I berated a cyclist

el_presidente

Scene - heading west at the top of Ludgate Hill, outside St Pauls, 18.10 last night. There is a zebra crossing there which is the busiest I know - I would say 50% of the time I have to stop to give way to a ped.

Anyway last nigt was no different - I turn right just afterwards so I was over to the right hand side of the road and stopped waiting for the peds to finish crossing.

Bloke in a suit on a Brompton then hurtles up the inside of me, close to the kerb, thinking he can go behind the ped I am waiting for. However another pedestrian, seeing the traffic stopped, has stepped onto the crossing. Mr Brompton then has to execute a big emergency stop, ends up halfway over the crossing and just misses the ped.

"Careful" I say "they have right of way you know" - he turns round to me in disgust and horror "but she just stepped out on me! she stepped out!!".

Yes well mate it's a zebra crossing that's what they do. I thought about lecturing him on defensive riding but in the end just suggested he slow down a bit.

Now we all know peds are not the most predictable of animals but surely this guy should have been more careful, that zebra crossing is a known hazard imho

graeme_s-2

My understanding with zebra crossings is that you have to give way to anybody who is on the crossing, which means you always have to approach assuming that anybody nearby might suddenly dash out onto them. Which means it's irrelevant whether the guy knew that particular crossing or not, he should always be prepared to stop when approaching a zebra.

He sounds like a pillock.

el_presidente

Graeme_S wrote:

My understanding with zebra crossings is that you have to give way to anybody who is on the crossing, which means you always have to approach assuming that anybody nearby might suddenly dash out onto them. Which means it's irrelevant whether the guy knew that particular crossing or not, he should always be prepared to stop when approaching a zebra.

He sounds like a pillock.

His expression was quite funny, he looked utterly shocked that anyone would have the temerity to question him!

BentMikey

Well done LP!!!

homercles

It never ceases to amaze me how many other cyclists I see on my commute taking all kinds of risks at junctions, crossings etc. My journey varies between about 31-35 mins depending on traffic, effort etc but the one thing I've found that offers no time benefit is taking undue risks, however slight, with your/ others safety. I'll even berate myself sometimes when in the heat of the moment/ with a head of speed up I suddenly realise that I've just taken what could be called an unnecessary risk purely for the sake of keeping going.

bryanm

Graeme_S wrote:

My understanding with zebra crossings is that you have to give way to anybody who is on the crossing, which means you always have to approach assuming that anybody nearby might suddenly dash out onto them. Which means it's irrelevant whether the guy knew that particular crossing or not, he should always be prepared to stop when approaching a zebra.

He sounds like a pillock.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/01.htm#19

It's a bit of a double edged sword if you're a pedestrian? You're advised to use a crossing but the traffic has no obligation to stop for you until you start to cross. So what do you do - stand and wait for hours until someone stops for you, or take your life into your hands and step out hoping for the best?

Anyway, if the cyclist was in the zig-zag lines then he shouldn't have under/overtaken.

el_presidente

bryanm wrote:

Graeme_S wrote:

My understanding with zebra crossings is that you have to give way to anybody who is on the crossing, which means you always have to approach assuming that anybody nearby might suddenly dash out onto them. Which means it's irrelevant whether the guy knew that particular crossing or not, he should always be prepared to stop when approaching a zebra.

He sounds like a pillock.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/01.htm#19

It's a bit of a double edged sword if you're a pedestrian? You're advised to use a crossing but the traffic has no obligation to stop for you until you start to cross. So what do you do - stand and wait for hours until someone stops for you, or take your life into your hands and step out hoping for the best?

Anyway, if the cyclist was in the zig-zag lines then he shouldn't have under/overtaken.

As a kid I was advised to put one foot on the crossing so that traffic could see you intended to cross

graeme_s-2

As a pedestrian my MO is to make eye contact with the driver, make it very clear that I'm intending to cross, and then march out onto the crossing while maintaining eye contact. They always stop.

I know what you mean though, it's a bit of a paradox in that you don't actually have right of way until you step onto the crossing.

A - W

Rule 1 - Your own safety.

Rule 2 - Your own safety.

No one else is going to look out for you so you best make sure you do the best job you can. It's the same for motorbikes and cars etc.

Taking chances will eventually catch up with everyone and they usually become a statistic then.

Gussio

I have noticed a marked rise in the number of car drivers who are only too happy to ignore the existance of zebra crossings. Happened to me at the weekend while I was waiting patiently with a pushchair. Maybe it is just London where there are so many inconsiderate w@nkers on the road?

graham_g

Yes, it's (mostly) just London. It royally pisses off every British visitor from beyond the south-east.

alfablue

Graeme_S wrote:

As a pedestrian my MO is to make eye contact with the driver, make it very clear that I'm intending to cross, and then march out onto the crossing while maintaining eye contact. They always stop.

I know what you mean though, it's a bit of a paradox in that you don't actually have right of way until you step onto the crossing.

I take the opposite view - if you make eye-contact, responsibility is devolved to the ped, car drivers will assume you won't cross unless they let you; if you don't make eye contact and just cross they always stop (well so far, anyway!) - try it...or maybe don't.

walkernomore

It probably depends on the peds demeanour - I am blessed (for this purpose, but cursed for most) with the sort of stare that says 'If you knock me down you better make sure I stay down'. (sadly its not even true)

CarlosFerreiro

Graeme_S wrote:

As a pedestrian my MO is to make eye contact with the driver, make it very clear that I'm intending to cross, and then march out onto the crossing while maintaining eye contact. They always stop.

Things are interesting on crossings in Portugal - cars do not generally want to stop at all, they will happily swerve to the other side of the road without slowing down to go behind or in front of you as you cross - no hope at all of cars stopping and waiting until the crossing is clear.

My approach is to walk straight towards the crossing, staring down the approaching drivers with what I hope is a "yes I am really going to keep walking" look and make sure I am clear they are actually going to stop.

Here, if you wait at the side for cars to stop, you could be in for a long wait......

graeme_s-2

alfablue wrote:

Graeme_S wrote:

As a pedestrian my MO is to make eye contact with the driver, make it very clear that I'm intending to cross, and then march out onto the crossing while maintaining eye contact. They always stop.

I know what you mean though, it's a bit of a paradox in that you don't actually have right of way until you step onto the crossing.

I take the opposite view - if you make eye-contact, responsibility is devolved to the ped, car drivers will assume you won't cross unless they let you; if you don't make eye contact and just cross they always stop (well so far, anyway!) - try it...or maybe don't.

My theory is that if you're going to run someone down and kill them in cold blood, it's probably slightly harder to bring yourself to do it while they're looking you right in the eye

mtb.boy

On my way to work I see a blind guy (with dog and everything) using a zebra crossing. He wears a HiViz jacket. To cross, he just stops at the side of the road for about 5 seconds then puts his arm straight up in the air and crosses.

ash68

Same at traffic lights when your waiting on red and some wally cycles past thinking he,s above the law. Gets all cyclists a bad name as we are all tarred with the same brush.Some people are happy to take risks with their safety, most of us aren't.

fossyant

The guy was a fool - I'd have given him a mouthful... If I'm not on the carbon soled road shoes with a rather 'nice road bike', but in SPD shoes with an MTB that I can drop to the road, then ... if you try it on... bish bash bosh !!! :twisted: