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.

@YourenutsmiLord

Does it also apply at junctions with traffic lights - if so I can see Princes St in Edinburgh grinding to a halt as no car can turn left due to ceaseless meandering pedestrians.

And crossing the Royal Mile will be impossible. Pedestrians already have more time than cars (quite sensibly since there are so many of them) but it’s still rare for the road to be clear when the lights turn green. Before anyone says I should be reducing congestion by not driving I will point out that I’m usually on a bus.

@IamGusFring

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

Nope.

I drove and walk.
Haven't ridden a bike in 30 years.

@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 ?

It's exactly the same as having to wait for oncoming traffic (which could be a slow vehicle or car) before turning right.

This "fucking pedestrian" pays road tax. I just prefer to keep fit and reduce my car use so don't use it often.

I really can't see how this new rule will work. Approx 10% of drivers are on their phone, they aren't going to care about the new rules. They don't care about the old ones.

I drive like this anyway. I let pedestrians cross where ever they are waiting.

Especially if it's cold or pissing down. It's just a courteous thing to do, those in the car behind me can wait the extra 20 seconds it takes.

I didn’t know about this either. Haven’t heard or seen anything about it.

It is a thing in Toronto but I still see people nearly getting run over as cars weave in and out of almost permanently crossing pedestrians.

@ErrolTheDragon it really isn't . I'm thinking of a large junction where I live and there is every chance that someone can just appear and you would need to stop for them after you have started your manoeuvre .

Honestly this is just a minor change to give priority to pedestrians who are about to cross, rather than just already on the road. And given many drivers don’t actually pay attention to the existing rule I don’t expect to see a massive change in behaviour.

I used to have to cross a busy side road to get to my DC’s preschool. We’d often end up stranded in the middle of the road with cars swinging off the main road into to side road at speed oblivious to the three year old in front of them. I’d say at best 1 in 10 cars followed the existing rule and allowed us to finish crossing before making the turn.

@Tilltheend99

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.

Alas, pedestrians and cyclists also suffer from the “madness of acting as if no other person on the planet existed or had a right to life.” All road users should consider each other, and cyclists and pedestrians are vulnerable, so drivers should always be very alert to the potential dangers of driving their car near them. However, there are occasions on narrow country roads when a huge long line of cars gradually builds up behind a slow moving vehicle. Whether that vehicle is a lorry, tractor or cyclist, good manners and common sense would dictate that at some point, the slower vehicle should pull over into a layby to let the faster vehicles get past, rather than letting road rage and congestion build up behind them until road rage causes a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre. It is actually possible to be a dangerous driver for driving too slowly - and you can fail your driving test for doing this. Being forced to go at 20 mph behind a cyclist on a 60mph country road for mile after mile is dangerous.

I can just see the awkward dance, the car stops, the pedestrian waits, the car moves the pedestrian moves and the dance continues.

It works in lots of European countries so I think we can manage it

Thank you for this, I hadn't even heard of it.

@bordermidgebite

It works in lots of European countries so I think we can manage it

Do we know how well it works? We have lower accident rates in the UK than other European countries.

a driver will have to give priority to a cyclists and a pedestrian, if a cyclists is on a shared path - or on the road a driver will have to give priority to them going straight ahead if the driver is turning.

@Boulshired

I can just see the awkward dance, the car stops, the pedestrian waits, the car moves the pedestrian moves and the dance continues.

As a pedestrian I’m perfectly well able to judge the difference between a car that is stopping to let me cross and one that isn’t. It’s not that hard, we all do it at zebra crossings and junctions already.

It's really not that big a deal, I'm sure we can all share the road space nicely and safely

As others have already said, this isn't a big deal. It's just hardening up a rule and explicitly stating something that any considerate driver already does - if a pedestrian - you know, actual real people who can be hurt by 1.5 tonnes of metal hitting them - is crossing a road or looks like they are about to cross a road then people in cars should give way to them.

It says a lot about the mentality of some people that they find this objectionable.

JabNotInArm
It's part of a shift towards prioritising pedestrians and cyclists (and public transport) more generally. It's better for the environment, for our health, to encourage those modes of transport

Hardly great for people’s health if they are flattened by a jack knifing HGV because the cab part stopped but there wasn’t enough distance, even at slow speeds, to stop the container part from having no where to go apart from swinging around the cab.

Or they are in a car that stopped but then the next car doesn’t

Not a conspiracy theorist but didn’t we reduce the population enough with Covid so they have come up with a new rule that is going to wipe a few more people out.
It is laughable what some “experts” come up with.

As for cycling 2 abreast on a dark unlit single track bendy country road which has a National speed limit of 60mph.

What do they think is going to happen?

It is no good being in the right if you are lying injured or dying in the middle of a road

Drive carefully and slowly when

in crowded shopping streets, Home Zones and Quiet Lanes (see Rule 218) or residential areas
driving past bus and tram stops; pedestrians may emerge suddenly into the road
passing parked vehicles, especially ice cream vans; children are more interested in ice cream than traffic and may run into the road unexpectedly
needing to cross a pavement or cycle track; for example, to reach or leave a driveway. Give way to pedestrians and cyclists on the pavement
reversing into a side road; look all around the vehicle and give way to any pedestrians who may be crossing the road
turning at road junctions; give way to pedestrians who are already crossing the road into which you are turning
the pavement is closed due to street repairs and pedestrians are directed to use the road
approaching pedestrians on narrow rural roads without a footway or footpath. Always slow down and be prepared to stop if necessary, giving them plenty of room as you drive past.

these rules above are already part of the Highway Code - but often ignored by drivers in uk

can't see many motorists taking any attention of new rules

Kenny cat, are brake lights not there to warn the car behind ?

@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?

Firstly, not everywhere has a plethora of zebra and pelican crossings for pedestrians to cross. Secondly, with driving comes a huge responsibility to keep others safe. Why are you seemingly against this!? As a pedestrian, I will continue to do my upmost to cross the road safely. This does not involve walking blindly in front of cars while crossing at a junction. I doubt many pedestrians would take that risk!

It is no good being in the right if you are lying injured or dying in the middle of a road

unfortunately this is the attitude of many motorists as well, no good being right if your dead - then they walk for court as its deemed an accident rather than a negligent crash on the part of the driver not driving to the conditions of the road and thinking about other road users.

This reminds me of the hyperbolic objections when speed cameras first came in. Claims that people would knock pedestrians over because they would be looking at the speedometer all the time. Or that they would be forced to slow down when the speed limit changes leading to cars and lorries going into the back of them.

If you really cant manage this very minor change to the Highway Code, then you shouldn't be driving.

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.

My experience of being a pedestrian in other major European cities is that all other traffic tries to mow you down at all times, including when you are crossing at an assigned crossing with the green human symbol showing.

I'll still be assuming nothing.

Too many idiots on the road and I certainly don't see the riders of e-bikes (on trial here in Bristol) taking a blind bit of notice. They certainly don't obey any of the other regulations