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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have just shouted at two drivers who went over the zebra crossing when my deaf son and i were waiting?

43 replies

lottiejenkins · 23/02/2008 17:18

Have just lost it totally with two car drivers, my ds(profoundly deaf) and I have just been to get him some new shoes, we came out of the shop and were standing on the edge of the crossing(obviously wanting to cross) not one but two cars went sailing over the crossing!!!!!!!!!1 I did shout (didnt swear) at them something along the lines of "You are supposed to stop you idiots" and shook my fist at them! Really made me mad as Im very strict with my ds about crossing the road because of his deafness. I really hope they saw me shaking my fist at them silly b....ers!!!

OP posts:
2shoes · 23/02/2008 17:23

yanbu
they were dickheads

tortoise · 23/02/2008 17:30

I hate this too but they only have to stop if you are on the crossing. Just one foot will do and they have to stop!

Scotia · 23/02/2008 17:33

Yes tortoise is right. I always stop if I see someone is waiting to cross, but they don't have to unless you are actually on the crossing. Seems stupid to me when you are trying to teach your children to cross roads safely. I wouldn't trust all drivers to stop even if I was on the crossing, so always wait until there is no traffic coming anyway.

Weegle · 23/02/2008 17:37

Is that right? I thought in the UK you had to stop if someone was waiting AT the crossing - at least that is what I was taught whilst learning to drive. I know on the continent they only have to stop when you are ON the crossing.

YANBU

elkiedee · 23/02/2008 17:37

Totally justified. And you even managed not to swear at them! I understand that it's even worse because you're having to try and teach him rules about crossing the road safely and they're breaking the rules. At least on zebras you can cross when the selfish drivers are out of the way though. I get even more angry on pelican crossings, like when we've had to wait ages for our turn to cross and several cars go through when the lights are red and the green man is on. On some crossings that means pedestrians don't have time left to cross safely.

alfiesbabe · 23/02/2008 17:40

Yeah, technically you have to be on the crossing, so put just one foot on, and then if they ignore you and drive over, take their number and report them. And shake your fist too.

needmorecoffee · 23/02/2008 17:42

happens here all the time, even if you're halfway across, some tit will swerve round you. I'm petrified we're gonna get killed one day.

Weegle · 23/02/2008 17:46

ok I stand corrected - have just looked up the Highway Code - drivers only HAVE to stop if someone is on the crossing otherwise you just have to "look out for pedestrians waiting to cross and be ready to slow down or stop to let them cross" which is kind of saying you don't have to stop if you don't want to. I really didn't know that!

kayzisbroody · 23/02/2008 17:49

YANBU!!

You dont have to be on the crossing just waiting. This is what I did in my driving lesson this week.

I would have sworn at them.

Original poster
lottiejenkins · 23/02/2008 18:21

I didnt swear because a) my ds is a champion lipreader and b) i felt it would make me as bad as the nincompoop drivers!!!

OP posts:
crokky · 23/02/2008 18:23

YANBU they should have waited for you. But I would be too afraid to shout at random strangers - you never know who you might be shouting at and what they might do to you!

bellavita · 23/02/2008 18:28

I don't blame you for shouting. This happened to us when in Manchester, it was tea time and myself and two friends were waiting to cross the road but there was a lot of traffic albeit not going very fast.

We stepped out on to the zebra and a car decided he was going to carry on driving over it - thing is he did not see us because he was on his mobile phone.

My friend completely lost it and banged on his window, he wound it down and told us to f* of. God she went mad at him. Do you know - she got a huge round of applause from all the other people watching.

Califrau · 23/02/2008 18:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Milliways · 23/02/2008 18:33

YANBU.

I flashed at another driver this week when I had stopped at Zebra crossing, 2 little girls were crossing (half-term so you expect kids out) and an old lady came from other direction and almost ran them over. Luckily they were looking and stopped mid-way.

hairycaterpillar · 23/02/2008 18:56

YANBU also happens at the zebra crossing up from us all the time and makes me really .

edam · 23/02/2008 19:12

YANBU but having lived in London for the best part of 20 years, I am still not used to drivers actually stopping and waiting. Especially the ones round here who stop when you are yards away from the crossing and wait for you to reach it. Lovely but bizarre.

ScruffyTeddy · 23/02/2008 19:25

hmmmm...not sure.

It irritates the hell out of me as a pedestrian (I cant drive) that people will cruise over the crossing, but they do..I kind of accept it now. I always wait until both lines of traffic have stopped because you never know.

A few months ago a couple of teenage girls laughed at ds and I for waiting at a crossing even though the traffic had stopped one way and called us "a bunch of c*s". This was before they nearly got squashed by a motorcycle.

fwiw my mum is a really nervous driver and once failed to stop at a zebra (not a traffic light crossing, just a zebra) because the girls had only just walked up to it and she wouldn't have been able to stop in time. One of the girls then swore at her and tried to bang the car. These days my mum slams the anchors on bloody miles away from the crossing which is prob more dangerous with my kids in the car, I think the incident really shook her up.

missorinoco · 23/02/2008 19:27

yanbu.
still impressed you didn't swear though.

sdr · 23/02/2008 21:01

YANBU. Had similar experience recently with an elderly cyclist. Yelled at him, he turned round, rode back and told my DC's I was a bad mother for shouting at him. Started dialling the Police and he quickly rode off. A lady not far behind came up and said she couldn't believe how rude he was considering he was in the wrong. Left me shaking as he frightened DC's and me.

moljam · 23/02/2008 21:06

yanbu. i always wave at people when they do this to me-they double take to see if the know me

Disenchanted · 23/02/2008 21:07

My great grandma was ran over at a crossing and died

winestein · 23/02/2008 21:14

Just so you know for next time, my interpretation of the law regarding zebra crossings is that drivers only have to stop if you are on the crossing when they are outside of the zig zag area. This means you, as a pedestrian, have to establish priority first.

Most drivers give way out of courtesy but you need to stick your foot on the crossing and then shout at the first driver who drives over the crossing but was outside of the zigzags when you did so.

So, you might be being unreasonable

ScruffyTeddy · 23/02/2008 21:14

as crap as it may be, better to wait until the traffic has stopped because some people are bloody ignorant. Yes, you may look like an idiot but its a chance im willing to take for our safety.

Then I can happily rant to myself all the way home....

moljam · 23/02/2008 21:14

thats horrible.did any one get arrested for it?

CantSleepWontSleep · 23/02/2008 21:16

YABU, as already described, because they are not obliged to stop.