Someone just very nearly killed me.

[EnchantedAutumn]

I haven't had such an experience before, and feel quite shaken.

We were out walking early this afternoon along the canal side. At a road bridge we stood at the crossing and waited for the traffic to stop to allow us to pass.

Half way over the crossing a vehicle sped up from the other side and missed me by about an inch. We were extremely visible and there were no large vehicles blocking the driver's view. Very few cars about actually.

This was so quick and it was almost speeding, so extremely shocking. Other drivers stopped and asked me was I ok, whilst DH spun around like a drama queen very very angry, whilst I tried to catch the registration - sadly could not get it all.
Dh was so upset, although I felt a little numb. I saw it as a very lucky thing to still be alive, but also angry that someone could change or end my life so brutally and easily in a fraction of a second.
I choose to presume that the driver was distracted, rather than happy to slaughter me, but it still feels so shocking.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? It was so, so close it has really knocked me. I doubt I would have survived had it hit me.
A sudden shock like this is probably common, and yet the idea of my life changing suddenly due to disease or accident feels easier to bear than someone just casually mowing me over.

If something similar has happened to you, how did you process it? I feel much better a few hours later, but still really weird.

It is worth mentioning, remain careful. Both whilst driving and walking.

Completely agree. I am in Wales and a lot of the roads around suburban Cardiff are now 20mph (and they have dropped a lot of 40s to 30s) - thank God I say. I feel safer as a pedestrian but even more than that as a driver I find it much calmer with much more time to observe and react (to people using crossings or cars pulling out of side streets or stopping suddenly to get in a parking spot). I do get people driving up my arse when I stick to the limit but I don’t care. (I have an automatic limiter so I can stick to exactly 20, not hover at 14 or 15).

Agree. I am Welsh and support the 20 mph limit.

The reason is that we are willing to allow machines to be prioritised over humans.

Well said @JohnofWessex ! Cars are king and people merely an annoyance to the almighty driver.

I live in a neighbourhood where driving is seen as a right, even for people who pay no tax or insurance or have a valid license.

Any effort to implement LTNs or safety features is met with utter fury and vandalism because god forbid someone can’t drive their kid the 10 meters to school, or park on a pavement, or go under 100mph.

The entitlement is only outpaced by the self pity when bad drivers get held to account.
‘Oh but your honour it’s been very hard for Car driver not being able to drive. Much harder than for victim who’s been left traumatised or victim’s family who’ve been left mourning. Driver is the real victim’.

Very similar happened to me and I didn't react at the same, nor feel much in the aftermath; my friend was very shaken up on my behalf.
I tend to 'under-react' when things happen to me and overreact when it happens to someone I care about?

Agreed. Absolutely no one is going WOW they're SOOOO cool going fast. Apart from those with less brain cells than these idiots behind the wheel.

Not from Wales, but I fully support the 20mph limit.

How scary. I recently had a near miss on the motorway. A car had barely finished overtaking me but it slowed down and pulled back into the lane I was in whilst the back of his car was beside the front of mine. I just about had time to slam the brakes on, otherwise I was very, very close to hitting him at 70mph.
A few years ago I was stuck behind a horse transporter along with several other cars. Someone came from a few cars behind me, overtaking on a blind bend, but from where I was I could see a car coming round the bend in the other direction so held the horn down. There would have been at least 3 cars involved in that head on, including me.
Leaves the heart pounding and I can only imagine it's much worse when you're a pedestrian and feel even more vulnerable on the road.

That's just so wrong. There are far too many dangerous drivers around.

I see ''Drug Driving'' notices on Motorway gantries now, drink and drugs, and also ''old age'' and cognitive decline.

An elderly man and his wife gave me a lift to a neighbour's Funeral, and the old chap exited the church car park and turned right onto a Dual Carriageway, driving towards oncoming traffic.

He was completely oblivious.

He did a U turn with blaring horns, it was so scary.

Ah you poor thing. I can totally sympathise it’s really scary and even now 7/8 years on from my close miss I get anxious if I think a car is too close/moving too fast. Mine was when I was walking home from local pub (60 seconds walk) a car screeched round the corner at 60 miles plus (it’s a 20 mile an hour road) and mounted the kerb, I was maybe 6 inches off being hit before they swerved back onto road. I was so scared I just saw the colour no other details. Prob drunk driving or something as they didn’t stop just drove off. Hope you’re okay xx

Sorry you had this horrible experience. I hope you can take it easy for the next few days. Don't let it put you off walking a route you love.

Someone backed out of a supermarket parking spot at bat out of hell speed when I was heading to my car with a loaded trolley a few years ago. It probably took them two seconds to go from key in ignition to fully reversed out onto the aisle. Luckily the trolley bore the brunt of it - it was a write-off because the driver kept going after the impact and basically crushed it, which the police noted when estimating the driver's speed and recklessness. (Witnesses called the police) She got several tickets and had to surrender her license. The supermarket and witnesses couldn't have been kinder to me.

I'm so sorry. I didn't know how to word it without the unfortunate detail. I have reported my post to be edited to remove it.

This is so upsetting my brain doesn't want to register it, I just can't believe anyone could survive such pain.

OP, what a relief that you weren't hurt. Very sorry this happened to you.

Of course I don't wish any of this on anyone, it's so sad to read about the awful driving, however I also feel a bit less alone reading these.

We live on a wide road on a hill, I have never experienced the level of speeding cars do on this street. Last night I watched a Mercedes overtake a Golf, both were doing at least 60, that is the third time I have seen this. Cars are constantly doing must be at least over 40mph. A guy in a range rover called me fucking bitch for trying to get in my car. My son is a blue badge holder and we cannot park outside our house.

It seems awful, selfish, and egotistical driving is everywhere.

I've noticed that the lack of policing has generally allowed the shit to float to the top.
Speeding, extreme vehicle noise (especially in towns and villages) and a lot more groups of men hanging around drinking in public spaces.

I saw a group of teenage boys surround a lone woman on a bus a few weeks ago, they pressed up against her because they wanted the back seat to themselves. It was like crack to them, that back seat fgs.
She was quite uncomfortable.

I gave up cycling for this reason. I just got too scared i wasn't going to make it home to my kids safely. So many dangerous overtakes and SMIDSY moments. My fitness is massively reduced but i am still alive.

This is why I’ve emphasised over and over to Gdcs - ALWAYS, ALWAYS, check both ways, even if you’re at a crossing and there’s a green man telling you it’s safe - because some drivers just will not stop.

I was only reading a thread yesterday about someone saying how they've took many tests and couldn't pass and how her DH was getting frustrated being the only driver.
Cue hundreds of replies telling her to just knuckle down and keep going and how everyone should be able to drive.

I myself can't drive (autism which effects my spatial awareness and ability to multitask amongst other things) and even I know that, even if I tried a automatic car instead there would be too many issues to safely overcome.

Yet the pressure I feel from here sometimes, that I should be driving and how DH being the only driver is unfair etc sometimes has me questioning my logic.

Then I remember that I just wouldn't be safe, so I will remain a non driver.

If for any reason people feel they wouldn't be a safe driver, they should absolutely refrain from driving, I feel we need to normalise this more.

Yep, there's definitely an attempt to ignore the numbers and just press on regardless. As car use skyrockets, the issues will get even worse, probably.

I see a similar blind ignorance when people (including the NHS) discuss healthy eating, obesity, heart disease. They rarely mention one of the largest changes over the past 20 years is car use - which possibly plays a huge role in a lack of activity across the nation.

The pain is still there but she had other children to care for. Child is remembered always.

I have already posted about a notorious crossing near me where you can almost guarantee that the green man will be on and drivers will still plough their way across, I have been so enraged that I have bashed cars with my bag! An elderly person or a parent trying to cross with a toddler and/or a buggy is in danger of being flattened crossing there. How arrogant and selfish do you have to be to jump a red light especially when there are pedestrians literally walking across the road.

I was in a car crash a few years ago that nearly killed me and I’ve never been the same since, it definitely changed me. He said he ‘didn’t see’ the crossroads and the give way markings on his road so he sped straight across it and t-boned me at 60mph. My car was flipped off the road, through a hedge and landed upside down in a field and I was trapped inside for 3 hours and had to be cut out

I find it terrifying to think how close I came to dying. I was so lucky to survive it. Near death experiences are shocking because it makes you realise how fragile life is and how quickly everything can change and there’s nothing you can do about it. You will likely be in shock for a while

There was a thread on here the other week by a motorist who had jumped a red light at a crossing when a pedestrian was waiting to cross, because they felt intimidated by the driver behind them. The main gist of the thread was the motorist asking if they’d be in trouble with the police, and lots of responses reassuring her that she wouldn’t. At the point I read it, hardly anyone had mentioned the pedestrian and the danger they’d been put in!

I've seen this more than once in the A1. I'm left with butterflies and I'm not even involved.

I've thankfully never been hit or had a near miss as a pedestrian but have had more than my fair share as a driver. There's not a theme as to who it is either, all genders and all ages seem to be guilty. I very much abide by the hang back rule when driving on certain roads now. Not foolproof by any means but has seen me avoid some nutters.

I hope you feel better soon OP. I have had a couple of minor car accidents and although not serious, they definitely knocked my confidence on the roads.

Glad you are ok op, you must be so shook up. I didn't have a near miss but my friends daughter did, she was just walking a few steps ahead as we were crossing a road and it was all a blur but happened in seconds, my friend spotted the speeding car and shouted freeze (game she plays with the child) and she stopped instantly and the car skimmed her and she fell backwards. The car didn't even stop but another car started beeping and took off after it). But she didn't have a mark on her and was slightly shaky but forgot about it in minutes whereas when we got to the park my friend and I were in tears. If my friends child reaction wasn't so immediate she would be gone.

Now that I have posted, I am just sad to hear so many of these things.
It is true that there ought to be greater consequences.

Many towns across the UK are simply road grids now, with few crossings, and constant jammed traffic. It benefits no one, yet we still have this perception that it 'makes life easier'. On the one hand it does, but something is out of whack.

Where my sister lives, to get one mile into town there are so many busy roads that it takes a much longer than average time to walk there, as no pedestrian paths are available (short cuts away from busy roads) very few crossings, and few gaps in the traffic to allow a person to cross safely.

What is true, is that vehicle ownership has taken so much 'space' away from those who are not driving. Not driving is often even associated with not having a life

I hike a lot, and when doing so we take the train, usually. We can go off into the wilderness for hours, and upon returning to ground level you can literally feel the tension in the air. The contrast is interesting, it is as if we have given up our freedom in some way to sit in large metal boxes that seem to lumber about awkwardly as opposed to the freeing sense of movement when walking in car free space.

Cars just allow us to carry more stuff and get to longer distance places faster (not as fast as trains, but they have their hassles too). Some people like my sister feel safer in a vehicle when she is alone, but I just don't know. It depends on your lifestyle and fitness possibly.