would you walk behind a car with its reversing lights on?

[Slartybartfast]

well?
i was trying to reverse out of a car park, as you do, i ended up letting the car behind me reverse first, kept looking, then again start to reverse, only for people to be walking directly behind the car! of course i stopped but they walked and the woman looked back at me, while walking, for ages, glaring.!
and no i dont have eyes in the back of my head, and yes i do have reverse lights!

if you take the risk of walking behind a car with its reverse lights on, you are taking a risk imo, and you dont turn and glare angrily at the reversing driver.

on this occasion though it wasnt a supermarket car park, but a beauty spot car park,

So no bags to load then? So you could have reversed in?

I always reverse in, if space is tight, I just load the bags in and walk the 10 or so steps from the trolley. It is really simple to do.

Actually, nowadays I get them to deliver the shopping...problem sorted.

Ok, yes pedestrians have right of way, no one is arguing that.
However it's really bloody difficult to see when reversing, yes you should check all mirrors and look over your shoulder but you can't do both at the same time!
So you check, then re-check, then start reversing and low and behold some knob walks out behind you. Yes they have right if way but a pedestrian is so much more vulraboe they need to use common sense, I NEVER walk behind a reversing vehicle unless waved on by the driver.

Btw I reverse into spaces in supermarkets but I've also had this problem when reversing onto my drive.

i could in retrospect have reversed in, although it was quite difficult to find an available space so i just went in the first one i found before it was taken from me

Ppl do this all the time , l find these days you Have to second guess everyone and drive for everyone else, they are idiots and l also wonder how much of it is because they want us to hit them to claim comp!

Always the drivers responsibility & agree with the other posters who said to reverse into the space rather than reversing out.

Yes because I need the rear of my car illuminating in broad daylight.

Well pedestrians have the right of way when you’re reversing but I do agree it’s daft to walk behind a reversing car if you can avoid it. And no need for her to glare at you, I agree.

As a pedestrian, I wouldn't walk behind a car with reverse lights on as I wouldn't trust them to stop.

As a driver, I remember that there are no legal requirements on pedestrians - they don't have to have read the highway code. They may have poor vision, a hearing impairment, learning disability, just be distracted etc.

If we require pedestrians to know the highway code or be able to notice reverse lights, then some people would never be able to leave the house.

The onus is always, always on the person driving the dangerous, heavy machinery, who has passed a test to show they are capable of doing so.

Try working in a university! Students have no road sense at all. I Always reverse in to spaces, but have to look out for students walking round the car into the space I’m reversing into rather than round the front (I know you’re going to say nobody is stupid enough to do that, but I’ve seen it more than once).. On the road through the campus (a public road) they just step out without looking, everyone drives at 10 mph because you know you will be stopping to let a student, headphones on, staring at their phone, amble across the road. I don’t know how most of them survive childhood. Don’t get me started on their cycling skills, in their entirely black outfits with no lights. I’m never more aware that a car is a deadly weapon than round the university!

I had someone walk behind me the other day whilst I was reversing, they then shouted a load of abuse at me, they walked straight into my blind spot so despite me looking and using my mirror I did not spot them, I was already part of the way out of a space so surely they should have seen that my car was moving as well as my reverse lights being on? And I’m sure people that don’t drive know what a reverse light is? It’s common sense.

Of course reversing lights are to warn other drivers (and pedestrians) of your car's movement!
What next? People suggesting indicators are to light up the corner you're turning into?

I have nearly started a thread on this so many times! I think it's getting worse. Obviously the pedestrian always has right of way but why would you see a reversing car actually moving backwards and walk behind it?! To make a point? Because you are entitled to? Entitled to be stupid.

I did wait but felt her glaring at me was unreasonable

1. "glaring" is an interpretation of her facial expression, maybe she was just worried she was about to be run over when she actually had right of way...

2. so this entire thread is because someone looked at OP....

No, that's stupid!

mummyretired pedestrians might have right of way, but that doesn’t mean you should blatantly walk behind cars that are reversing, unless you’re ok with being run over.

There’s usually so much going on on a car park for both pedestrian and car driver that a bit of consideration on both parts is necessary.

I give a wide swerve to cars in car parks if I can see the engine running, or at the very least I’m paying attention to what they’re doing. I certainly wouldn’t start walking behind them with a entitled ‘Ive got right of way ‘ fuck you attitude.

YANBU but bear in mind that many people lack common sense and are so full of self-entitlement that they expect everyone to get out their way.

ilost

Actually @LivLemler pedestrians do need to know the Highway code because they are using the highway!

www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-pedestrians-1-to-35

Rubbish! There are there to illuminate the rear of the vehicle to aid the driver. The onus is always on the driver to look out for other road users, be they pedestrians, cyclists or other cars regardless of whatever manoeuvrer they are doing.

Lol then why do they come on in broad daylight when you don't have your lights switched on? I think you will find that it's your actual lights that 'illuminate and guide'. I guess you will now say that brake lights are also to illuminate rather than warn others. Maybe the horn is just there for the driver too.

For the person who has no clue what reversing lights look like, you really should learn, regardless of whether you drive. Larger vehicles do not have a view out of a rear window, so the driver will sometimes be unable to see people behind it.

I disagree with you OP. It's the driver's responsibility to ensure the area behind the car is free before reversing.

Aswell as lights being hard to detect in sunlight for example, you need to take into account children, blind people, even animals and of course people just not paying too much attention.

Then we have people who don't know what white reversing lights mean!?
The onus is not on the pedestrian.

I have a dad who walks past my house every morning with his two children in the middle of the road (even though there are pavements) his youngest is often on a scooter so I can do all the checks I can be reversing off very slowly and all of a sudden I can hear yelling (from the dad usually at me!) he has sworn at me telling me repeatedly I'm trying to knock over his ds . I've told him politely that it's a road and tbh he should be on the pavement. Our drive has a blind spot so I am always extra careful but I can never see this child as he's so small he is below my eye line. The dad makes a huge point now of letting his child scooter very close to my car when I'm in it and scowling at me. I think he should use the pavements and stop being such an entitled dick!

If reversing lights are intended to warn other drivers, then they would be mandatory on all vehicles, but they are not and are not part of the MOT test.
If fitted, they must work when the reverse gear in engaged, but that doesn't mean the vehicle is actually moving. As a secondary use, they act as a warning, but as others have said, they are not always easily visible, and in fact can only have a maximum lamp power of 25 watts.

You are responsible if you knock someone down, but that doesn’t change the fact that some people are dicks and wander through the car parks as if it’s everyone else’s responsibility to keep them safe. Unfortunately as a driver you have to keep your eyes open to prevent your car from running over said dicks no matter how tempting

People still walk behind you when you back in!
The sheer number of times I've been mid way through reversing into a space and some nitwit has decided to walk round behind my car, or cut through the gap from behind. It beggars belief. Supermarkets in particular, which has been part of my decision to mostly do online shops now.
You're in a car park, cars are going to be manoeuvring and parking. Don't just assume the driver has seen you!
The only thing that gets my blood boiling even quicker are the arseholes who see me begin my reversing manoeuvre and decide that as I am a mere woman I need some dickhead windmilling to 'direct'. Sod off.

Funnily enough, reversing into a parking space is also a dangerous manoeuvre risking tossing pedestrians aside and scraping other cars... As a pedestrian you have to be a fucking stupid idiot to go anywhere near a car with its reverse lights on. As with lorries, which at least have voices warning you they are reversing, however careful a car driver is, they cannot see everything that is going on behind them when reversing out from between two other vehicles which are obscuring their view. This is why supermarket car parks have 5mph speed limits (which everyone seems to ignore) - they are inherently dangerous places, however careful both car drivers and pedestrians are being. Whilst someone reversing out of a parking space should always be super careful and stop if they see a pedestrian, pedestrians have a duty not to be dangerous fuckwits themselves.