Road safety law applies to pedestrians

TO AVOID HITTING AN OLD WOMAN who was jaywalking, a bus driver in Tianjin was forced to swerve, injuring a pedestrian on the sidewalk and a few passengers on the bus. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Monday:

It is widely agreed that drivers should give way to pedestrians during an encounter. But the recent incident in Tianjin raises the question of who was responsible for the injury to the third-party passer-by.

Previous verdicts in similar cases suggest that jaywalking pedestrians could face criminal responsibility if their actions cause damage to a person or property. According to the Criminal Law, anyone who uses a public road, including a pedestrian, commits a traffic offense if he or she violates the traffic management rules.