Were we wrong to cross the road in this way?

[UndertheCedartree]

I was taking my DD to school this morning. There is a junction where we need to cross over the road in front then cross over the road to the left. Lots of families including us cross diagonally as it is quicker than crossing both separately.

We were late this morning so there were no other families around. We were crossing the junction and a few seconds before we got onto the pavement a car sounds it's horn loudly at us (scaring poor DD) then came round the corner and started shouting and pointing at us. I just ignored the driver as they were clearly very angry so no point in trying to have a civil conversation.

I always thought if a pedestrian was crossing a road then a car needs to give way to them. Or are we wrong to cross diagonally?

And a car beeping its horn is to warn of a hazard, You are your dd were the hazard!

*and

You say you can get across "or very almost across", which measns there must be times when you can't cross before the lights change and traffic starts moving again. Clearly you're in the wrong here, particularly if you're not coming from an obvious crossing and the driver may not have seen you as you're appear in an unexpected location.

If it’s green for all crossings then why did she beep at you? Were you late crossing too?

You had the right of way as a pedestrian but crossing like you did was unsafe.

Driving it annoys me when I see this at a local junction, your doubling the amount ofcriaka your taking.

You had the right of way as a pedestrian

They have right of way insofar as a car shouldn't run them over. But it's clear that they're not allowed to cross diagonally.

What does the writing on the left say and where is the offending car?

It look unsafe to me to be in the middle of a junction like that and I would feel very vulnerable. A car driver will be used to seeing people crossing at the lights and will have that pattern in mind more than one of expecting to see people in the middle of the junction so that adds an element of risk. We all rely to an extent on assumptions and predictions of how people will behave and don't always remember to expect the unexpected.

No, in that context it is being used as a rebuke to the OP and her DD. Nothing to do with warning anyone else about a hazard.

OP as we weren't there, we can't really say anything. A driver should be careful - the moral and legal responsibility lie with them. But as others have said, that's not much help if you are splatted.

You are irresponsible, what a terrible way to teach a child to cross the road. He probably was so irate as you scared him to death.

Ah, I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I was like you always waited for the green Man when mine were little. I've talked to them about how DC can't judge the distances of cars. They know how to safely cross if they are alone. When we cross diagonally we don't have to rush we just walk normally. We normally get all the way across before the lights change but today we didn't quite make it. Surely the car should wait the couple of seconds for us to finish crossing. But I take your point drivers don't always do the right thing.

Ah, I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I was like you always waited for the green Man when mine were little. I've talked to them about how DC can't judge the distances of cars. They know how to safely cross if they are alone. When we cross diagonally we don't have to rush we just walk normally. We normally get all the way across before the lights change but today we didn't quite make it. Surely the car should wait the couple of seconds for us to finish crossing. But I take your point drivers don't always do the right thing.

And neither do pedestrians!

I'd be surprised at a driver not expecting people to cross diagonally as people do it all the time. The driver can see clearly people crossing. Yes, as I thought they should give way to pedestrians on the crossing.

@LetitiaLeghorn

Precisely my point. The new rules system thst a pedestrian anywhere has right of way over a car.

But it's a foolish way to cross and dangerous

You assume the driver is local and knows the junction well enough to expect people to be using the crossing incorrectly. That's a dangerous assumption to make. Nearly across isnt safely across. Get up earlier and be more careful, you were at fault here.

@UndertheCedartree would you be happy for your DD to do this alone? To save time?

Scaring your dd??? She is 10. Shell get over it. And you were in the wrong. and then you ignored the woman honking at you. Jezus rude. You could have just waved and apologised.

Stop teaching your dd to cross roads unsafely.

Yes, as I thought they should give way to pedestrians on the crossing

But you were on neither of the 4 crossings!

I'd be surprised at a driver not expecting people to cross diagonally as people do it all the time.

It's not up to the driver to guess what you're going to do. Even less so if they're not from the area and aren't expecting it.

People cross it and similar junctions like that all the time. At school time quite a few families cross together so you can't miss it. But I take your point about treating drivers/pedestrians as idiots!

Yes, you were wrong to cross diagonally.
Don't copy other people and teach your kid to cross properly too.
The other driver should have been more civilised though.

As I've said she is 10 so fully taught about road safety already.

@UndertheCedartree again would you be happy if your daughter did this alone?

You weren't on a crossing so nobody needed to give way to you, however I'm confused as to where the car was driving if all the lights showed green men.

When we cross diagonally we don't have to rush we just walk normally.

So this wasn't a one off, you regularly break the highway code? It sounds like it's all just a big free for all which is not how you're supposed to cross the road.

There used to be one like that here until they pedestrianised the area. This has one phase when both crossings have the green man. We cross in a way that most of the time we are on the direct crossing. When the car sounded their horn we were on the direct crossing, they were just annoyed that we were still crossing as the lights changed.