Aibu zebra crossing incident

[Marie5678]

Yesterday on the school run I was walking home the kids stopped at the zebra crossing I was a few steps behind they were waiting for the go ahead. Obviously it's a zebra crossing drivers are supposed to stop given this zebra crossing is right next to the school you would expect people to be more aware.

Once we caught up with the kids (so to speak) were only 5 steps behind so wasn't really catching up we said OK cross. There was a car coming a few metres away and we were already on the crossing when a lady was not looking where she was going didn't stop until we shouted stop at the zebra crossing while also dragging the kids back. Now luckily the kids stopped and she did but she then proceeded to huff and puff and gesture us to carry on in a way that seemed more of an inconvenience to her. She was clearly late to pick up her child and was rushing.

Now this pissed me off I won't lie the fact she was almost annoyed she had to let us go annoyed me too. She parked in a space closest to the side walk to get to the other school and rushed off. At this point I will as still angry as she literally didn't even acknowledge what she had done so approached her as she got out of the car and asked her why she was not paying attention and not even apologising for the fact she nearly hit the kids she proceeded to almost run off and I said your behaviour was disgusting and she should be ashamed of herself. Now admittedly I was angry but I was not aggressive but aibu to have called her out?

She should have stopped and shouldn't have been kicking off.
But you should make sure care are stopped before entering the crossing.

She is completely in the wrong so YANBU to be cross. Its good practice to teach the children not to cross until a car has actually stopped from both sides. If the road is quiet then obviously you can cross but not before triple checking. My next door neighbour was severely injured crossing when a car didn't stop.

You're both in the wrong. Technically she didn't do anything wrong - nobody was hurt, she stopped for the people crossing. She should have been paying more attention but shouting at people rarely makes them reconsider their behaviour, it just makes them think that they were dealing with someone slightly unhinged.

I think you need to ensure that your children don't cross until they are certain that the cars are going to stop.

Of course it’s her fault and she should have apologised. But never just trust that a car will stop at a zebra crossing, I teach my kids to make it clear they intend to cross then wait for the cars to stop for them.

@EverdeRose

She should have stopped and shouldn't have been kicking off. But you should make sure care are stopped before entering the crossing.

This is wrong, legally a car doesn't have to stop until you have a foot on the crossing!

She should have been paying more attention, however legally a car does not have to stop unless you have at least one foot on the crossing!

Yes but nobody is going to put their foot on the crossing if they don't think a car will stop.

Anyway, "legally" you don't get to run people down whether they are on a crossing or not, so if someone is waiting to cross, you stop.

@pabloescobarselasticband it doesn’t matter what the legal position, you still take steps to ensure you don’t get mown down!

The OP said they were already on the crossing though?

Contact the council and request a lollipop person on the crossing at school times. We have 3 around our school as traffic would never move otherwise.

@Talipesmum

The OP said they were already on the crossing though?

But the car was only a few metres away. Why would people say to kids that they can cross when they don’t know if a car that is so close is going to stop? You don’t just step out into a road, even if it is onto a crossing.

she was unreasonable to drive without paying attention to pedestrians.

you were very unreasonable to shout at her.

Your dc had feet on the crossing therefore the car must legally stop. She was in the wrong and you were right o confront her.
However, I never trust that a driver will actually do this so will always wait until I know they have seen me and have stopped.

@ButItRingsAndIRise "But the car was only a few metres away. Why would people say to kids that they can cross when they don’t know if a car that is so close is going to stop? You don’t just step out into a road, even if it is onto a crossing."

Any decent driver will be aware of and be able to stop when approaching a zebra crossing. They should be going slowly enough to be able to do this. They have a clear view of the crossing as zigzags enable this. They are clearly able too see approaching pedestrians and stop if they are actually paying attention to the road.

I had a really frightening moment at a zebra crossing a couple of months ago when I was pushing my 4 month old baby in his pram. Before I stepped off the pavement I thoroughly looked left and right. There were no cars coming from my right, and nothing on the left (although about 150 yards away there is a bend in the road). I started to cross, then realised a car had come around the corner very fast and wasn't reducing it's speed. I hurried up, and in my panic bumped the pram wheels on the little kerb so was stuck on the road. I shouted STOOOOP and put my hands up. The car didn't slow down, and had to swerve past me. Had there been a car coming the other way there would have most definitely been a crash. I was totally shaken up. It's made me feel quite nervous now when I'm out with my baby.

@pabloescobarselasticband

Whose teaching their children to just go straight into the crossing. You'd teach them to wait for q big enough gap to safely cross or cars to stop.

Im not stating that she wasn't wrong, merely stating the law!

Even as an adult I would not cross a cross walk unless I was sure the cars either side had registered my presence and were looking to be stopping.
People are supposed to be doing a lot of things - but the reality is that drivers can't see small children as well as adults. Of course she was in the wrong but since you are supposed to be making sure they get across the road safely this would have been of little comfort if they had of been hit. I am glad they are ok.

She should have stopped but I’m an adult and unless the road is clear I wouldn’t step onto a zebra I would wait until the moving cars had stopped . I also wouldn’t have tackled her about it either and the fact that you point out you were not aggressive probably means that you did come across as aggressive .

If someone is driving without care and attention they should not be driving at all on that occasion. Regardless of other people's behaviour, right or wrong.

Side walk??

YANBU for expecting her to stop.

But YABU to collar her as soon as she came out of her car.

You were in the wrong. The highway code states that you have to make sure that traffic is slowing down or stopped before you step out. The car only has to stop if you're actually on the crossing. Essentially, you stepped out in front of a fast moving car and forced her to stop abruptly.

Do you often tell your kids to step out in front of cars?

Never step into a road until cars, coming from both directions, have stopped to give way, even on zebra crossings.

I agree with @ittakes2. Whether people are supposed to be doing something or not, theres no way Id tell my kids to go ahead while any cars within a few metres of the crossing hadnt slowed and shown signs of stopping.