I hate pedestrians!!
trevtherev
Posts: 372
Every night is the same.....I come out of work in central Bristol surrounded by pedestrians and they all ignore me or should I say they ignore cyclists. I am on a small run of cycle track (and believe me even though Bristol is said to be 1st cycling city the city centre is really poor and badly organised for cyclists).... immediately this young lady with a walkman in her ears jumps out in front of me...i shout she looks at me as if i am an alien....as soon as i pass her yet another pedestrian walks straight in front of me.....I shout again....what is the use :evil: :evil: I then try to cycle through traffic lights on green (yes I said on green!) and I can hardly advance due to you guessed it....pedestrians jaywalking and dodging around my cycle. So from now on I am going to totally ignore them ride into them as I don't exist anyway and go straight through the red traffic lights.....why bother trying to be a polite cyclist when you are ignored.....
"Cycling is like a church - many attend, but few understand."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevtherev ... 338579801/
www.runningfree.co.uk
0
Posts
Stick a hidden camera on the bike and send the footage to the local paper. State that a less scupulous cyclist might just charge.
I run an insanely bright (off road) light which has a 200 lumen flashing mode (that has caused the Police to stop me and ask me to angle it down), and I still have pedestrians walking out in front of me....
Pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, taxi drivers, we've all got to get along in the limited space of the cities and towns but its difficult when each group does not "give way" to the other
Mind how you go.
Years and years ago I did that to a bloke crossing in front of me, headphones on, on my green light.
I found out two things. First, hitting a ped will often cost you a new front wheel. Secondly, hitting a ped will cause bits of your bike to hit you in places you'd rather not be hit.
Bike 1
Bike 2-A
+1, collided with a ped who was crossing a road 10 yds after a zebra crossing. He had a sore leg, I had a buckled front wheel. Luckily for me this was 1/2 mile from home so back home and swap front wheels and computer magent over. Lost 10 minutes of time but it felt like ages, hitting landmarks at a totally different time to normal.
Not if they dont give you time to stop, which some dont.
Highway Code rule 170:
"watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way"
Implies that the rest of the time they don't have priority. That's what pedestrian crossings are for.
That was what I thought and glad to know for sure my thinking is right.
There's also no such thing as jaywalking over here.
That said, the attitude of some pedestrians does piss me off. My whinges on the subject are probably another thread, though
Yes there is!! Just that it is not illegal!!
jay walking n. walking across a street outside of marked cross-walks and not at a corner, and/or against a signal light.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTr ... /DG_070108
Especially section 7D
Planet-x Scott
Rides
this, I hit a ped years ago and sent the dude flying (imagine the force) his two mates had seen me and stopped but he hadn't, he was very apologetic. the impact caused me to do a mightily impressive endo which I manged to avoid face planting off, when I cycled off I realised my front wheel was buggered...luckily it was a hybrid
Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
Fixed Pista- FCN 5
Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
My approach to cycling in terms of pedestrians is that you can normally predict what they are going to do. They are after all slow moving. If they are in the middle of the pavement as you approach then you are probably fine. If they are veering towards or walking along the edge of the pavement, beware.
I've found that peds have become increasingly aware of cyclists in London, but you often see them meandering through traffic or stepping off curbs without the slightest glance. This 200 lumen light - it's not a Fenix torch is it? I've just bought one which is 180 lumens at full power, although it recommends that you don't use it at full power too often as heat builds up and can cause damage.
Get over yourself. They are all just trying to get where they are going, same as you.
Exactly, I think anyone has the right to moan about road users who put themselves and others in danger. That goes for clueless motorists, peds and cyclists.
bang on - don't think there's any real excuse for hitting peds. If you do then you weren't cycling defensively enough.
Some peds do stuipd things. It's annoying. But to write a post titled "I hate pedestrians" is absolutely the same as the pathetic attitudes we get to cyclists from some motorists.
J
Right let's nail this here and now. I got accused of this by a cyclist a while back.
There's no such thing as jaywalking in England and Wales.
...but everyone under 30 thinks there is. why's this? Too much American telly? censored education?
So - do what I do...make yourself seen and heard, make a polite request for people to move out of your way...if they don't then slow to walking pace or stop and wait until your way is clear.
That's true, but the thread title is "I hate pedestrians!". The very sort of generalisations that many have panned James Martin and Richard Madeley for when they say they hate cyclists when they have only met a few and indeed only noticed the ones that "got in their way".
Lighten up, and realise that we all share the road as we are trying to get to where we are going. I believe though that cyclists are more aware of their surroundings than most other groups because they are vulnerable, in the traffic and moving at speed. Motorcyclists are up there in the awareness stakes as well.
Sometimes, pedestrians act as a mob and when crossing the road, if you're a foot behind someone and the green man starts flashing you keep going as does the person right behind you, etc,etc. Protected by being part of a large group.
Most road-users re-act to situations they find themselves in according to the danger presented to themselves. Most people start out using the road with consideration for others but when presented with a quick decision will take the route of least personal danger. Hence the mini-bus driver that just turned right across in front of me today.
Trouble is peds often emerge from nowhere between lorries and buses and no amount of defensive riding will prepare you for them suddenly appearing in front of you. Hell even if you were walking you would still hit them.
It's fine to be defensive if you have a clear view along the road and can see where peds may emerge from but in London, you're often skirting round the edge of high sided vehicles like buses, lorries which are stuck in queues and you have to rely on peds looking before crossing, they have to take some responsibility for their own safety.
The only ped I've come close to hitting in 30 years of cycling was an american tourist who fell off the pavement inches in front of me. I still managed to get around her though.
That's true, but the thread title is "I hate pedestrians!". The very sort of generalisations that many have panned James Martin and Richard Madeley for when they say they hate cyclists when they have only met a few and indeed only noticed the ones that "got in their way".
Lighten up, and realise that we all share the road as we are trying to get to where we are going. I believe though that cyclists are more aware of their surroundings than most other groups because they are vulnerable, in the traffic and moving at speed. Motorcyclists are up there in the awareness stakes as well.
Sometimes, pedestrians act as a mob and when crossing the road, if you're a foot behind someone and the green man starts flashing you keep going as does the person right behind you, etc,etc. Protected by being part of a large group.
Most road-users re-act to situations they find themselves in according to the danger presented to themselves. Most people start out using the road with consideration for others but when presented with a quick decision will take the route of least personal danger. Hence the mini-bus driver that just turned right across in front of me today.[/quote]
That's very true, certainly in London, you get the lemming mentality, peds will continue crossing en masse because others are even though the lights are against them...
You're just making my point for me.
If you are "skirting round the edge of high-sided vehicles" then you need to be moving really slow with the brakes covered. If you want to go quicker then you need to be away from the side of the vehicle - further out into the road so that you have better visibility and more space to take avoiding action.
J
I think I've hit 3 or 4 in 3 years. Mostly I came off worst coz I was clipped into the pedals so I bounced off and onto the ground. In all cases there was literally nothing I could do. I'm travelling pretty slowly along the edge of a queue of traffic and they wander out without the slightest glance and WHAM.
I do exactly that, but if there is often no space to be further out and even travelling at less than 10mph, there really isn't anything you can do if someone comes ruond the side of a bus without warning. You obviously don't ride in London....