To feel sad at how much worse life is for pedestrians than it was ten years ago

[Fragmentedbrain]

Cars (especially Ubers for some reason?!) no longer reliably stop

Consequences for drivers who hit a pedestrian are minor - you won't necessarily go to jail "the first time" you kill someone and you'll have your licence back within a decade (why not banned for life???)

Roadworks used to prioritise keeping a pedestrian walkway but now it's common for one side of the pavement just to be abruptly cut off, forcing a walk across the road through traffic

And don't even get me started on bicycles on the pavement, "shared spaces" (ie spaces for bullies to race at speed on their bikes while those on foot are expected to scatter). I was actually planning a holiday to Japan until a colleague told me how unsafe the pavements have become in the last few years because of this.

It's the world over as far as I can see (although if you live in an exception could you let me know so I can visit please??) and it just feels like a big part of the dehumanisation of public life and spaces :(

Half the reason it is 'worse' is that 2/3 the pedestrians are on their phone and NOT watching where they are going. If you go for a walk, and keep your eyes and ears open then you'll see a lot of hazards before they get to you.
(and same for the 1/3 car drivers distracted by screens - I was counting them on the M25 last night)

Agreed. It's such a regular occurrence for cars to unexpectedly swing off the main road into a side street when someone is crossing. No indicator just a blaring horn because they are annoyed at having to slow down. It would be helpful to have stripes painted at junctions.

Why are you so stressed about not hitting them? Just use your eyes and don't drive into them. 🤷🏼‍♀️

No, it's definitely not. Pedestrians will not cause brain damage or broken bones if they collide with anyone else. Many pedestrians are blind or deaf or unable to move quickly.

Absolutely shocking. Stopping at red lights seems to have become optional. Many times I see 3 cars go through on full red. I haven't witnessed an accident yet, unbelievably.
I refuse to drive on motorways now, it's pot luck whether you actually get out alive these days

Because there are loads where i am, often with their babies on the bike, and i'm driving a heavy metal vehicle 🤷‍♀️

I'm a human who cares about others, what can I say

It's really not good enough is it? Planners really really need to be more thoughtful of all users - and make spaces that are safe for pedestrian, wheelchair, and cycle alike.

Japanese people are extremely courteous, including cyclists.

The driving in my area of London is now so bad I dread leaving the house. Cars speed through red lights on a daily basis, I've seen cars driving on pavements multiple times, a neighbour of mine was knocked in to by a car while on the pavement, I've seen cars speed up at pedestrians on zebra crossings. Not to mention food delivery drivers on ebikes speeding along the pavement when there are plenty of empty cycle lanes.

In spite of us having an aging population, I don't often see elderly people out and about much now. I think the outside world is forcing them to remain indoors.

You want to come to Wales! Many of our roads don’t even have pavements! 😬

You can get away with loads as a motorist (and I say this as someone who is both a driver and a pedestrian). If a person wanted to harm people, doing it by car will probably get them the least sentence. Or marry them and claim it's domestic so a lesser sentence.

And agree re phone screens. I always see drivers holding a phone or looking down at one in their lap in slow- moving traffic.

Definitely worth having a dashcam.

It's all the animals that are killed by motor vehicles that upset me too.

Pavements in Japan are unchanged in 10 years. They have always hated pedestrians! But speed limits are waaay slower, so it doesn’t feel as treacherous (in my experience)

I must admit I can't say I have noticed any difference as a pedestrian between now and 2015.

I know it's awful. Feel it's something that wouldn't have been allowed to happen twenty years ago then gradually the old guard retired.

I give way to pedestrians and cyclists for sure.

I am in a heavy car that could hurt them so I always try to look many times before pulling out.

Saying that, I agree with the person above about people on motorised scooters and bikes. Not all of them have a balaclava on either. And none of them wear helmets!

Don't get me started on ubereat and deliveroo bike riders and some normal cyclists who ignore red lights and go straight through them, regardless of if pedestrians are there. No one seems to give a toss about the green cross code in my city. You need eyes in the back of your head. Am aurprised there isn't more crashes, especially with the arseholes on the scooters.

And they are making my city more pedestrianised and making it less accessable to card which annoyed me at first but I can see the benefits.

Pedestrians do deserve to feel safe for sure.

Cycling on pavements is normalised now. And those deliveroo guys are a menace - most of the time they're chatting/watching shit on their phones too so they don't even see pedestrians until they're right on top of them.

This trend of "shared spaces" needs to stop - it's piss poor planning and incredibly lazy on the part of councils. And yes why, when there's actually a footpath and a cycle path, is the footpath always the longer and less convenient route, and always right next to the cars?

I disagree, cities are beginning to give more space over to both pedestrians and cyclists, paris bring just one, and more space for cyclidmsts is less space for cars, which is better for all non drivers, pedestrian or cyclist

Weve been sharing the roads with cars for decades

I would add dog poo to that list. I have just come back from spending time in a French city and the dog poo on pavement situation was so much better than here. I’m sick of having to avoid poo left by idiot owners.

Here in London I think things are slooooowly getting better for pedestrians, in particular disabled pedestrians, but it's still bad and progress is too slow.

What I like:

• More flat junctions, so you don't have to push a wheelchair up and down ramps
• Pavements becoming wider
• 20mph roads - oh this is amazing. Needs way better enforcement
• Roads being narrowed by cycle lanes
• Many more cyclists slowing down the traffic

What I don't like

• Cars jumping red lights
• Lime bike users jumping red lights
• Lime bikes all over the pavements
• Any stupid 'shared space' schemes - hasn't anyone realised that when people are moving at different speeds, they need to be separated?? And that this applies just as much to bikes and pedestrians as to cars and pedestrains (and bikes and cars)
• Lights that take forever to change
• So SO SO much space being given over to parking
• Ever more screeny distractions in cars (yes phones but also distracting car screens)

An elderly lady killed last month on a pedestrian crossing near me. Car didnt stop.

if I move an inch to the side at any moment, I’ll likely get knocked over by a lime bike.

wtaf. How is everything so crap now!

Carrying babies on bikes is not the problem, and is the norm in many places, heavy metal vehicles are the problem

Of course it's the problem 😭, cant believe my eyes when I see it