Sodding pedestrians!

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Comments

  • NorwegianBlue
    NorwegianBlue Posts: 484
    dondare wrote:
    Any way, think of it like this: a pedestrian is one less car.

    How do you know they didn't just get out of a car?

    While jaywalking itself might not be an offence, if you cause an accident you are legally responsible for it.

    To cause that accident may not be a criminal offence, but you are still responsible for the accident and liable for it's results. So if I am proceeding in/on my wheeled contrivance in a perfectly legal manner and you step/drive/cycle/fly/hop/swim(!?) into my path, then assuming that I make a reasonable effort to avoid an accident but an accident still occurs then you are liable in law. IOW I can sue for any damages incur.
    "Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker
  • JustRidecp
    JustRidecp Posts: 302
    Massimo wrote:
    Cyclists - you've got to look out for EVERYBODY be they car driver, pedestrian, motorbike, white van man...

    You forgot to mention those idiot cyclists with no road craft whatsoever that I see day in day out. Its those tools that give cyclists a bad name.
    Real Ultimate Power

    "If I weren't a professional cyclist, I'd be a porn star" - Super Mario
  • dondare
    dondare Posts: 2,113
    They may have been driving previously, they may be going to drive later, they may even be about to get on a bike but as long as they are walking they are not driving and therefore one less car.

    If a pedestrian causes an accident they are liable but if you deliberately run into one that you could have avoided (by braking, for instance) because you resent them being in your way then you're the one who'll get sued.
    This post contains traces of nuts.
  • NorwegianBlue
    NorwegianBlue Posts: 484
    dondare wrote:
    If a pedestrian causes an accident they are liable but if you deliberately run into one that you could have avoided (by braking, for instance) because you resent them being in your way then you're the one who'll get sued.

    Although you are right in principal, that's pretty unlikely to happen, or at least unlikely to succeed. Should a pedestrian step out in front of you and you fail to brake then the subsequent case would be very difficult to prove either way. What the insurance companies would refer to as knock for knock.

    In such civil cases what sometimes happens is both parties sue each other and the results are seldom satisfactory for either party. However the legal profession love it.
    "Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker
  • Gilbs
    Gilbs Posts: 6
    As a mountain biker at heart I try to regard pedestrians as just another obstacle. you don't want to crash into them, you don't want to get hurt, you don't want your bike to get broken! Mind you, I ride to work in Exeter, not London so I do sympathise. A trick I sometimes use to make the point is a rear wheel skid. (But under control & away from the pedestrian) this often brings an apology, and a cheery "no problem" from yourself usually leaves you on the moral high ground.

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