Pedestrians

[MardyBra]

Please do not "nip in front" of my car as I am pulling out of a junction.

Oh, and a quick cheeky cross of the road just as the lights are changing and I've been waiting for ages isn't great either.

I don't want to kill you.

I know I'll be flamed as an imperialist gas-guzzling car driver even though my business couldn't function with a car but some of you have been getting on my tits this week.

If I am a pedestrian, crossing at the green man, then yes, I generally do at least smile at the drivers who have stopped. It costs me nothing, does no harm and may make someone a little bit happier - if only because they are judging me as a madwoman for thanking them.

Surely a few extra, technically unnecessary, thank-yous are better than not enough?

I do that too, SDTG, i meant if you're in a car, do you thank the other cars who are waiting because their lights are red?

patpig I don't really care who has right of way ...drivers just can't see behind them very well - especially not a child smaller than the height of the back of a car, not visible in any of the mirrors...
Common sense tells me to not walk behind a reversing vehicle - and to teach my children not to do so...adults have been killed by reversing lorries/buses etc for similar reasons ...
I would rather be alive and well than know I was in the right...
Actually an old lady reversed out in front of me (actually reversed round into me) the other day - forced an emergency stop....didn't edge out - just came straight out - from behind parked cars as well - don't think even realised what she's done after she'd done it... I was behind her until she stopped at the local post office (she came out of some sheltered housing flats)...after my initial shock - she shouldn't still be driving!!! I thought well - if that is only way she can get out and about - and she is literally only going a hundred yards or so at less than 20 mph ...maybe it isn't so bad???

Yeah, it is so bad unlucky - my friend at school was mown down by an old lady on a crossing, hadn't even noticed the crossing let alone that lights were red or my friend was halfway across. She is now living in sheltered housing, and is seriously brain damaged.

People don't realise how bloody dangerous their cars are.

Oi pensioners, if you are just stopping for a chat please don't do it at the edge of a zebra crossing, I don't know you don't want to cross.

And while we are at it.

Small boy, cars, vans and much bigger vehicles drive on the left. If you are not old enough to get onto the pavement or out from in front of my car you are not old enough to be riding on the road. I couldn't go round you without bumping into said van coming the other way and sitting on your bike with the wheels at 90 degrees tot he pavement doesn't change that.

In that specific situation, no, I don't, Pootles. You have successfully picked a hole in my story. I don't thank everyone around me for everything I do, but I do thank people sometimes when it is not necessary. And now I am feeling under attack for thinking it is a good idea to spread a few extra thanks around whilst either driving or walking.

people be aware of each other

Dear Miranda,

I was considering popping over to Switzerland next month

But your posts suggest maybe I could save a few quid.

We well, you, could say it was a complete accident.
Does £20 sound about right ?

Warmest Regard etc

Oh sorry i really didn't mean to . Just wondering about it all! I'm the same, I say thank you when people wait for me as a pedestrian, but not in a car (unless they had right of way, obv!) so not having a go, at all!

But it surely means that we all think you're doing a pedestrian a favour by stopping, which you aren't...

Maybe its because a lot of drivers don't stop at a zebra, wheras they nearly always do at a red light? Aware I'm blathering now...

Gah, there are twats in all forms of transportation.

I do always thank drivers who stop at zebra crossings, just out of politeness, I wouldn't think twice about considering whether the driver "deserves" to be thanked or not.

Drivers who park on pavements blocking the pathway can fuck off to the back end of fuckoffness in my opinion. It is seriously one of the most ignorant things to do. My partner was shocked at the bollocking he got the first time he parked like that with me in the car. It's unbelievably arrogant. What do you exect ill, disabled, elderly people, or people pushing prams or wheelchairs to do?? If you can't park properly, find somewhere you can park properly and walk a bit, you lazy morons. Argh, I have a lot of rage for this issue...

I've just passed my driving test myself last week. I have to say, the thing that impeded my practise most was people who don't indicate, especially at roundabouts. How can you have the arrogance to expect everybody to just predict whether you're going straight on or left when you're sat in the left hand lane? Equally, it fucked me off when people didn't indicate OFF the roundabout as well, so that you can see properly who is leaving it, and who is continuing round. That's still an important part of the roundabout, people...

As a pedestrian at a zebra crossing, I smile and raise my hand to drivers. This is because I am polite, but also they smile back. So they associate stopping with something positive and are therefore more likely to keep doing it.

pootles2010 - sorry for your friend...
I know what you mean and did think about having a word with her - or the warden or even the police...
It is a small, quiet place - difficult without describing the roads in detail etc but if all she uses it for is going into the village it is pretty safe...no crossing etc...and I'm not sure she got into second gear...
I hope you don't take this the wrong way ...I'm really not saying your friend was at fault at all here ... it was the drivers mistake...
I try to teach my children to expect fallible drivers - not to cross at crossing even with the green man until they know the cars have seen them and stopped - and that is mainly because of MY experience of thinking red means go...

I don't think that thanking someone implies they have done you a favour, necessarily. For example, when I am served in a shop, I thank the till operator, and you could argue that is not necessary as they are being paid to serve me at the till - but it just makes life nicer for all concerned.

(and I did that in my late 20s/early30s, experienced driver, sober, not tired, not playing with the radio etc -just a mental blip..).

I can beat the parking on the pavement. They actually DRIVE on the pavement near our school. I know sometimes the width of the road means mounting the pavement is unavoidable, but at 30 miles an hour?! If I can get someone to collect the kids for me I may video the culprits and pass it to our PCSO....

As a pedestrian I thank drivers at zebra crossings, not because I think I should, but because I'm grateful to have come across one who doesn't think their need to drive trumps my right to cross. Too many rivers go straight over the crossing without stopping.

Also yellow box junctions are there fir a reason. I do not want to squeeze past your 4x4 with my 3 young children whir crossing on the green man because you have decided to sneak through the lights and stop on the junction.

But I'll apologise in advance if the buggy, scooter or bike we are using accidentky scratches your psi work as we struggle past.

God, driving on the pavement at 30, that really is shocking behaviour. I work in a school, and the ridiculous behaviour of drivers at drop-off and pick-up is always both hilarious and horrifying to me. Why not just leave the house a few minutes earlier to save yourself the bother of risking someone else's life to drop your kids off in time??

It is scary as a pedestrian when you're walking on the pavement, and somebody mounts the pavement, even at 10, behind you, then drives along the pavement for a bit until stopping to park. Always scares the hell out of me, and I usually break into a run to move out of their way. I don't know they are parking; to me, drivers are totally unpredictable in these situations.

'I find that a quick tug of my forelock, perhaps a small genuflection and if I'm feeling generous the promise to hand over my first-born generally does the trick when I need to show my undying gratitude to the ever-bountiful and glorious drivers who obey the Highway Code wrt zebra crossings.'

Wallison I spat tea all over the kb at that.
I have had people shout at me 'say thankyou!'. Usually I do wave but sometimes I have a hand full of child/phone/shopping.
In future I shall stop and bow down and prostrate for 5 minutes. 5 looooooooooooooong minutes.
When I drive I dont give a monkey's fart if people acknowledge that I've stopped at a zebra crossing. It's the law and my duty to do so. So I do. I'm not doing anyone a favour. I'm obeying a law. I dont care if I'm thanked.

However, while we are bitching, why dont BMW's come with indicators anymore, I'm not telepathic, I dont know where they are fucking going at roundabouts whether I'm a driver or pedestrian. I want a disintigrator laser attatchment to zap those fuckers.

I also think it's nice to wave, smile, thank people for considerate walking, driving, cycling, whatever.

HOWEVER, to the drivers (on this forum and elsewhere) getting arsey about not being thanked for obeying the law at zebra crossings, I can only hope that you make sure you thank each and every one of the pedestrians who wait for you to drive by before stepping out into the road.

Grr drivers.
Always in a such a damn rush! What's the fuss about waiting 2 minutes so pedestrians (who have also probably been waiting a while) can cross. We have to leave earlier for work & school pick up, carry tired children and shopping, get cold and wet when it rains, often wait for ages to cross on busy roads, risk life and limb in places where no adequate crossing has been provided- (and finding one would add ages onto sometimes already long journeys), and still cars act like they have superiority and right of way. Sorry we can't afford a car, and don't want to add to the multitude of environmental and social issues caused by the prevalence of cars in society.
Most of the time I completely respected your right to drive, but draw the bloody line at actually having to acknowledge/ thank someone stopping at a zebra crossing and obeying the law , or taking the blame for cars not slowing the fuck down to allow for the inconvenience of us pesky pedestrians.

You can thank a driver for stopping at a zebra crossing if you want.

But you are a Grade A arsehole if you as a driver get upset if people don't.

I used to live on a busy residential street in London that ended in a junction leading onto the High Street.

It was a NIGHTMARE trying to drive into, or out from, the residential street. Pedestrians would constantly just wander across the residential road without even checking to see if a car was turning into or out from the road.

I hit (very gently) a old man of about 70 or so when he stepped in front of my car as I was indicating and turning left out of the residential road. WTF? Why would you be so lazy as to walk in front of a turning car rather than take 3 extra steps to walk behind it in safety?

The old man was fine btw, just stupid.

sadly PatPig I wasn't

This case has had a lot of support from the appropriate clubs but to no avail.

ClockWatchingLady, the road is for drivers, not pedestrians. Therefore drivers have priority. Pedestrians should thank drivers for giving way on the road, not the other way round.