To have shouted at the person who walked out in front of me?

[Biancadelrioisback]

I know I was really, but why do people do this?!
People who walked onto the road in without looking properly, or people who see you driving on the road or reversing out of a space and decide to walk there anyways? I've had to slam on my breaks so many times recently and today was the straw that broke the camels back.
Driving down the main street in my town and a lady with a young boy (around 8 maybe?) walk out in front of me. She clearly saw me, I saw her look at me, she just walked out with her hand raised as if to say thanks. I had to slam my breaks on so the stuff on the passenger seat fell into the footwell. There are crossings on the road for pedestrians so no need to walk out where she did. The child didn't event acknowledge my car, was just chatting away to his mum/the lady.
I had the window down anyways and I yelled out that she needs to look before crossing the road rather than just expecting cars to stop. She yelled back at me to fuck off but I drove off so no idea what followed. So frustrating!

I walk pretty much everywhere.
If a pedestrian puts their hand up when crossing the road they know they are impacting the driver of the car and haven’t left them enough time, forcing them to amend their driving. Or, the driver has already slowed to let them cross, in which case this gesture is a sign of thanks.
It seems like the first scenario is what happened and it’s OK to be annoyed as it’s dangerous. Probably shouldn’t have shouted but looks like you already knew this anyway.

Must say the worst one I had was on dusk. Driving down a downhill road and saw movement out of the corner of my eye on the footpath, but couldn't make out what it was due to parked cars and shrubbery. Whatever it was left the footpath and started to zip out right in front of my car so I braked heavily and honked, thinking it was an animal. Nope, kid on roller skates who promptly ran up the arse of a parked car.

I agree with you OP. I live in a city centre, and the amount of people who just step out on the road when a car is coming is ridiculous! Not just with me, I see it all the time. It's really stupid. I think they get used to the pedestrianised areas and then lose how to properly cross a road

The thing is, I am a aware, I will stop and God forbid not hit them. However there is also a chance that I am not a aware and on my phone or whatever. Which yes would be completely in the wrong but would kill them. And it's all very well to say all drivers should be aware and able to stop, which they should be of course but the consequences if they weren't fully paying attention are death to the pedestrian not the driver. So please don't step out in front of cars!

And of course even if you are aware that they might do this, if someone steps out in front of you you do sometimes have to slam on your brakes. You can't drive around at 3mph to avoid ever slamming on your brakes. Also if someone steps out in front of me, even if I probably have time to slowly brake I will slam on my brakes because i am not taking that risk.

Yelling at them might make them think next time, it doesn't make you an angry driver. If you child stepped out in the road and you shouted that doesn't make you n angry parent, it makes you stressed and worried because you could have killed someone. It is their life.

So Ariadne do you make a habit of stepping out into moving traffic?

I'm not excusing pedestrians stepping into the road Blue, but maybe you shouldn't be on the phone if it takes your concentration away from driving.
(I presume you're talking about hands free, well I hope you are!)

I am very concerned you have to SLAM on your brakes. Mostly I see them coming (maybe cause I do it myself) and slow down/break gently.

Our local hight street wss recently reconfigured to allow pedestrians to cross anywhere. It works and is great

@havingtochangemyusername again. It was me that wrote about locals stepping into side roads without looking, and no, I do not have to read section 170 of the Highway Code again. Section 170 says that pedestrians have priority if they are already crossing the road. The people I was referring to aren't already crossing the road, they are stepping off the edge of the pavement without looking back to see if a car is about to turn into the road.

sultan I don't mean me! I am never on my phone, but there's a risk when you step out that the driver is a twat and could be and therefore won't stop or see them quick enough. It's so stupid to step out and force a car to stop because there's the risk that they won't stop!

vulpine most high streets you can cross anywhere? But you've still got to wait for there to be no cars. You can't just step out in front of a moving car.

Even if your crossing at a zebra crossing I still don't step out until the cars have stopped or started to slow!

I honestly cannot believe I am reading a thread where so many people are advocating and excusing people stepping out into moving traffic. Crazy.

It was one of the most basic lessons I learned as a child. "Stop, look and listen" and of course, "Look left, look right, look left again."

Has this title of entitlement really replaced common sense?

(However in the UK it is Right, left, right)

Oh sorry Blue, I read it as though you were talking about yourself.
I think the majority of pedestrians who step onto the road expecting the cars to stop is miniscule.
Mostly it's a lack of concentration and awareness.

Margot - hell I!

Ahem, hell no!

How anyone can condone this pedestrian is beyond me.

How anyone can condone shouting at strangers is beyond me

No one thinks stepping out in front of cars is a wise thing to do. But if you are a car driver driving through town, you have to be ultra alert and expecting it.

It could be child that has suddenly slipped from it's carer's grasp. It could be someone loses concentration for a moment.

I've slipped off a tiny tilted pavement and fallen in front of a car. I was being courteous and making way for a teenager also on the narrow pavement on their phone. Fortunately the driver was alert, didn't hit me and didn't shout at me. The teenager helped me up.

These things happen. People are not hateful because they trip or forget to look. You deal with it and are glad nobody was hurt. Being nasty doesn't make anyone feel better about it, including you.

wooly I wasnt nasty. I yelled out the window because they had just scared the living crap out of me. They didn't trip, or slip, or fall, they werent apologetic and hardly acknowledged my existence as a car driving along a road.
Once again, it was because I was careful and alert that I was able to stop. I don't know how many more times I can say that.

Sorry, I am used to seaside resorts where residents like visitors to visit and pay them money, but also like to swear at them when they walk down overcrowded roads!

I'm sure you are not like that.

You dont need to shout at people because they scared you

Yes Vulpine as I have said a few times now, I accept and feel bad for shouting.

There’s lot of things we don’t ‘need’ to do. That pedestrian didn’t ‘need’ to cross where they did, but they did.

If you’ve got to adulthood and parenthood not knowing how to safely cross a road then I have limited sympathy if someone shouting because you’ve stepped in front of their car upsets you.

This is where it might help for people to be forced to retake their driving test every 5-10 years. It is quite clear in all of your tests (and the highway code) that if a pedestrian looks about to cross you need to stop. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t doing it properly; they are the hazard and you as a responsible driver shouldn’t be bombing so fast down a road you can’t spot them in advance.