By: Natasha Archary
Whether you own a car, use public transport or walk everywhere, at some point in the day, everyone is a pedestrian.
The general rules of the road will need to applied for basic safety, but what if you’re walking in and around your office block and building, at the mall or any other public space?
How does one then navigate the precarious corridors on foot?
The general rule of thumb is for people to keep left, pass right, just like motorists do on the roads. Or are supposed to do in any event.
On Kaya Drive, this Wednesday, Sizwe Dhlomo pointed out how annoying it is when people don’t know which way to go.
It’s always so awkward, when you’re both trying to figure out which way the other is going and in that confusion, risk bumping into each other.
This may be why large groups of pedestrians will walk in one direction, in and around the city.
The reason may be that people want to either avoid the uncomfortable situation of running into someone, especially whilst walking and being on the phone.
Like Beyonce said, to the left, to the left
According to the Association for Psychological Science, most people will keep to the left whilst walking. This is unless people are walking on the streets, then it’s best to keep to the right side of the road, in South Africa.
Facing oncoming traffic will help you steer out of the way of any danger like an out of control car, or taxi that decides to skip a red light.
Generally however, people tend to walk on their dominant side, which gives them better control of anything they may be carrying.
But, like we were taught in schools, the general rule when walking is to keep left, pass right and it’s something the Kaya Drive team wants people to relearn.
Moving the direction that people aren’t naturally oriented to move can cause them to interact with their environment in a new way, which can create an air of novelty and engagement.
Also read: Thomas and Skhumba: Why do we like diagnosing each other as people?
