To think a driver (or cyclist) having to give way to a pedestrian waiting to cross is a crazy new rule?

[flashbac]

To clarify, if a pedestrian is waiting to cross on a road a driver is turning into, new rules from January state the driver has to let them cross.
Also applies to cyclists as pedestrians have priority.
All very well and good until you consider how chaotic this could be at junctions. Fine on unbusy roads.
I'm thinking:
What if you are turning into a 30 mph road from a 40?
What if you are turning right at a busy junction?

It sounds crazy to me.
And before anyone jumps at me and says they do it in Europe and its fine. I'd like to know how congested and busy the roads in these countries are and what the public transport is like.

@IamGusFring

So you could be turning into a road on the right hand side , have to stop and then you are in the path of the oncoming traffic on the first road as well as possibly being rear ended ?

Why would you cross a lane before.your destination isn't clear? That's idiotic.

@MaryAndHerNet

A cyclist ‘in the middle of the lane’ would probably mean it will be impossible to ever overtake them. The road won’t be wide enough iyswim.

Then you wait...
Allow 20 minutes more time for your journey.

I'm glad I solved that issue for you.

Sorry but your post made swear.

I’m not going down the many threads we’ve had about the poor cyclists and cars that just need to wait. They’ve been done at length and tbh it’s getting more than boring.

The issue here is that it is POSSIBLE to over take wo putting anyone at risk by doing what we’ve done for years and years.
But on a road what is small and with no marking, it is very likely that the cyclist will not be in the middle of their lane but in the middle of the road. Because it’s hard to see where it is.
There is no need to make things harder for everyone just to prove a point.
It would be selfish, inconsiderate and tbh stupid because it will put you in a dangerous situation (if the car behind can’t overtake, what will happen when a car arrives the opposite direction??)

@Hellolittlestar

I’d not heard of this new rule. In Europe you slow down as you are about to tiem turn and cars behind a turning vehicle take this into consideration that the car might stop. It makes walking much more pleasant as a pedestrian. People usually don’t jump in front of the cars, anyone with a bit of common sense waits to see that the car will stop.

I don't know which bit of Europe you are thinking of but we've been almost run over halfway across zebra crossings in France, Belgium and Holland because cars don't actually have to stop for you, and choose not to (TBF the Dutch incident was 2 pushbikes & we had a pushchair so couldn't jump out of their way).

Will make it interesting here. I walk to work and regularly end up in a slanging match with young drivers who don't understand that if you are actively walking in front of their stationary car they have to wait and not drive at you, even if the queue in front of them moves. (student area)

I don't drive down Oxford Street @Mofomo but lots of delivery vehicles, taxis and buses do - how will they ever make a legal turn when someone is always walking towards or in to a side road?

@MaryAndHerNet it's not idiotic - a pedestrian may appear after you have started your manoeuvre .

If they arrived at the road before you they are probably already crossing rather than waiting to cross. It was alway common sense/politeness to slow down and let someone cross who was already in the road before you turned into it but as so few people seem to have either sense or politeness anymore they have clearly had to make a basic etiquette law in order to stop the madness of drivers acting as if no other person on the planet existed or had a right to life.

In case that wasn’t clear enough, UABVU.

Does seem madness.and I didn’t know about this.

It would be selfish, inconsiderate and tbh stupid because it will put you in a dangerous situation (if the car behind can’t overtake, what will happen when a car arrives the opposite direction??)

Why would you overtake on such a small road, what if a car comes the opposite way as you're over taking? That would be putting everyone at far greater risk.
If youre a bad, impatient driver, you'll overtake when you shouldn't. Of you're a good driver you'll wait until the risk is minimised as much as is practically possibly. If a road is so small and single lane, you shouldn't be overtaking a cyclist anyway... Not if you're giving them the correct amount of space, which is 1.5mtrs below 30mph, 2mtrs above 30mph.
On a single track road.. you should wait.

[quote IamGusFring]@MaryAndHerNet it's not idiotic - a pedestrian may appear after you have started your manoeuvre .[/quote]
Where from? Transported from Jupiter?

Or did you just fail to see them?

Not the same thing..

I'm ashamed to say that as a driver, I did not know this. I agree with you OP. I think this is bizarre. Of course if someone is already crossing I will slow down and not take them out.

I'm also a pedestrian, and I won't be just walking into the road with this new rule, because I'm aware a car is going to win in this particular interaction.

I live in a side road off of a busy town. The turning is directly after a pedestrian crossing. Numerous times cars have nearly run up our backsides (and on one occasion did smash into the back of me) because we have slowed to turn in and had to stop for pedestrians crossing or another car coming out of the turning. This new rule will guarantee that happening constantly. The other thing they do is overtake you when you have to come to a stop so they are then heading into oncoming traffic whilst blaring their horn at you. It's going to be fun!

Aaah @MaryAndHerNet is a cyclist - hence the grumpiness 😂😂

I didn't know this. There is a plethora of zebra crossings and pelican crossings around most towns. Can the pedestrians not just use them.? More responsibilities heaped onto drivers expected just to stop dead if they see someone waiting at the kerb?

@MaryAndHerNet

It's a good change.

The mentality of drivers who think they rule the road needs to change.

It really is very very simple.
You want to turn left into a road..
Is there a pedestrian waiting? - stop.
Is there a pedestrian near or walking toward the road you wish to turn into? - stop.
Does it look as of a pedestrian may get to the road before you? - stop.

Thats it.
If someone collides I to you because you stopped. That's their fault, they should be paying attention. If things get congested as you wait for pedestrians, big fucking deal, you'll get to your destination a couple minutes later. If you miss an appointment, you should have given yourself more journey time instead of relying on being able to drive Google speed.
The only downsides to this change are imaginary ones people will invent to justify their bad driving.

It's all very well saying if someone collides into you it's their fault but it's you that suffers having to get the damage to the back of your car repaired. It's stressful dealing with the insurance and then the hassle of being without the car whist it's fixed. This happening numerous times, which it will on a lot of busy roads, will be a nightmare.

Both pedestrians and cyclists should always have the top priority as they are the ones ensuring fewer children are born with brain defects due to pollution

There is a consultation where I am due to the changes, one mile of a busy dual carriageway with two large secondary schools and one primary school all on the same side. They already stagger start and finish times. They are looking at another 5 sets of lights to add to the current 3.

You should try and live where I am - 2 buses a day to the next town Mon-Fri only. In Cambridgeshire.

I live on a side road between a large secondary school and a high street that's also a main road. We aleady have a chalkenging driving environment with school buses, dodgy parking by people just popping into shops and parking on double yellow lines and big delivery lorries. The teens seem to like walking several abreast, often sauntering down the actusl road
I don't mind the zebra crossing rule, i always stop if people are approaching the crossing if their body language shows intent (i have been caught out by people on phones veering suddenly though!).

@Georgeskitchen

I didn't know this. There is a plethora of zebra crossings and pelican crossings around most towns. Can the pedestrians not just use them.? More responsibilities heaped onto drivers expected just to stop dead if they see someone waiting at the kerb?

There are no crossings within a mile of my house

I'm sure a pedestrian has always had right of way if the car is not over the junction anyway.

@Kennykenkencat

I drive all over the country and see so many blind junctions (for the car or lorry driver) that I can only conclude that who ever thought of this rule either doesn’t drive, doesn’t have or never driven an HGV Or lives in one place and only knows that one place and their commute to work.

I am not going to be stepping out in any junction till it is clear of vehicles. Utterly ridiculous rule

No-one is saying that as a pedestrian you have to just step out and hope for the best. You can (should) still wait until the road is clear or you can see that the vehicle in front of you is giving you priority.

If you are a driver going round a blind corner you should always approach at a speed to allows you to stop safely in case of an obstruction, so this new rule shouldn’t make any difference.

I told my DP about this new rule. He already thought it was the law as he already drives like this. He has never been rear ended.

@MaryAndHerNet

It's a good change.

The mentality of drivers who think they rule the road needs to change.

It really is very very simple.
You want to turn left into a road..
Is there a pedestrian waiting? - stop.
Is there a pedestrian near or walking toward the road you wish to turn into? - stop.
Does it look as of a pedestrian may get to the road before you? - stop.

Thats it.
If someone collides I to you because you stopped. That's their fault, they should be paying attention. If things get congested as you wait for pedestrians, big fucking deal, you'll get to your destination a couple minutes later. If you miss an appointment, you should have given yourself more journey time instead of relying on being able to drive Google speed.
The only downsides to this change are imaginary ones people will invent to justify their bad driving.

This

People in cars will justify any amount of waste of taxpayers money and insist that any improvement that benefits the environment or the wider transport network has to be ripped out so that they can continue speeding, polluting, oh and chucking litter and fag butts out of their windows, in order to feel some small sense of superiority.

In Southampton, we had one year of cleaning air and quicker bus times due to new bus lanes and pedestrian zones but a handful over overly vocal drivers were so aggrieved by the extra 5min journey times that they voted in a conservative council and had all the million pound innovations ripped out. That’s even though we live in a city with illegal levels of particles in the air that is taking years off of everyone’s life expectancy and affecting children’s lung development.

Imagine if they just left for their journey 5mins earlier.

And so many excuses for bad driving on this thread.

To be honest, I thought it was the rule already but nobody observed it. I don’t think it will make any difference to pedestrian behaviour. Some pedestrians believe drivers will stop, some don’t and behave accordingly. It may make drivers slightly more cautious, which is a good thing.