keep walking!” It’s such good exercise and great for your mental health, too, when out in nature. Please just wear something that makes you visible. I’m sure hoping that our local stores sell out of reflective vests because of this column.

Debbie MacDonald Moynes is Executive Director of The Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association.

info@communitycareforseniors.org