Honestly, do you wait for pedestrians to cross all the way?

[AmeliaEarhart]

If a pedestrian is on a crossing, going from left to right, do you wait until they step on to the opposite pavement before moving?
This morning I was cycling to work on a busy road outside a school. As I approached the crossing I saw a woman and child approach the kerb so I slowed down and waited until they had passed in front of me, then proceeded. There was no one else waiting to cross and no one else on the crossing. Further along a man on a moped pulled alongside me, lifted his visor and started ranting at me for not stopping at the crossing. I told him I’d let the pedestrians cross safely, and he told me I was supposed to stop, called me a cunt and said he hoped someone knocked me off my bike and then drove off.

Obviously his approach was dickish (especially as he’d close-passed me earlier in the journey) but was he right? I’m super-cautious (by central London cyclist standards anyway) and always stop at red lights and will come to complete stop at pedestrian crossings if necessary. But - tell me honestly - should I have waited until the pedestrians had crossed all the way before moving? It seemed weird that the man picked me to have a go at on a busy road with so much else going on (plenty of other cyclists skipping lights etc)

Yes, you are supposed to stop while they are on the crossing.

You're supposed to stop and wait and you know it.

Yes . I don’t move til they are off the crossing. That’s the law right. ?

Of course I do, that's what you're supposed to do!

Depends whether it was a zebra crossing without lights, or a light controlled one. If it has lights, of course you have to wait until the lights change before moving off.

Okay, fine! I will do that in future. I guess I’ve picked up some bad habits from those cycling around me (and have had someone cycle into the back of me at a red light before) but I will make sure to stop completely from now on. Thanks.

It didn’t have lights. I do feel like a bit of a twat now (although I don’t think I deserve to be knocked off my bike) but as I say, no one else seems to bother (I notice this as pedestrian too, that often even motorists accelerate away before I’ve stepped onto the pavement) but I will hold myself to a higher standard.

If the pedestrian has walked in front of you and is well onto the other side of the road, I think it’s okay to start moving again.

If I was driving I would wait, but a cycle moving off from stationary isn’t really going very fast.

If you start waiting you’ll probably get abuse from the cars waiting behind you!

I would say the moped rider was more a danger on the road to be honest as he seems a bit road ragey for little reason.

It's not like you were revving in a BMW.

In that case (not a light controlled crossing) I don't think you did anything wrong, OP, as long as you gave the pedestrian good clearance before you set off.
Don't beat yourself up over this.

The trouble with your approach is its down to personal interpretation as to how long you leave it. If they are 'just' past you do you whizz past them and put them in danger? Does the next person cut it a little bit closer etc etc. Eventually it becomes dangerous to cross the road near a cyclist.

Safest way is to let them cross the road in peace at the cost of about 3 seconds more to you.

You need to wait until they are across. There’s obviously a danger of something unexpected happening, you lose balance on your bike, the child runs backwards because they dropped something etc, that could cause an accident. That risk makes it intimidating as a pedestrian having a bike or car whizz past when you’re still on the road.
obviously the guy worded it horribly though, which is not ok.

Give the pedestrians plenty of space and there's no problem here. I would be tempted to report the moped rider to the police if you got the reg though - his remark is very close to a threat.

Highway code has a few relevant points such as:

Rule 194: Allow pedestrians plenty of time to cross and do not harass them by revving your engine or edging forward.

And

• you MUST give way when a pedestrian has moved onto a crossing

Nothing about waiting for them to reach the other kerb afterwards though.

Where are people getting the claims about it being compulsory to stop while the pedestrian is still on the crossing from?

Nah when they 3/4 of the way over I just go.

If it’s light controlled, I wait. If it’s zebra, I would continue on once they’re well out the way but not necessarily on the other side. I see cars do this all the time!! And that’s a far higher risk. Don’t worry, that guy was an idiot, and unfortunately just part of the insane ‘anti bike pro car’ rhetoric in this country.

Yeah, with time to reflect I think the moped driver was a bit unhinged. He was driving quite erratically himself, and he didn’t have anything to say to 5 or so blokes in Lycra on racing bikes who skipped the lights just the crossing 🤔
I really didn’t pose any danger to pedestrians but will stop fully in future until they are well clear.

It is scary for me because I’m partially sighted so not so easy to judge how close behind me you are so speed up to get to the pavement. I could be worse though.

I do because I thought that was the law, but just googled it and can't see that it actually is!

When I learnt to drive my instructor told me you’re supposed to wait until they get to the other side. I always do in my car, but on my bike I tend to wait until they’re half way across. Unless it’s a red light in which case I completely stop.

I think if it’s one or two able bodied adults you’re probably ok to do this, but with anyone with mobility difficulties and especially with any children you’re taking a big risk IMO. Mostly because you don’t know if they might be able to stop or slow, or if there’s a kid they might try to dash back and pick up something they’ve dropped (or more likely try to do this and be tugged back but essentially bring the adult to a halt). I’m currently pregnant and hate when people cycle past me when I’m still crossing as I’m very slow and achey and it makes me feel like I should be running across the crossing.

You wait until they are across. There's always the chance that the pedestrian could suddenly remember something halfway across the crossing and turn back unexpectedly.

However, given that the majority of cyclists I seem to encounter don't stop at red lights or for pedestrians on a zebra crossing, I suppose it's good that you stopped at all.

Nope, I wait until they are a reasonable way across them set off. No harm done, no risk.
Moped rider just doesn't like cyclists.