Final answer:
To ensure visibility when crossing a road, use crosswalks, wear visible clothing, make eye contact with drivers, and cross as a group. Calculate the safety based on vehicle speeds and distance, understanding that driver behavior may change when unobserved, and obey road signs.
Step-by-step explanation:
When crossing a road or highway in a group, it's important to ensure that all automobile drivers can see you to prevent any accidents. To enhance visibility, always cross at designated crosswalks or lights, wear bright or reflective clothing, and make eye contact with drivers when possible. Using hand signals to indicate your intent to cross can also be helpful. Moreover, crossing in a compact group rather than spread out can make your group more visible to oncoming traffic.
To determine the safety of crossing a road, you should consider the speed of the vehicles and their distance from the crossing point. If you are on a road with a speed limit of 60 km/hr, you should be able to walk at least 2 meters further than the width of the approaching car (4 meters in total) before it reaches you. This means if a car is 28 meters away, approximately the length of 8 cars, you should assess the speed of the car and your own walking speed to decide if it is safe to cross. Generally, a greater distance provides more safety margin.
When considering whether it's safe to cross the road, an observer should note how drivers behave when unobserved, as their speed may be different when they know they are not being monitored. Lastly, always abide by the road signs, which are typically designed to be universally understood, and take extra caution if crossing roads that are not equipped with pedestrian signals or crosswalks.