Pedestrian vs car

[Whatthefluffing]

Car is stationary waiting for traffic to move. Pedestrian walks in front of car, car moves forward, the pedestrian has to bang on the bonnet of the car to get the car to stop, at this point the car has hit (but not dramatically) the pedestrian, the car bonnet is now against pedestrians leg. Car drives off, no word from the driver. Who was in the wrong?

I wonder as well if the pedestrian was in a blind spot from the cars 'A' pillar, if they were that close they could hit the bonnet, then they probably did 'appear from nowhere'.

100% car driver. From your example, the car was stationary while the pedestrian started to cross, so the potentially psychopathic car driver should have remained stationary instead of starting to drive toward the pedestrian!

As do I. I was asking in reference to the code posted saying you should not cross in front of or behind any car with it's engine running.

Yup.
But driver more in the wrong as they're the one in control of a potentially lethal machine.

I've had to bang on previously stationary cars twice when there was no chance of making eye contact or being able to tell the car was about to move.

Once in a car park on a pedestrian crossing with my then small DD when a parked car suddenly reversed out and turned backwards onto it. The driver can't have been looking where she was going at all.

Another time when in had to go into the road, together with my dog, to walk round a car parked on the pavement completely blocking it. Driver was chatting to someone in a garden through his passenger window. He very abruptly started to pull out without looking round at all...looked very sheepish and apologetic when he realised what he'd done.

The pedestrian may or may not have been daft, but the driver was at fault. I suspect he was pissed off that the pedestrian had dared to walk in front of the car, and decided to show them.

Car driver was absolutely in the wrong. When stationary in a queue of traffic they should have been watching out for pedestrians on either side who may be attempting to cross. There is no excuse for hitting a pedestrian in this situation.

A car driving along at 50 in a 60 zone and a pedestrian steps out, there's only so much you can do. But when crawling or stationary in traffic you have plenty of time to assess so only a shit driver or a dickhead hits a pedestrian.

Hard to say but I think car drivers should be really careful around pedestrians and motor bikes and cyclists because of how much damage they can do. If the driver didn't see the pedestrian that shouldn't be driving.

ETA: everything else aside they should have made sure the pedestrian was fine. I think this could possibly constitute leaving the scene of an accident and might be against the law then.

I'd say both have some fault because of the way you've described it.

Pedestrian - should have looked ahead to see traffic was not starting to move off. You said 'walked in front of the car'. So did they do a silly thing and step into traffic expecting it to stop for them? I've seen pedestrians do silly things.

Car - should not have driven off without checking pedestrian was okay after they made contact with them. Even if the car was in the right to move, they should have let the pedestrian go if they were on the move. You've got to keep an eye out for what is going on around you and act accordingly. In similar circumstances I'd have let them go or waved them across.

Comments here made without having been there to know the exact set up and situation though. That might change my view.

Sadly around here pedestrians seem to ran to across the road when the cars haven't stopped. There is several crossings but not used.

Car driver be at fault but pedestrian has a responsibility to cross somewhere safe.

Car driver always in the wrong, you have the lethal weapon.

And a pedestrian would have to be spectacularly dim to cross on front of that lethal weapon with it's engine running, so close they could bang on the bonnet.

A pedestrian will always come off worse in car v person, don't put yourself in unnecessary danger.

Both

If a car strikes a pedestrian its the car drivers' fault. This nonsense about whether or not it is a crossing is irrelevant. The pedestrian put themselves at risk but the car driver wasn't looking at the road.

I often have to cross a busy road that doesn’t glhave a pedestrian crossing and I find it’s generally safer to wait until the traffic is stopped and cross between stationary cars than it is to try to find a gap in the traffic. I do however always try to make eye contact with the driver before walking in front of their vehicle.

The car driver is definitely at fault here, there’s no excuse for driving into a pedestrian directly in front of them.

Not a crossing but like a junction into a car park.

So was the pedestrian crossing the junction?

Because if so then the car driver was 100% at fault.

The new rule brought in in 2022 state's

"At a junction you should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning"

Well, that would pretty much mean I could never cross the road! Car drivers should be allowing pedestrians to cross at junctions and may turn their engine off if they wish. Pedestrians should be able to navigate their town without having to 'find a safe place to cross' which seems pretty much impossible if you can't cross anywhere near a vehicle! Maybe if car drivers followed the dictate to not move off unless it is safe to do so, pedestrians could travel around the streets safely!

In this picture, cars coming out of or turning into the junction must give priority to these pedestrians

In your scenario, was this effectively the car park entrance?

Exactly.

the car bonnet is now against pedestrians leg. Car drives off, no word from the driver.

How did the car drive off with a pedestrians leg against it?

This has happened to me a couple of times. Obviously the car isn't at speed but has begun to move forwards as I was crossing. One time I had a pram. I had to bang on the bonnet to wake the driver up enough to see someone was crossing! Those type of people shouldn't be allowed to drive.

Well yes, I've often crossed behind and therefore in front of another car. A couple of times the second car has tried to move forwards while I was crossing!

It's not but you still get drivers trying to drive into you!

The driver was in the wrong - you can't just drive into people who happen to get in your way. I often cross between stationary cars on roads. How else are pedestrians supposed to cross roads where traffic is queued? Levitate?!

The car wasn't in the right to move as you can only move off if safe to do so and it's clearly not safe if a pedestrian is crossing in front of you!

Yes, that's true, but have you never seen a pedestrian suddenly move to cross the road without even looking up to see what is happening with the traffic? I've seen some do such silly and unpredictable things that my first thought is that, one day, someone will hit them without it being their fault.