My encounter, as a pedestrian, with a cyclist

DonDaddyD

Yesterday I was in the city (London Bridge as oppose to London Victoria) for a business meeting. On the way back from the meeting I was in my usual trance like state of "I just want to get the f*ck out of this monkey suit and put on jeans, trainers and a hood..."

About to cross the road (admittingly not at the lights) I waited for the traffic to pass and I crossed the road when clear. I noticed a cyclist travelling slowly towards me, slow enough for him not to be a concern. My thought process was that (a) I am either going to get across before we meet. Or (b) He is going to slow down or ride around me. The road was clear so going around me wasn't going to a danger to him.

In fact he did none of these things, instead he chose to ride towards me (at less than 10mph) and then while swerving around me, scream (in an attempt to scare me) he then shouted "watch where your f*cking going" I replied, "Don't talk to me like that you f*cking pr*ck" He then continued to RLJ... I thought of the irony...

What a kn*b!

Now maybe I shouldn't have been crossing where I decided to cross, it was however safe to do so, with the roads being clear and the cyclist wasn't exactly going fast. It wasn't like I stepped out on the guy either, I was clearly committed to crossing and well into the road when we met.

When I'm in that situation I slow down, or go around the pedestrian if I can.

What pisses me off is that much like some cars expect us to get out of their way regardless of the circumstances or our road position/intention (turning left or right), some cyclists expect pedestrians to get out their way regardless. With attitudes liike that, no one wins.

Jay dubbleU

Strange isn't it - if he'd been walking at right angles to you he would simply have walked behind you but because he's a d*ckhead he obviously decided he had to ride at you and yell - some prople are born pr*ts :x

Sirius631

As a pedestrian, you had right of way. (Yes, even on the road). You looked about you, saw the situation and made a decision to cross having judged that it was safe to do so. Any reasonable person would have ridden around you. I think that there are many people, wether pedestrians, cyclists or motorists, that don't understand the rights that others have on the road and behave like they shouldn't care.

Our problem, as cyclists, is that we have knobs like this guy who any other pedestrian or motorist would take as being representative of cyclists in general.

Rockbuddy

Isn't this the attitude of alot of people in London though? When ever I've walked around in the centre it's nearly as bad walking on the pavement as crossing the road. Admittedly no-one has shouted at me after walking at me on the pavement but people do tend to walk at you rather than around you, seems like people expect you to get out of their way a lot of the time. Maybe it’s just me but I’m not too surprised about the attitude you got from the cyclist.

biondino

I don't understand - surely if he had to either slow down or ride around you then you chose the wrong time to step into the road?

_Brun_

Pedestrians have absolutely no 'right' to walk into traffic of any kind whenever they fancy it. The highway code states that drivers should give way to pedestrians at junctions who have already started crossing.

To think that you "expected" the cyclist to slow down or go around you is astonishingly arrogant. Given your other fairly recent encounter with a pedestrian DDD, it's also really f*cking hypocritical. Maybe the highway code should be updated to say that you specifically have right of way whatever your mode of transport?

DonDaddyD

Rockbuddy wrote:

Isn't this the attitude of alot of people in London though? When ever I've walked around in the centre it's nearly as bad walking on the pavement as crossing the road. Admittedly no-one has shouted at me after walking at me on the pavement but people do tend to walk at you rather than around you, seems like people expect you to get out of their way a lot of the time. Maybe it’s just me but I’m not too surprised about the attitude you got from the cyclist.

It doesn't surprise me, London is full of self-obsessed obnoxious pr*cks who believe theirs to be the greatest importance of them all. London mostly isn't for the Worldly and its not a place of clarity it's mostly for the short sighted who blindly believe themselves to be the centre of everything... a cesspit for the pompous.

The cyclists behaviour annoys me greatly becuase I'm a cyclist and had I been on my bike at that time, I'd probably have said something to the cyclists and promptly scalped him for good measure. I also highly doubt had I been on my bike in a circumstance that got in his way, he'd have acted like that (probably because there would be a chance I'd have chased him down....)

Clever Pun

the road wasn't clear though was it? There was a cyclist on it...

jonginge

biondino wrote:

I don't understand - surely if he had to either slow down or ride around you then you chose the wrong time to step into the road?

Indeed. You put him in the situation of having to shoulder-check, change direction and get ready for you to do something else stupid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92xoz4OflxQ. OK, he didn't do those things and it doesn't excuse the swearing, but...

the_hundredth_idiot

Looking at it from the cyclists PoV, would he have been able to guess what you were about to do?

You, as the pedestrian, are halfway across the road when you spot a bike heading towards you. Do you a) carry on going so the cyclist has to swerve around behind you or b) stop dead so the cyclist carries on in a straight line as he was (presumably) intending to do?

Perhaps he assumed you would do one thing and rode accordingly. And then got a shock when you did the other.

DonDaddyD

biondino wrote:

I don't understand - surely if he had to either slow down or ride around you then you chose the wrong time to step into the road?

To be honest judging distance and speed he was travelling I was expecting to be across the road before he was anywhere near me. I judged poorly. I can admit that.

Pedestrians have absolutely no 'right' to walk into traffic of any kind whenever they fancy it. The highway code states that drivers should give way to pedestrians at junctions who have already started crossing.

The road was clear, save for one cyclist not going slowly. Completely different to stepping into traffic or stepping from the front of a lorry. In this instance there were no cars.

To think that you "expected" the cyclist to slow down or go around you is astonishingly arrogant.

READ what I wrote.

DDD wrote
My thought process was that (a) I am either going to get across before we meet. Or (b) He is going to slow down or ride around me. The road was clear so going around me wasn't going to a danger to him.

I didn't expect the cyclist to slow down or go around me, I said I thought he could. What I expected, judging from the distance and speed between the cyclist and I, was for me to have made it across the road in time.

Given your other fairly recent encounter with a pedestrian DDD, it's also really f*cking hypocritical. Maybe the highway code should be updated to say that you specifically have right of way whatever your mode of transport?

FFS how can actions taken in two different encouters, on two different roads, under two different weather conditions and clearly two differenct circumstance make me hypocritical?

In scenario (1): The Pedestrain stepped out on me from nowhere (from the front of a lorry to be precise).

In scenario (2): I was crossing a clear road, I was completely visible and could clearly see up and down the road.

DonDaddyD

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

Looking at it from the cyclists PoV

OK this I can do.

I'm a cyclist. The road is clear except for me and I'm going no more than about 12mph, probably 10mph.

On the other side of the road I see a pedestrian crossing the road to get to other side (the side I'm on)

If I believe the pedestrain isn't going to make it across before we collide, I'm going to slow down to make sure they get across safely. I would do this in a car as well.

In fact if I see a pedstrian already crossing the road I'm likely to slow down anyway because anything could happen like them dropping their phone and stopping in the middle of the road to pick it up.

fatbloke8

Rockbuddy wrote:

Isn't this the attitude of alot of people in London though? When ever I've walked around in the centre it's nearly as bad walking on the pavement as crossing the road. Admittedly no-one has shouted at me after walking at me on the pavement but people do tend to walk at you rather than around you, seems like people expect you to get out of their way a lot of the time. Maybe it’s just me but I’m not too surprised about the attitude you got from the cyclist.

+1
I unfortunately work in the city every weekday and am very glad there is someone else out there who feels the way I do. People do walk at you and will walk into you. They expect you to jump out of their way and will not adjust their line a little so you can both pass easily oh and cut across in front of you to get to destination that is actually behind you.....and not say thank you when you leave a door open for them ????

However all credit to them, to manage to walk at all with their heads so far up their backsides Not that it winds me up...at all.....really..... :oops:

Mass generalisation I know so no offence to those few in the City who do actually have some manners

DonDaddyD

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

You, as the pedestrian, are halfway across the road when you spot a bike heading towards you. Do you a) carry on going so the cyclist has to swerve around behind you or b) stop dead so the cyclist carries on in a straight line as he was (presumably) intending to do?

Perhaps he assumed you would do one thing and rode accordingly. And then got a shock when you did the other.

And more on this, I admit with hindsight I could have probably ran or speeded up, I just didn't judge the distance, on that I was at fault. I just didn't appreciate the scream and swearing and the fact that the road was clear, he could have slowed down or ridden around me.

bigmat

To summarise:

1. Don misjudged the speed / distance and shouldn't have crossed in front of the cyclist.

2. The cyclist was a gobsh**e p***k who could just as easily have slowed down / taken evasive action rather than given Don a mouthful of abuse.

DonDaddyD

MatHammond wrote:

To summarise:

1. Don misjudged the speed / distance and shouldn't have crossed in front of the cyclist.

2. The cyclist was a gobsh**e p***k who could just as easily have slowed down / taken evasive action rather than given Don a mouthful of abuse.

+1

He was on a hybrid as well, so maybe I just wanted to start something (queue the Michael Jackson song)...

simple_salmon

As cyclists we often complain that car drivers, pedestrians etc fail to realise how fast we are going and pull/step out on us - I've seen that written on many threads. Maybe now we should start to realise just how difficult it is to judge speed.

Just a thought...I'm not taking sides on this one.

always_tyred

DDD, if he hadn't have bawled his head off at you, would you have apologised or acknowledged that you'd somehow contrived to step out in front of the only bit of traffic present?

Mistakes are made. I am often baffled by the ability of peds and drivers to simply fail to accommodate my presence on an otherwise deserted street. It happens. Its very annoying.

Personally, I tend to tut, unless its dangerous (in which case I rip off a head or two and stamp on the still twitching corpse). This morning I managed a "jesus christ" at a dappy mother who was standing by her open car door, opposite another parked car with traffic coming from both directions. But that's about it - she made me stop and only managed to blink stupidly, before gathering her wit (singular) and pretending that she had, in fact, noticed what was going on before launching into traffic. (I can only imagine that husband earns the cash in that household).

Honestly - your experience shows two things (1) you cocked up a bit (2) being a nasty agressive indignant cock cyclist doesn't help the cause of cycling generally.

_Brun_

DonDaddyD wrote:

In scenario (1): The Pedestrain stepped out on me from nowhere (from the front of a lorry to be precise).

In scenario (2): I was crossing a clear road, I was completely visible and could clearly see up and down the road.

(1) As a cyclist, you didn't make any allowance for the fact a pedestrian might not always have their wits about them when crossing the road.

(2) As a pedestrian, you expect a cyclist to make provision for the fact that you don't always have your wits about you when crossing the road.

always_tyred

I didn't type "fool" in my original post. Instead, I referred to a male chicken.

CiB

DonDaddyD wrote:

MatHammond wrote:

To summarise:

1. Don misjudged the speed / distance and shouldn't have crossed in front of the cyclist.

2. The cyclist was a gobsh**e p***k who could just as easily have slowed down / taken evasive action rather than given Don a mouthful of abuse.

+1

He was on a hybrid as well, so maybe I just wanted to start something (queue the Michael Jackson song)...

Bugger. I've only just stopped humming 'Goddam right its a beautiful day' in my head. Guess it's time to wave a chicken in the air and push a pineapple two by two, or something. There.

DonDaddyD

simple_salmon wrote:

As cyclists we often complain that car drivers, pedestrians etc fail to realise how fast we are going and pull/step out on us - I've seen that written on many threads. Maybe now we should start to realise just how difficult it is to judge speed.

It is that what gets me. When I'm in a car and I see a pedestrian already crossing, I cover the clutch and often apply the brake, I never approach a pedestrain crossing the road at 30mph and without being prepared to stop.

I cannot say that cyclists take this approach as well, especially RLJers who fly through red lights.

AT wrote:

DDD, if he hadn't have bawled his head off at you, would you have apologised or acknowledged that you'd somehow contrived to step out in front of the only bit of traffic present?

No my reaction would have been the same. If I stop for pedestrians, fully committed to crossing the road, whether in my car or on my bike. I don't expect to be shouted out by a cyclist who could have easily just put a foot on the floor (he wasn't exactly going fast).

DonDaddyD

_Brun_ wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

In scenario (1): The Pedestrain stepped out on me from nowhere (from the front of a lorry to be precise).

In scenario (2): I was crossing a clear road, I was completely visible and could clearly see up and down the road.

(1) As a cyclist, you didn't make any allowance for the fact a pedestrian might not always have their wits about them when crossing the road.

Brun,when you were younger were you bitten by a radio active bike and thus blessed with total omniscience and the speed of a Super Record shifter?

There are known knowns that remain unknown until the point in actuality where I know they exist. If I didn't and couldn't see him how can I account for him beyond already being prepared to stop.

a pedestrian, you expect a cyclist to make provision for the fact that you don't always have your wits about you when crossing the road.

No what I expected for the cyclist is not to approach me at 5mph and then shout look where you are going when I'm already fully committed to crossing the road and he saw this when I started crossing the road from the other side. I don't expect said cyclist to tell me to look where I'm going and then proceed to RLJ.

sarajoy

I would be amazed, personally, if a ped saw me, and then upon seeing me started crossing, and THEN managed to time it perfectly so that he or she ends up right in front of me JUST as I get there!

I can see why he bawled, to be honest.

Maybe he's got a short fuse, but it'd still get me as to why the ped couldn't have waited another few seconds, or have skipped across a little faster.

He might have been slow but may have been in the process of accelerating. And here's this bloke he's got to be mindful of, bearing in mind you could have an aneurysm in the street and drop in front of him. Who knows.

robmanic1

If he was any kind of experienced rider he should have anticipated your move by your body language alone. Same thing applies when driving, you can usually tell when someone's about to do something stupid like swapping lanes without looking or pulling out in front of you from a side street.

It's a sh*t world and there are too many people, but we all have to share the space available so can we not just get along without the aggression?

Peace and love.

MrChuck

His reaction was obviously OTT, but it does sound like you were basically doing just what we all like to complain about pedestrians doing.

DonDaddyD

I wanna explain this one last time.

I didn't step out on him

He was on one side of the road. I was on the other.

Both lanes were clear apart from a cyclist going slowly. I and a few other people crossed. We crossed the first lane and then started to cross the second lane, with the cyclist on. This guy would have seen a number of people crossing the road infront of him.

We then met (with me about 3quarters across the lane) and then he shouted at me to "watch were I was f*cking going" and continued to RLJ.

Slow down, cover your brakes, be preparred to stop. Its not a alien concept. I wouldn't plow through at 30mph in a car.

IF people are supporting the cyclist then don't moan when a car comes zooming past with the wing-mirror centimetres away from you.

will3

DonDaddyD wrote:

He was on one side of the road. I was on the other.

Both lanes were clear apart from a cyclist going slowly. I and a few other people crossed. We crossed the first lane and then started to cross the second lane, with the cyclist on.

So you had plenty of time to adjust your speed so as not to come into conflict with him then?
Personally I would have paused, if it looked close, so as to cross behind the bike.


Forums eh?

DonDaddyD

will3 wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

He was on one side of the road. I was on the other.

Both lanes were clear apart from a cyclist going slowly. I and a few other people crossed. We crossed the first lane and then started to cross the second lane, with the cyclist on.

So you had plenty of time to adjust your speed so as not to come into conflict with him then?
Personally I would have paused, if it looked close, so as to cross behind the bike.


Forums eh?

Yeah, with hindsight and if I didn't have what was on my mind on my mind, I probably would have paused. I'm not saying that there was no fault on my part, there was, I can accept that.

I still think this applies:

Slow down, cover your brakes, be preparred to stop. Its not a alien concept. I wouldn't plow through at 30mph in a car.

IF people are supporting the cyclist then don't moan when a car comes zooming past with the wing-mirror centimetres away from you.

Because as a cyclist I've been in this scenario or worse and I've always accounted for what is visibly infront of me.

robmanic1

DDD you should have polled us

the_hundredth_idiot

A better car/cycle analogy might be that RLJers shouldn't bitch if the car they cut up uses its horn and makes a few choice comments out of the window.