wibu to stop and give out to this woman

[spongebob13]

coming home last night from late night shopping on a dark windy country road and only for a car coming against me, with their headlights I spotted last second a woman walking in the dark in black. I swerved to avoid her and braked and the other car passed. I came to a stop. my heart was thumping and was shaking and i was so mad. I reversed and rolled down window. she stopped and looked in at me as if i was looking for directions not a bother on her. I said exactly "jesus Christ I nearly hit you. you are all in black! are you mad?" she said "what?" I said "I couldn't see you and it would be my fault if I hit you! " she said "fuck off" and walked on. I was in shock. haven't stopped thinking about it since. I swear if I knew who she was I'd report her but for what law she is breaking I don't know! selfish bint!

It gives a bit more balance and relevance, certainly.

Surely the fact that there are drivers out there who speed or text while driving or drive under the influence, makes it even more vital,for the rest of us to do all we can to ensure our own safety?

Absolutely, if you're in a position to.

OP didn't just stop on the road, she reversed on the road, in the dark - a road that she describes as 'bad' - simply so she could have a go at the pedestrian.

The potential for a catastrophic accident arising from that piece of lunacy far outweighs any 'good' that might be done.

STD - so the idiocy of the op makes it more important for her to have a go at the pedestrian so the pedestrian can learn to avoid such drivers in future?

Almost exactly the same thing happened to me last week, I was driving to the next village, windy country road, no streetlights or pavements, very dark. A woman dressed in black, no torch, was walking in the road towards me. I very nearly hit her and was very shaken. I can't imagine what possessed her to think that was ok. At night, road users need to use lights - whether that's cars, bikes or pedestrians. I didn't stop and tell her so though.

I regularly walk or cycle to the other end of our village where there are no street lights, I wouldn't dream of doing so without a torch if it's dark.

i accept i was totally bu to stop this woman and say what i said. and agree on the speeding and textin point. i still feel she was silly but it was wrong to tell her like i did.

Yes I remember that program with the cyclist. Driver just didn't see him. She wasn't prosecuted as he hadn't taken enough responsibility to make himself safe and she couldn't have been expected to see him in time. Wasn't he drunk as well?

I nearly hit a woman out walking a dog in the pitch black. She had no torch or hi vis or anything. Saw her at the last minute and swerved round her. Wish I had gone back to say something. The next driver might have hit her for all I know. Or run the poor dog over. Think it was on the inside when I went past. Really upset me to think I nearly hit someone, especially the dog. Op YWNBU to tell the silly cow off, she might not be so lucky next time.

I can well believe that you couldn't have seen her.

I didn't grow up in the countryside, I moved to it as an adult. The first time I had to take my car to go and be serviced (2 mile walk from tiny village to large village along windy country lanes) it took far longer than I was expecting and I set off to pick the car up again in the dark. I had the torch on my phone and a pinkish jacket but other than that I was no better than the pedestrian OP almost hit. A work colleague coming the other way pulled over and said 'Jesus Christ manic, it's you. I wondered what on earth that was. get in the car before someone kills you for God's sake.' She took me to collect my car and I've been a lot more careful since.

YWBU to shout and reverse but, imo, you were right to let her know how stupid she was being.

Ywnbu to tell her that her actions were foolish.
YABVU if you text while driving.

Fairly sure that blame/liability in these situations is given in accordance to how safe each of you were being

If you were going at a safe speed with lights on and made every effort to avoid her when you spotted her etc then you're blame % would be less than if you weren't

If she had no hiviz/torch/ anything to make her more visible. Wasn't walking on the correct side of the road for pedestrians when there isn't a footpath etc them her blame % would be higher

Either way a smilar thing happened with a young driver accidentally killing a drunk cyclist with no lights etc. long story short it was found that she wasn't at fault

I'm struggling to understand why people are saying you had plenty of time to see the pedestrian & react.
OP, if you were driving at 40mph, then according to the first link below, you wouldn't have had enough time between seeing the pedestrian & stopping.
The second link shows typical stopping distances & different speeds. I think people underestimate the distance required, especially at night.

pekin.olhblogspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/NightDrivingChartjpg1.jpg
www.drivingtestsuccess.com/tests/stopping-distances/

Having been in similar situations with poorly dressed cyclists & pedestrians, I find that they cannot be seen at all until they appear in my headlight throw, which certainly gives me a fright & not much time at all to react.
I once encountered a cyclist at night dressed in black with no reflectors on a country road. I pulled over to let him know that he couldn't be seen only to find he was listening to his ipod!! Talk about having a deathwish.

You can always tell the drivers who are on holiday down my way because they drive slowly and gingerly along the narrow country roads, sound their horn at blind corners and otherwise show greater care than they would on the main road.

Many of the drivers who live here show the same arrogance as the OP, expecting everyone and everything to scatter in their path, hence the high death toll every year of sheep, ponies and smaller wildlife. People walking on the roads in broad daylight are expected to jump into the hedges so as not to slow the drivers down for a second or cause the poor things to be upset by having a near miss.

In this case the fact that the OP felt justified in reversing back to shout at the pedestrian (who thoughtfully put her head in the window to offer help!) takes that arrogance to a whole new level.

It's not unreasonable to expect people to make themselves a bit more visible if they're walking in the dark but the onus should always be on the driver to take extra care in hazardous conditions. People might have to walk for many different reasons - flooded footpaths, broken-down car etc so not have dressed accordingly.

krasnayaploshad - 40mph is way too fast to be driving in the dark on a country road.

yanbu. What an idiot. I nearly knocked down a cyclist wearing all black once. Obviously have a death wish.

cyclists and pedestrians have a responsibility too. I wouldn't dream of walking in a country Kane in the dark dressed in black. Dark country lanes are a car only zone, unless you're suicidal.

Exactly MrsDeVere, I think that's the problem, drivers round here insist they 'know' the roads so can drive faster but hazards like animals and people just can't be predicted. 30mph is the most I would risk at night.

I really hope that she has phoned the police as your driving sounds dangerous. I appreciate that you weren't texting and speeding this time but it sounds like you do so quite often. Coupled with your road rage (reversing to scream at a pedestrian) means that you have a general pattern of dangerous driving and it would do you some good if the police gave you a ticking off. Driving a car is a privilege and you would do well to remember that.

TheCrackFox you assume I text and drive and speed quite often. as for her phoning the police? if she didn't wear hi vis for safety i doubt she brought a phone as well for safety.

So, usually you think people in my village without a car should be under house arrest from about 4pm in the winter? Of course you can walk on country roads in the dark! It makes sense to have a torch (stops you falling in the ditch for a start) and to wear something bright/light/high vis, but if drivers are driving sensibly it won't cause a disaster. I've been doing it for years without even a near miss.

I was hoping that as well TheCrackFox. Drivers like this really need sorting out, in the OP he/she had the nerve to suggest the pedestrian should be reported!

You have no idea why she wasn't wearing a high vis - maybe she had a huge barney with her boyfriend and he chucked her out of the car?
She might not have had her mobile with her but she might have memorized your number plate and could well phone the police today.

Texting whilst driving (even just once) is every bit as bad as drink driving. You are a dangerous driver and seriously need to rethink your attitude to driving.

i have to laugh at people still giving out when i agreed more than once that i was wrong to reverse, to give out to her, to text and drive and speed (why i ever thought that would help my point of view i dunno .. i blame the wine). so i agree i was being very unreasonable. however i never suggested she should not be walking the road and under house arrest (wtf?) but that she take responsibility for being visible on the road. sigh.

Just because you weren't speeding and texting when you didn't see this woman DOES NOT mean you were driving vigilantly! Stop driving like a flipping idiot.

how do you know i was driving like a "flipping idiot"?