to think this guy was an idiot and will be lucky to see his next birthday.....

[Bogeyface]

....without getting killed?

Been thinking about this since last night. Driving to pick H up from work and had to swerve to miss a bloke jogging. It was 9:45pm so dark, he was wearing black shorts and top with a silvery panel which I can only assume he thought would be reflective, it wasnt.

He was running in the road right next to a wide, empty pavement. At no point on the road he was on (a main road with lorries etc on it) is there a point where there is no pavement. The road is long but has lots of ups and downs and corners so, as happened last night, you may not see someone on the road until you are almost literally on top of them. I dont speed ever, I was doing 30moh in a 30 zone.

I was so panicked I had to pull over and I did yell "Get on the bloody pavement!!" at which point he flicked the V's at me and kept on running!

AIBU to think it will be a bloody miracle if he doesnt end up being run over?!

YANBU, but I probably wouldn't have have bothered with the telling off bit. A big old honk on the horn possibly, or if you were feeling particularly helpful, a calm, pull over and 'scuse me old chap, it's terribly hard to see you, and your reflective strip is not working, toodle pip', or something like that.

YANBU. I see this a lot - pavements on both sides of the road, but joggers choosing to go on the road. I wonder if there's a reason for it?

My route home includes a back road which is unlit, potholed and narrow. Why would you choose to jog there as well? The other end of the village has paths and street lights.

My friend (who was an ex-traffic cop) said that there was a word for these guys….

…Skittles.

Of course, if you had hit him it would be ALL your fault…which wouldn't have been much consolation for him either.

You are totally right to be upset and angry.

I can only assume many runners use the road as it is flat, without the drop and rise near dropped kerbs and so on. Our local running teams all run on the road, usually three abreast. Very irritating, but at least they have the decency to wear hi vis vests, even if they won't run on the path.

Might be an over reaction but I'd call 111 or whatever the non emergency police number is and just let them know. If someone else does hit them they'll be charged with dangerous driving and if they just have it on file then they'll know he's a dangerous runner instead. I'd hate someone to lose their license/go to prison for something that wasn't thee fault.

YANBU. this has happened to me recently..and it was on a winding , country road in the dark. He was wearing dark clothes head to toe. My heart was pounding and I felt sick for hours after.

Supposedly it's 'better' to run on the road because the tarmac surface is softer, and so doesn't knacker your joints as much. But running in black in the middle of the night? Idiotic.

YANBU.

This happened me recently, jogger on the road at dusk, in a yellow jacket which they may have thought was high -viz but it wasn't.

I swerved suddenly to avoid and it frightened me , so close to something that would destroy so many lives.

The police wouldn't necessarily blame you. I know a situation where someone did hit (and kill) a jogger wearing black crossing derestricted road on blind bend with no street lights.
The police, inquest, and his family told the driver it totally wasn't his fault. His family said that they had told him he needed to wear high-viz stuff, and they knew when he was jogging he tended to run across the road without looking too.

Still sad for the driver though.

Its because the road surface is usually asphalt, and the pavement concrete, so its much more forgiving on the knees to run on the road. No good having good knees if you're dead, though.

You'd need very precise measurement equipment to see any difference at all in the elasticity of gravel-embedded asphalt vs concrete paving blocks. I'd suggest that anyone who reckons they can tell the difference when running over them is fooling themselves.

Thanks.

I did wonder if it was to avoid kerbs etc, but it was so fucking dangerous! It wouldnt be so bad but I can think of several well light places that have no traffic on where he could run perfectly safely.

It really did shake me up, and I was really angry that his stupidity could see me in court if I had hit him!

I wear high-viz when running. If I run on the road, I run in the direction of oncoming traffic so that I can hop back on to the pavement when I see a vehicle. I only tend to run on the road in places where the pavement is too narrow due to overhanging trees, or potholed/uneven. I've had a few early morning runs where I've run on the road because the pavements are too slippery with black ice, whereas the road is not.

YANBU OP.

I'm a runner and there are a few reasons I might choose to run on a road rather than the pavement, generally if the pavement is 'unrunnable' due to potholes, uneven/crumbly surface, treacherous slippy mud, copious piles of dogshit, broken glass, etc. The state of the pavement is not always obvious from a car viewpoint.
Having said that, however, I would take into consideration the pavement vs road risks in each individual area, and there are clearly extremely major risks from a head to head with a motor vehicle!

I rarely run on roads in the dark and if I do I wear a headband light and a rear light clipped to my clothes. And I always wear high vis with reflective strips regardless of light. The roads I am on do tend to be quiet country ones however with only occasional traffic so I can see/hear it coming and usually leap onto the verge. More difficult if your route takes in a busy road with lots of traffic.

This guy sounds like he has no concept of safety or consideration for others.

Yes, as Dahlen said, icy conditions too, roads are often much less slippy than pavements. Still have to weigh up the relative risks though.

I think Prettykittys suggestion about rining 111 (or is it 101?) is not a bad one and is not an overreaction. For the jogger sake as much as for drivers if they could watch out for him and convince him what a risk he was taking.

Many years ago I remember my Dad commenting about a paper boy he used to see out on his bike every morning and how this child had either never been taught how to ride safely or had zero road sense because he took shocking risks all the time. It got to the stage where my Dad was always watching out for him when passing through that particular village and taking extra care in case he pulled one of his usual stunts like swerving across the road without looking. Then one day the local evening paper had a report about this boy having been knocked over and killed while out on his rounds. If only someone, my Dad, anyone had had a word with the boy, the paper shop he worked for, the local bobby who might have drummed in to this lad what a risk he was taking.

Was re running towards you or away ?

There's not a lot pf publicity about how pedestrians (people moving along on their feet) should behave when travelling along roads. However they are moving, if they are not using the pavement, they should be moving towards oncoming traffic so they are approaching the fronts of moving vehicles.

We were out late one night in November, driving along a country road with lots of bends. Luckily, we knew that there was a firework event taking place not far ahead, drove round a bend to find a darkly clad man pushing a pushchair towards it. He should have been on the other side of the road.... It was a bit of a fright, frankly. Stupid people.