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.

Thanks to all he people who agreed with about zebra crossings. Yes the car is obliged to stop by law but it is just politeness to thank them
I always do and those that don't are ignorant full stop.

I have the misfortune of going to a school opposite a hospital.

The hospital staff park all the way down both sides of a very long rd.

This rd has no crossings at any point along it.

Part of the road is t junction and that,s horrible to cross sharp corners and drivers coming out of preschool struggle to get out car park.

In addition to this its major cut through for motorway/ring road yet its small village b road.

I was fuming when my daughter nearly got hit at school crossing.
i feel nervous every day.

To get into school we have to walk on back rd without pavement or walk through a car park so journey is full of danger.

To get to this dangerous rd I can walk down a steep hill narrow with no pavement for some of it and drivers speeding round blind corners.

Or I take my chances on ring rd cycle path which clearly has little bike one side people other amount of tuts abuse me and kids get when on cyclist side as they on wrong side gives me cycle path rage nearly shouted at cyclist morning.

I don't understand the way people drive so selfshly and carelessly.

Parking on pavements quite bag here.

Rare a driver bothers to stop at zebra crossing.

doing lessons atm and instructer says don't as hands off wheel and never wave pedestrians accross as might be safe your direction but not he other but hes also quite a defensive driver and hates pedestrians, cyclists and bus drivers.

Been too many nasty accidents locally recently.

Some areas have really poor pedestrian access combined with being close to schools winds me up.

Cyclists country roads two a breast etc..
Honestly I don't like driving behind cyclists wherever they are ...and I am an experienced careful driver ...trying to find a good spot to overtake etc, etc ...(someone earlier mentioned tractors - and guess what? I and I am sure most other motorists don't like driving behind tractors either...)
But I really hate cyclists on 60 mph/no pavement roads ...I .think they are so dangerous - not because I come round the corners too fast or try and overtake on a corner ...it is the fact that I might behind them on a bendy road -doing 15 mph trying to find a good spot to overtake - when an idiot doing 70+ comes round that corner and rear ends me ...and the sad thing is ...if the cyclists are two abreast when I'm shunted forward I'm going to almost definitely hit one of them - whereas I may have been able to avoid just one...

Its not the cyclists who are dangerous in that scenario - its the idiot driving at 70 round a corner.

You may not like driving behind a tractor or a cyclist but legally they're both entitled to be there. If a car rear ends you it's the other cars fault. As a cyclist I'll take my chances and ride as safely and defensively as I can.

Errol - of course it is the idiots fault - no argument - but there are idiots - the fact it isn't mine or the cyclist's fault isn't going to stop me, my children and potentially a cyclist or two getting hurt...

But you said you think it's cyclists that are dangerous.

When in reality it's speeding car drivers in that situation which are dangerous.

Yup. Cyclists may, unfortunately, be endangering themselves.

I never cycle on roads now; I used to but there's too many bad drivers and the roads near me - though official cycle routes - are narrow and windy. Now I've got a child its not worth the risk. It annoys me to have to put the bikes on a rack and drive them somewhere offroad to use them.

But the cyclist is the danger! - As a car driver I would like to drive as safely and defensively as I can too..
that includes not doing 15 mph on a 60 mph road around a blind corner...
Stuck behind a big tractor/lorry it at least - with any luck - it should be more visible to the approaching idiot ...

Inabeautifulplace. HGV's don't pull out because they are bigger. They pull out because they have to find a suitable gap and if there is constant traffic the only way is to pull out causing the least problems possible.

So when there is not constant traffic they pull out why?

5m from the junction I'm thinking of would not be a problem if people stopped driving so carelessly. It is, btw, where the council have placed the dropped kerb and dimpled pavement. Where blind people are supposed to cross, yes? I reiterate, it is perfectly safe when people are not negotiating it without braking or looking where they are going!

I do drive a car as well. I've never felt in danger when waiting behind a cyclist. I think that 99.9% of car driver s will see another car slowed down, its no different than if you were waiting to turn right, etc.

I think the roads would be a lot safer without cars on them.

unlucky - 'that includes not doing 15 mph on a 60 mph road around a blind corner...'

There is actually no such thing as a 60 mph road. There are roads on which it is legal to do up to 60mph if it is safe to do so. Around a blind corner, its not safe.

It is not the cyclist who is the danger. Its the motorist who assumes they can go round blind corners too fast to deal with whatever might be there.

I think the roads would be a lot safer without cars on them.

Well, of course. Especially the country roads that evolved before the invention of the car - the narrow windy lanes I've been talking about. Modern roads designed for cars don't have blind corners. Shame that the realities of 21st century life mean we can't restrict cars to the roads designed for them.

Viva - do you drive or cycle on those kinds of roads though?
We have lots of those roads around ...miles away from a motorway - famously dangerous A roads...to go more or less anywhere involves driving on one of these roads...but actually it isn't really the main A roads - they are usually not too bendy, quite wide - some opportunity to swerve ...it is smaller A roads I really don't like ....

I cycle sometimes (badly) on local 30mph roads ...and take my children off road...
My sister doesn't own a car, cycles everywhere - including for pleasure the country roads near where my parents live...and I've had this discussion with her...
I think you would be mad to cycle on that kind of road - but it is your choice...
And you are are perfectly legally entitled to ....and that's fine - but I hate it because I feel that I (and more importantly -my children) are being put into a potentially dangerous situation ...

Yes funnily enough lots of pedestrians are also drivers.

The ones who wander in such an annoying fashion in supermarket car parks with their at-risk toddlers? They're going back to their car.

Those who step off the pavement and "cut you up", those who fail to give you a cheery wave by way of thanks because you've stopped at a red light/zebra. The weekend lycra louts on their custom build cycles racing along at 35mph channelling Wiggo. The middle aged Sunday motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic cos Wahey! they can.

If they behave like they own the road, they're drivers.

I cycle on all sorts, apart from dual carriageways. We haven't got many round here!

But bendy, narrow lanes, fast narrow B roads, bendy fast B roads, A roads, through city centres.

Its ironic that the roads that are least suitable to drive cars on (because they weren't designed for them) and which should be nicest to ride bikes on are exactly the sort that are particularly risky for cyclists to use.

I don't hate the cyclists who do use them, I hate that I don't feel able to do likewise because of selfish drivers. The sort of 'danger' posed to a driver by a cyclist is the same sort of danger as can also occur on such roads for all sorts of other reasons - stock in the road, walkers, agricultural vehicles with fearsome attachments emerging from farm gates, shed bales of straw....

I hate car drivers who I think might put me in a dangerous position.

Though its not often I feel unsafe. Sometimes idiots pulling out of side roads without noticing me.

I've recently bought a recumbent trike and dh thinks I'm a bit mad riding it. I've got a tall, fluorescent flag on it though.

There's a fast B road near me where I used to feel unsafe. It's wide enough for two cars, you could just squeeze two cars and a bike through. I used to ride here near the road edge and cars would squeeze by at speed like 3" from my elbow. I now ride 2ft from the edge of the road so they can't overtake unless the road in the opposite direction is clear. It's much safer and I feel better now I do this.

Viva - yes - also, riding near the edge, if someone does pass too close then you've nowhere to go if there's an obstruction or pothole. Riding with a gap gives you that bit of wiggle room if you need it.

I must admit when I see a recumbent trike I wonder about their visibility - even with the flags. Mostly see them offroad which is fine, obv.

It was the one thing that put me off but people give me more room. I think as its so unusual people think WTF and brake and pull out. They're not sure if I have a motor, how fast I'm going, etc. I'm more noticeable by being unusual.

Unfortunately some places where I live you can't go without using roads like that ...
There are some near my parents too - literally have to go down to second gear on two bends ... (I used to cycle along there when I was a child (a loooong time ago) but I guess less there were less cars on the road then)

I bought my first mobile phone and a warning triangle because my car had developed a fault and the garage that could deal with it was along a road like that...I was told it was safe enough to use whilst they waited for the part to come in ...but that didn't stop me worrying on the way to get it repaired ...if it broke down I could get out and wait in a field but what about the poor driver coming around the corner ...even at 30 ...
(BTW I wouldn't be doing 60mph on those roads ...more like 40 tops - but at least if I was going slightly faster the idiot would have more time to brake - and if it was a cyclist rather than a car more swerve space ...)
Viva -You hate car drivers - I am allowed to hate cyclists on those roads - actually find them frightening ...we are going to have to disagree...(but of course I'm right!!!!)
(And I'm sorry -if it is just for pleasure.... I have to put you in the same category as my sister I'm afraid - mad )

That's ok, I don't really hate car drivers. But shhh, as a Lycra clad cyclist I have to maintain the pretence.

I ride a lot (also utterly covered in lycra) and most drivers and peds are fine - but some peds don't really think of themselves as poss causing an obstruction at all.

"Why the fuck would they purposefully walk out in front of cars."

Because some people are just stupid I guess

I knew it had to happen sometime on a thread about roads. I totally agree with pan. I think it is just that - people think they're just nipping into the road or walking across, and they're too small to be in the way.

What gives me the shudders is people who push their pushchair out into the road first, crossing on the red or in the middle of traffic - then dodge back because it wasn't safe.

Also, for the love of god, if you are shepherding a group of children around a city, yes, I know it's difficult (I remember), and I know the cars may be on the opposite side of the street from what you're used to. But please, don't act as an unofficial lollipop lady. Standing in the middle of the road and yelling at traffic when it starts to move towards you is stupid. There is a traffic light, with a button, which you can press.

If anyone can tell me why people do this (is it allowed in some countries so they think it's a rule?), I'd love to know. It's especially fun when you can see that traffic turning won't be able to see idiot tourist guide waving children across the road.