Car bonnet heights

Every time I go out for a walk, there will be a car or van parked on a pavement somewhere. They have to get on and off the pavement and they don't tend to care if the pavement happens to be occupied by a pedestrian at the time.

I agree with @dynamiccactus and will add that it's not unusual to have to walk on the road to go round these vehicles using the pavement to park where I live.

Also I notice that at every set of traffic lights it seems to be the norm that at least one car goes through each time after the light turns to red. So even if the pedestrians behave themselves and follow the rules without fail, they will still be at risk from lazy selfish drivers.

Yup must be that time of the week.

Ill read through it later in my LandRover while waiting for DS on the school run.

Agree. It’s pretty obvious when posters are clearly those who just drive everywhere. They’re usually the ones who see no issue with cars parked on pavements too.

As for zebra crossings, it’s clear when drivers aren’t going to stop when I’m checking so I will start to cross. If you can’t safely stop then a. you’re driving too fast and b. you aren’t paying attention to road markings/signs. Either way that’s dangerous and unsafe driving with undue care to hazards.

Yawn yet another SUV bashing post.

Suggesting pedestrians should only cross at pedestrian crossings sounds like it's coming from someone who doesn't walk enough.

I've just realised I struggle in car parks because of large cars now.

SUV dominance happened way before electric

@Chiseltip have you ever actually been to the UK. Most roads and settlements pre date cars by 100s of years. The village I grew up in (and my dad still lives in) has zero pavements or road crossings. Under your proposed law how would any resident leave their homes?

Even in London many residential roads have no crossing. Under your law how would I get from one side of my road to the other?

I can only conclude you are an actual idiot.

Of course they can protect themselves from being struck by vehicles. Don't walk out in front of them 🙄

The crossing thing is a red herring. We use a crossing to get to school and most mornings at least one driver doesn't stop for the red light. Luckily it's taught my dc never to rely on the crossing and always look at the driver (much harder when they are behind a 30ft bonnet)

Depends on the circumstances. If the twat in the stolen car who demolished the gate had hit me (luckily I was safely indoors), no, it wouldn't have been my fault.

Pedestrians do stupid, unpredictable things sometimes, but drivers can also drive dangerously.

(No room for a pavement on our side of the road, but perhaps we could have our own personal crossing. Unfortunately when the estate was built in the early 60's they didn't know that in the future there would be so many cars, if it was built now I imagine the layout would be different and our garden a quarter of the size. The road we have to cross actually goes to what was a originally pub carpark, people seem averse to using it and would prefer to park on verges etc. rather than walk an extra 30 seconds to the shops.)

Assuming they obey the law, pedestrians cannot realistically protect themselves from being struck by vehicles. However, vehicle design can minimise the risk. Why would any reasonable person seek to avoid this?

Situational awarness is lost on you isn't it?

Why didn't you walk back a few feet and cross at a spot which afforded you a better view of approaching traffic?

That would have been the responsible thing to do. You needlessly put your own life in danger.

I don’t live on a street.

Not if we installed a crossing on every street.

Yes. Exactly.

Cars "dominate" the road, where they belong. Pedestrians "dominate" the pavement, where they belong.

Just walk down the road to the nearest pedestrian crossing, one on each street, not one outside every gate. Walking along a road is a stupid thing to do, but it's less dangerous than crossing one.

Maybe not major but 60/40

Yes, and I guess if you were run over outside your house because you didn't look when stepping out onto the road, you would blame the driver of the car that hit you?

Would a pavement and proper marked pedestrian crossing near your house make it safer for you to cross the road?

That's my point.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-pedestrian-factsheet-2023/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-pedestrian-factsheet-2023#main-findings
A much higher proportion of collisions were attributed to pedestrians rather than drivers not paying due care (Section 10, Table 5)

Wearing the hard hat IS taking responsibility 🙄.

Your example would be compatible if the construction worker DIDN'T wear a hard hat.

So from this thread pedestrians can only cross at designated crossings but drivers have a choice whether to stop at them or not?

I’ve got a zebra crossing practically right outside my flat. If I had a pound for every time a driver has completely ignored it while people waited to cross I’d be a rich woman

Drivers are not required to stop for pedestrians waiting at a zebra crossing. They should and of course it is courteous to do so but they’re not breaking any laws.

Last week, none. But I spent over a decade of my career directly supporting people, including minors, whose lives were damaged permanently by the actions of drivers. Does this deserve a smug reply as well?

This^

Same thing today at the supermarket car park. Whatever giant SUV was next to me, no way could I, in my little Toyota Corolla, see over the bonnet to check oncoming traffic as I tried to turn right.

Don't get me started on drivers that don't even bother to reverse into car park spaces. The rear of your car is, almost invariably, neither low enough to see over OR transparent.