Have you ever had a collision with a pedestrian? I’ve heard of friends damaging their bike after they perform of an emergency stop. However, that’s nothing compared to a story London Cyclist reader Tiva sent me.
It all took place on Aldwych road. A pedestrian stepped out in Tiva’s path and did the classic “left-right-left-right-freeze” dance coming to a halt directly in the path of the bike. Tiva tried to slam on her brakes and in the process fell off the bike damaging her knee.
The pedestrian apologised but Tiva was clearly injured. An ambulance was called. However, Tiva, in that classic British way that seems so common in these accidents, thought she was able to get to the hospital on her own steam and that an ambulance wasn’t needed.
This is now classed as a Road Traffic Accident
The 999 call was cancelled but an ambulance that was in the area turned up anyway. Unknowingly at the time, by cancelling the call, Tiva was also cancelling the police call out. When a cyclist is knocked off their bike by a pedestrian, this is now classed as Road Traffic Accident. As such, it needs to be recorded by the police and investigated if emergency services have been called out.
Tiva made it to the hospital where the damage was assessed and then attempted to pass on the pedestrian’s details to the police. Shortly afterwards it was discovered that the pedestrian had given fake details.
After lengthy conversations with the Traffic Criminal Justice unit, it became clear that even if the pedestrian had been tracked down, the case wouldn’t have been taken any further. In the words of one of the officers “Never in the history of London had a pedestrian been prosecuted for being at fault”. Whilst it would be a criminal offense to give fake details if the road traffic accident involved a car, beleaguered cyclists, have once again slipped the cracks.
Amazingly, 10 days later, the pedestrian was spotted again. However, Tiva couldn’t get off the bus in time to confront her. Short of becoming a psycho vigilante, a task that would be tough to perform on crutches as Tiva notes, there’s little that can be done. Meanwhile Tiva is looking at a year of physiotherapy, a knee operation and £150 worth of repairs to her bike.
What the story does highlight for fellow cyclists is the importance of knowing what to do in this situation. You can’t always rely on people to be good citizens.
British cycling have an incident checklist and we’ve also discussed the steps to keep in mind if you are ever in an accident. In particular, you shouldn’t be afraid to request an ambulance and the police. Not only is this important because the adrenaline may make you feel like you are fine at the time, but also because a claim may help you out post accident. Not calling the police also means it’s hard for police to have a realistic image of the number of incidents that occur and therefore give this the attention it deserves.
A special thank you to Tiva for sending in her story to help others and I wish her a full recovery.
Steam gives way to sail. We should remember this if we want ‘strict liability’ when motorists hit us. In the Netherlands, I understand in a collision, the Cyclists is assusmed to be at fault when hitting a pedestrian, and cars are at fault when hitting a cyclists or pedestrian.
Assumed to be at fault, but not automatically guilty. There is a big difference. And here if the police investigated properly they would conclude the pedestrian was at fault.
Yes, the pedestrian may have been at fault for stepping out, but the cyclist would be considered at fault as they were travelling too fast…
Cyclists are deemed as pedestrians in the highway code, also pedestrians have right of way over all vehicles using the carriageway in the highway code, if you cant stop in time when someone walks out in front of you implys you were either not paying enough attention to other road users and carrying a excessive speed to stop quickly, a Cyclist jumped a red light a week ago and hit me while i was crossing with the green man at speed, he fell off then got back on and rode off, but they cant be held accountable, when ALL Cyclists obey all the laws and rules of the road maybe some respect will come but as a pedestrian they should come with compulsive theory and we should be allowed to push them off when they hope on a FOOTPATH to bypass a red light for example, why do we have flat tarmaced roads… BECAUSE OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE OR THEY WOULD NOT OF BOTHERED ITS FOR ALL OF US NOT JUST CYCLISTS
Jackart – It can never be an absolute – If a pedestrian ran in front of a vehicle without checking, and the motorist absolutely had no way of knowing, or checking, and was travelling within the speed limit, then no, they would not be at fault.
Yes, the driver would NOT be at fault as in they would NOT be put in jail or fined, but at the same time the pedestrian would NOT be forced to pay damages to the driver!!!
It’s what’s called a rebuttable presumption. So any evidence to show that it was actually the pedestrian who was at fault will be heard if a case goes to court.
> Steam gives way to sail
Err, no.
Not when the pedestrian is crossing at a traffic lights with the “red man” showing, as happened to me recently. Neither really hurt, but cost me a nasty looking but painless bruise and a bust front light.
I have zero sympathy for pedestrians who cross the road against the lights and get hit by cyclists who are simply going through a green traffic light. Actually, surely that’s “jaywalking”?
The counter argument is that all the fuckwit cyclists who consistently sail through red lights swerving past pedestrians give us all a bad name. Don’t do it.
The lights are to be obeyed, at least unless you are 100% clear that you’re safe, perhaps, but that’s no excuse if caught.
Of course there is absolutely ZERO enforcement of the rules on pedestrians, and they are NOT alert enough to the “threat” of fast moving cyclists following on behind the motor vehicle traffic.
Perhaps if we could engender in their minds the concept that perhaps there’s a Mad Max themed cyclist out there with staby spikes and ankle chopping chariot blades on their bike.
Might make them think twice or double check before stepping out in front of 110Kg+ of me and bike doing 25 MPH bearing down on them.
‘Jaywalking’ is not illegal here in the UK – it is not a crime for a pedestrian to step out into the road and cause an accident.
The Met Police have never prosecuted a pedestrain for doing this and never will because:
a) there is no legislationunder which to do this – The fact that peds can get away with giving false details being a case in point.
b) they have bigger fish to fry – hopefully Addiscum Lee drivers and dangerous HGV drivers
c) I think they expect that insurance and private claims will mop up most of the liability anyway.
All the more reason to make sure you take (and confirm!) the right details if you, as a cyclist, have something like this happen to you.
Not only do cyclists have to ride defensively, we now have to deal with our own accidents defensively too. And given the enormous explosion in cyclist numbers over the last few years, this issue is not going to go away – it’s going to happen more and more.
‘Jaywalking’ is not illegal here in the UK – it is not a crime for a pedestrian to step out into the road and cause an accident.
well, it bloody well should be! I always wait for the green man to cross, and for the red light if I’m on the road.
If a cyclist ever runs a red light, a shedload of pedestrians will very quickly get inflamed about it, rudely gesticulate, shout, etc.
What about when pedestrians “run red lights”? Nobody even says anything then, do they? I don’t even say anything, purely because it’s so common, if I shouted at every pedestrian running a red light or randomly stepping out into the road, I’d never be quiet!
Agree on defensive / assertive cycling.
Also Jaywalking is too broad to be a crime – but crossing the road without due care & attention should be. Im in Poland right now – people often get fined by cops for crossing on the red man – even if there’s obviously no traffic coming. That is insane IMHO.
However – if a cyclist has a collision with a ped – its the ped that should come off worse (see my previous comments). What if THEY want to claim something off the cyclist?
Do cyclists have to provide details? Are cyclists & peds effectively equal in this case?
” Im in Poland right now – people often get fined by cops for crossing on the red man – even if there’s obviously no traffic coming. That is insane IMHO.”
Nick D, that is harsh, I know. But not insane. How else are people going to actually observe these rules?
I know that we have the Green Cross Code in the UK – maybe our policemen should fine people for not following the green cross code.
And before all the “they should have larger fish to fry” people come out of the woodwork, is it ethical not to have police officers dealing with minor crimes because there are major crimes to deal with? Surely there should be a corresponding number of police officers dealing with various types of crimes.
After all, in medical ethics, all patients deserve the right to treatment and ongoing research into developing drugs/treatment for their condition. Examples I cannot give you right now, but there are researchers spending disproportionately large sums of money on developing treatments for rare conditions that only a handful of the public suffer from. Should a similar thinking not be applied to “minor” crimes such as “jaywalking”(or is it “failure to follow the green cross code”)?
Vlad – there’s a huge difference between banning anyone from crossing anywhere except a crossing – and prosecuting pedestrians who don’t cross properly.
The reason they don’t bother looking now is because they have no risk of prosecution. If they did – behavior would change.
Apparently IT ISNT A CRIME at the moment to cross the road with your eyes closed. That’s my point. There’s a middle ground between there and forcing people to only cross at crossings.
Don’t know if you’ve seen the TV show The Wire. Gives a fascinating insight into just how under-funded the police are. It’s impossible for them to do anything but focus on a small % of crimes – prioritising resources to rape, murder & armed robbery over jaywalking would seem sensible?
Also I would imagine far more money is put into, say, curing cancer than curing very rare diseases.
I couldn’t agree more with Vladimir…pedestrians should be fined if caught. But for that, we would need a LOT more police on the beat, which is never going to happen. I think that making sure we report every RTA that involves a bike and a pedestrian is a good start to bringing attention to how often this kind of thing happens.
We don’t see the public service announcements (like the Green Cross Code) any more…but maybe pressure would encourage the government to bring them back, and perhaps make some specifically for cyclists. Especially as the number of cyclists on the road is increasing.
The other interesting thing is insurance. Should cyclists be insured, like motor vehicles? Personally, I chose to be fully insured…but that was because I hated the thought of causing an accident, and crippling somebody for life. If someone lost a limb, couldn’t walk any more, or (God forbid) worse, then I wanted to know that I could help with costs. The sad thing of course, is that if a pedestrian caused me to lose a leg, it would still be my insurance that would have to pay, because they won’t have personal liability cover.
It’s a complex issue, and I’m really pleased that people here are discussing the topic of pedestrian liability.
Fining me if I don’t wait, as a pedestrian, at a badly configured set of traffic lights that stay on red WAY too long, when there’s no traffic or good reason – time and again – is my idea of hell.
Any stats on the effects of banning jaywalking would be interesting…
Policing is about what is practical with very limited resources – we have to be realistic.
Actually the govt does have road ads – such as this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO9evAjIrrE
We shuldn’t treat pedestrians like kids and force them to wait stupidly when it’s obviously safe to cross – there’s a middle ground. In fact that just encourages stupidity – we should encourage people to THINK about their situation not blindly cross or follow rules.
Nick D,
I didn’t say more money was put into curing rare diseases. I said it was disproportionately large, i.e. a few million were spent finding a drug to cure a disease that only a dozen people were suffering from. Compare that with the billions put into cancer research vs. the number of sufferers, and when you divide it out, there is money being spent on rare diseases that is disproportionately large.
Regarding the issue at hand; I would never expect a police officer dealing with a murder case to drop it and start dealing with jaywalking cases, no, but there should be a proportionate division of labour within the police force so that there is at least one copper that goes round the city full time, fining pedestrians that are crossing on reds. In fact, this would be a member of the transport police, nothing to do with other branches of police, so they wouldn’t exactly be detracting resources from murder cases and the like. I think we are all aware that at the moment this is not the case, and nobody is dealing with this issue. The problem, however, is all too prevalent, well meaning city workers that have a 9-5 job, a wife and kids and life insurance, take on a herd mentality akin to wilderbeest and muscle their way into roads and across “the red man” just because the can…
IMO, there is not enough police resource being focused on RLJing from all road users, pedestrians included.
You definitely get sweeps of ‘people with clipboards’ fining cyclists for jumping red lights. Seen this at Holborn a couple of times.
Pedestrians crossing on red ISNT ILLEGAL – so that won’t happen without a change in the law – which I wouldn’t support.
Fining pedestrians who don’t cross SAFELY is something I would support a change in the law for.
The government has a fixed amount to spend on public services – which it splits between education, health, police etc. Money spent in one area – say a man fining peds or cyclists – is money not spent elsewhere. It is a zero sum game.
This could be funded through the fines – but that sets up a very bad incentive to be unfair. “Harry, we’re a bit short on funding this month – hint hint”. Bad idea.
I actually watch quite a lot of TV and I do remember that ad now that I’ve seen it again, but I haven’t seen it on TV for YEARS! This corresponds with the fact that it was uploaded in 2006.
One ad from 2006 is meant to make the zombified peds of London rush hour not to step out in front of vehicles on the road? I don’t think so…
Also, the issue with peds stepping out onto the road is not “because they forget”. It might be true for a lot of them, but for a growing number of pedestrians – it appears that they believe themselves to be above the lowly cyclists that “can’t even afford to get the train to work” and decide that their getting to work 30 seconds earlier by muscling their way across the red man is more important than my sanity and safety (as well as their own).
A growing number of pedestrians cross anyway despite me making eye contact, shouting “step back” and sounding my bell/horn. How am I suppose to deal with that? How am I suppose to calmly deal with someone who has clearly decided that my safety is not worth their time? Will they even be amenable to listening to reason? NO, a policeman needs to be present at least once in a while to fine them for having a complete disregard for other road users.
“The lights are to be obeyed, at least unless you are 100% clear that you’re safe, perhaps, but that’s no excuse if caught.”
Great – lets all decide what IS safe and what IS NOT while travelling at speed.
In my motherland (Lithuania) we have pretty hefty fines for pedestrians. 50 quid for crossing street on the red light. And another 50 quid for crossing the street where is no pedestrian crossing. And it works pretty well considering that average wage is around 450 pounds a month.
Love the imagery…..
Cyclists should all display number plates and be fully insured They must obey the rules of the road including STOPPING at red lights and riding within the speed limit which is 20mph on many London. roads.
Speed limits only apply to motorised vehicles, please read up on traffic law before posting. Most cyclists do stop at red lights in the same way most motorists do. As for license plates, that’s really cut down law breaking by drivers hasn’t it? Is it worth the expense for cycles?
You are spot on. Cyclists are out of control on our city streets and need reigning in. They fail to ensure safe stopping distances. They fly across red light. They intimidate pedestrians on crossings. They pass far too close to other vehicles whilst overtaking and undertaking. They fail to keep to speed limits so the law needs to include cycles in order to protect pedestrians. They need to display registration numbers so that they are controlled to the same level as other road users.
Absolutely agree with Jackart: It seems that the cyclists want to be considered as more vulnerable (and therefore needing more rights) compared to other drivers, but at the same time they consider themselves to be in completely different position when the pedestrians are involved. Why?
As I come from the Netherlands I know situations like this are seldom, most of the people are aware of cyclist and turn their head round to see if there is any traffic comming.
When I moved to London last year I had the strongest feeling ever that this year was going to be the year of my first accident ever. However, It is already a weird thought to be covinced of being involved in an accident, I was expecting to colide with a car or lorry.
In contrast to that, which after a few months cycling in london after all is not surprising to me, I colided with a pedestrian who was crossing while having a red light. The reaction of me was very similar to the one of Tiva; First anger towards the pedestrian, then checking if the pedestrian was fine while I was the one who flew trough the air for 5 meters on to the sidewalk. Nobody asked me how I was doing etc.
The pedestrian, after defending that she wasnt wrong and she was in the right of way because she came from straight on (why are there any traffic lights in this world after all), she kept on walking and so did I. Then I discoverd my brakse were broken and I had more pain then I was actually noticing in the first place… but off course it was to late…
“Then I discoverd my brakse were broken and I had more pain then I was actually noticing in the first place” – sorry, were your brakes broken BEFORE, during or after the accident???
Back in feb, I had an unpleasant pedestrian collission: Having just come off a roundabout in Crouch end there was a petrol station to my right with a transit van turning right into the garage, I came down the inside of the van probably doing arojund 20mph, from the front of the van 3 scaffolders ran out right in front of me. Needless to say I had no chance to avoid them, the van was indicating right, I had lights and hi-vis clothing on.
After going straight over the handle bars I was then condfronted by all 3 of them screaming in my face whilst tangled up on the floor, telling me I should have gone down the middle of the road ( even though the transit was indicating right ) coupled with a huge amount of expletives.
There was a bus stop next to where I had the incident, with around 15 people there, not one came to my assistance ( even after the scaffolders had left me in the middle of the road and gone into the nearby caff! ) , the closest I got to any assistance was a guy jogging past who asked if I was ok ( did the british, yeah, I think so ), to which he then commented ‘ you were going a bit fast ‘. Which if I’d been a motorbike it would have been a lot quicker!
After managing to get up, I thought I’d dislocated my shoulder, realised my front wheel was totally buckled ( hopefully causing whichever kindly scaffolder I hit some lasting pain. ) called my wife, because generally, ambulances won’t take bikes in them and tried to walk home. She found me and promptly called an ambnulance as I nearly passed out.
Diagnosis was large soft tissue damage to upper arm area, which stopped me riding for a good month.
The most shocking thing was the attitude of these guys I hit, even if I’d been in the wrong, which I wasn’t, you’d have thought some sort of ‘ you f——–g idiot, but are you alright’ , no, left in the middle of the road with a parting ‘f——–g cyclists’.
“I was then condfronted by all 3 of them screaming in my face whilst tangled up on the floor, telling me I should have gone down the middle of the road” – that is what every other driver would and should have done. More SPECIAL rules for cyclists here?
No as motor cyclist and a driver of a van you approach with caution because of shit like that. I’m sorry but you should always check especially if there is a petol station and a bus stop ahead. This is clear indication pedestrians will be about. Drive or ride with caution and always be prepared to put on the brakes no matter what. But cyclist never do… The ride far to fast for the brakes they have on their bikes… Only ride as fast as your brakes can stop you…
20 mph down the inside of the van was reckless buddy. I ride a cycle and motorcycle and have learned to slow down when visibility blocked by high sided vehicles
I have never hit a pedestrian, but have been hurt avoiding them. They didn’t abuse me just behaved as if it was nothing to do with them, having walked out right in front of me.
While a cyclist may have right of way, it is only sensible to ride a bike in such a way that you have time and space to react to pedestrians who step out into the road. Of course, they shouldn’t – but they still will. A road is a space where everybody should take into account the potential errors of others.
Even when being careful things go wrong.
I was riding from Strand through the south east corner of Trafalgar Square and into Northumberland Avenue. I was travelling at no more than 10 miles an hour. A group of pedestrians were waiting to cross the top of Northumberland Avenue at the lights which was red for them and green for road traffic. I watched the group carefully as I approached them and made eye contact with one pedestrian, who promptly stepped out right in front of me. I put on the brakes and due to the freshly laid tarmac being wet, fell as if I was on ice.
I lay there and the pedestrian looked shocked and then decided to flee. I laid there and not one person offered to help. A construction worker then called from Trafalgar Square and ran over asking if I was OK and helped me up.
The result was no lasting damage to my being, but my belief in the kindness of others was knocked.
Sorry to hear about the accident Julian.
I think that sometimes as cyclists we can be a little too passive with motorists, other cyclists, and pedestrians. We look at them and they look at us – but our presence doesn’t really register (probably because they are really looking for cars and lorries and not cyclists). In these situations I try to do something like ring the bell, wave, point, or shout, I often find myself pointing at cars and saying things like ‘Don’t move’ while wagging my finger; or ‘Come on mate – your turn’ while beckoning them forward. With pedestrians a cheery ‘coming through’ should wake them up and keep everybody safe.
john rawlins- we should get a beer sometime 🙂
As pedestrians, parents, and even as cyclists, we all agree that it is safer for cars to slow down in built up areas. And yet when we get on our bikes, any modicum of caution seems to be replaced with an expectation that everyone else should get used to cyclists who think it’s all right to ride as if they’re away in the break in the Tour de France.
Let me spell it out. If you’re constantly cycling in a manner that constantly results in near misses, then it must be obvious that you need to slow down; right down, walking pace if neccessary, and be prepared to stop, in exactly the same way that motorists are expected to do in built up areas.
As an example, next time you pass that stationary bus, you need to engage brain, anticipate children appearing suddenly across your path and SLOW to walking pace as you pass. But if you watch cyclists riding by, the number that ride defensively, in the way that they are supposed to, is close to zero.
So why is this? I suspect that many cyclists have an almost pathological desire to get ahead, whether that be by jumping a red light, squeezing up the inside of lorries, riding past parked cars at a speed that could kill them if someone opens a door without looking, or hurtling down hills at a speed which leaves them no time to avoid a collision if something unexpected crosses their path.
As a trucker, I’ve driven over two million miles, as a motorist, probably half a million, as a cyclist, well over 100,000, and done a fair bit as a pedestrian too. And in all that time, I’ve never had any sort of accident. Am I just lucky? Perhaps. But my tip, whether you’re a driver, a cyclist or a pedestrian, is to concentrate, anticipate potential hazards and watch your speed.
“and be prepared to stop, in exactly the same way that motorists are expected to do in built up areas.”
I can only say, from decades of being a pedestrian in a built-up area, that this is not my experience at all. Motorists are rarely “prepared to stop”, they simply take it for granted that everyone else will stay the heck out of their way. The reason there aren’t more accidents is that pedestrians mostly do just that, for reasons of self-preservation.
If you think motorists are ‘preapred to stop’, I invite you to step out into some of the roads round here in front of oncoming cars. Particularly the major A roads (where the caved-in bits of kerbside fencing say something about motorists “preparedness to stop”) but also many of the residential streets where the supposed 20mph limits are routinely ignored (especially now they’re replaced the speed bumps, which did actually slow traffic down, with “road cushions”, which serve no discernable purpose)..
Sorry, but while there clearly are bad cyclists around (especially those berks who cycle at speed on pavements) I find the notion that cyclists are somehow more reckless, more possessed of a ‘pathlogical desire to get a head’ than motorists to be risible.
Im getting tired now of saying this and i probably said this in almost all the forum and blogs relating to cycling accidents.
“defensive cycling is always the safest way to cycle”. if cyclist assumes that a lot of things can happen every minute on the saddle then they will have the instinct to anticipate potential hazards.
we should treat all blind spots as potential hazards because youll never know what will pop out from them. (cars, motorbikes, other cyclist and pedestrians). i filter traffic almost 100% of the time but im always cautious about pedestrians, cyclist and motorcyclist when i pass beside buses and lorries where i cant see.
the lesson in this story is to stop or slow down if you are not sure of whats ahead of you. its that simple.
Well, yes, but how far do you go? Slow down enough for long enough and you might as well walk.
The ulitmate ‘defensive cycling’ is not to cycle at all (thats the option the vast majority of potential cyclists choose, after all).
Unfortunately in life you _have_ to assume _some_ minimum level of care or common sense from those around you or you would be unable to leave your house.
Also, while I personally am very forgiving of pedestrians (due to having been one for decades) the reality is that pedestrians do tend to accord cyclists less respect than they do cars.
Partly its simply because they rely on hearing something coming rather than looking (so, yeah, the bell is useful)..
But partly I think its because cars are seen as more of a threat. Indeed I think they are seen as a force of nature that can’t be expected to behave reasonably (like a tornado or an avalanche or something – you just have to keep out of its way). Whereas cyclists are seen as pedestrians that have somehow acquired wheels, and are expected to just stop or swerve like any pedestrian. Hence people will step out in front of bikes when they wouldn’t dream of doing so with a car.
Your comment doesn’t address the question of exactly how defensive one can reasonably be (I take it you do, in fact, cycle, so you clearly don’t opt for the most defensive stance of all, you’ve chosen a trade-off – others might have a different trade-off).
The need for the ridiculously high level of defensiveness that currently prevails is why so few people cycle at all.
This is really down to idiot road-planners and selfish motorists, not pedestrians, however clueless some of them are (though the road planners do their best to bring cylcists and pedestrians into conflict).
There’s a depressingly self-perpetuating aspect to the on-going take-over of London by motorists (they’ve now finished capturing the roads and are moving on to grabbing the pavements for parking). The worse it gets the more difficult it becomes to get around by anything other than car, so the more people join the car lobby.
The more their numbers increase, the more their numbers increase.
Its very much like a zombie apocalypse in that respect.
I agree with you comment that if you constantly find yourself in conflict then maybe it is yourself that may have to change.
I cycled 20 miles a day across London, Twickenham to Farringdon most every day for 4 years and never had an issue with a car or pedestrian as long as I rode to the conditions and like everybody is out to get me. I’d rather go a bit slower or stop when I don’t necessarily need to than injury myself trying to prove I was in the right.
A little friendliness on the road can go a long way
This post is far to sensible and therefore has no place on a internet forum *moderators please remove*
Yes pedestrians don’t look… yes drivers are insensitive… but until we stop the epidemic of cyclists running red lights, cycling on pavements and basically ignoring the general rules of the road we are forever going to have to put up with a lack of sympathy from the general public even if your own personal cycling is not at fault.
I really don’t get these complaints about cyclists running red lights. I’ve been a pedestrian for decades and a cyclist for only a year, but I can only say I see motorists jumping red lights more frequently than I do cyclists.
Granted, proportionally it might be more because there are so many more cars than bikes, but I don’t think those who complain about cyclists doing it notice how often drivers do it. My suspicion is that some of the complaints are pure projection by light-jumping motorists.
For example, a couple of months ago I was waiting patiently at a red (on my bike) late at night only for a van and two motorbikes to roar past me, straight through the red. This was in the middle of the red phase, not just as it turned red.
Drivers seem to feel they have much more leeway to ignore reds when they think they can get away with it, whereas I always have in mind the endless complaints abot ‘cyclists jumping reds’ and feel like I’m representing all cyclists everwhere and therefore have to wait patiently at every stop whether there’s any cross-traffic or not.
Cycling on the pavement is indeed anti social and arrogant, especially if its done at speed or (at any speed) on a crowded pavement. But, again, twice in the last couple of months I’ve encountered cars (actually vans) driving along the pavement.
The ‘rules of the road’ are clearly optional, if motorist behaviour is anything to go by. Speed limits, bus lanes, one-way roads, parking restrictions, rules about giving way if on the wrong side of the road, and mandatory (solid white line) cycle lanes are all routinely ignored by drivers. I could list multiple examples a day.
The _only_ bad thing I accept cyclists do that motorists don’t is travelling at night with no lights. It baffles me how many cyclists do this, seemingly the majority in fact.
Using words such as “epidemic” when talking about cyclists RLJ is not only completely untrue (studies have shown that it is about 15%), disingenuous but also dangerous and stupid.
In fact, your comment is so troll like that it should be disregarded entirely.
Chris, its not troll like to suggest that cyclist aren’t perfect.
I’m just saying let’s not pretend that we don’t all cycle like dicks sometimes.
Take a little shortcut on the pavement round a corner and get in the way of a pedestrian when mounting the pavement to use a cycle stand. Or that you’ve never taken the occasional left turn on a red. Or never cut up a car in a dangerous fashion.
15% is very high! 15% of cars do not run a red that’s for sure.
15% may well be unacceptably high but it is not “epidemic”.
The language throughout your comment was at best reactionary and at worst intending to be inflammatory, and without any basis in fact, or if there was any, its only anecdotal.
If you can provide links to studies that show it is less than 15% of drivers who RLJ (without even going into differing levels of consequences when cyclists or cars do RLJ) then there is no discussion really.
Seeing as you cannot provide any basis for your claims, I will provide some for mine, and more that shows all arguments you have tried to raise above are fallacious and without any basis in fact:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Behaviour-at-cycle-advanced-stop-lines.pdf
TfL’s study that shows *17%* of cyclists observed RLJ at specific road junctions yet 39% of drivers observed encroaching on the advanced stop zone, which is in itself is considered jumping a red light and punishable by 3 points and a £60 fine.
http://www.rac.co.uk/press-centre/press-releases/post/2010/10/driven-to-distraction/
An RAC study that showed 39%of motorists admitted to driving whilst reading texts or email.
http://www.rac.co.uk/report-on-motoring/report-2011/road-safety-and-law-abiding-drivers/
Another RAC study that shows 38% of drivers admitted to speeding in a 20mph zone
Using the tired rhetoric that *cyclists* should stop breaking the law before any consideration is given to them is as banal as saying the same about car drivers.
Also tarnishing all cyclists because of the actions of a few (great way to generalise as well!) is akin to seeing all black cab drivers as rapists because of the actions of John Worboys.
Your claims are vacuous and without merit and all there is left to say is:
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3pcd9z/
@Chris That is slightly off-topic but 15% of the population contracting some disease will be considered an epidemic.
I personally think that ALL road user should consider others – and this will be enough.
I’ve hit a few pedestrians and if you don’t have enough time to swerve, stop or wake them up (preferable) – you usually do have enough time to plan the collision.
First – don’t panic, you will almost certainly win and it’s almost certainly their fault.
Try and launch your shoulder into their chest so they absorb the full impact, if you do it right you’ll land on your feet and the bike will come to a controlled stop.
They will take the impact and probably go down – however in my experience they shouldn’t be too hurt if you get your shoulder into their chest area – think Rugby or martial arts. All the force is transferred to a soft area of their body.
They will then usually get up and apologize to you and you can continue karma and body intact.
Excellent advice, Nick! I shall try to remember that…it all sounds so perfectly obvious when you explain it like that.
Well Well someone with some good practical advice Nick D. No better than you attitude egotistic blah blah, just good practical advice The other guy should leafn from you
I find the best thing is to treat all other road users as complete morons and expect any one of them to do something stupid. If I have anticipated this I am more likely to be able to react to anything that actually does happen.
true – sometimes it’s too last minute though
After reading about Tiva’s experience and these comments, I do wonder if trying to stop or avoid collision with a pedestrian is the best course of action? I recently had a low speed collision with a ped and just ran into him. Luckily he wasn’t badly hurt but if a ped is dumb enough to step out in front of traffic without looking, then why should I risk my safety trying to a avoid him?
I agree – make reasonable effort to avoid but if you can’t don’t be afraid to put them down – often it’s the safest option compared to an uncontrolled swerve into traffic / street furniture / other pedestrians or cyclists.
There’s also an aspect of Darwinism to this – and you’ve gifting them a valuable life lesson – and helping cycle awareness generally.
win/win/win/win
I don’t have time to read all the replies but I have to say it is the cyclists fault. I am very sorry to hear of her injuries. Like cars we should ride being prepared to stop or avoid pedestrians. We expect cars to give way and be aware of us at all times and pedestrians fairly think the same of cyclists. All she had to do was ding her bell or shout out “bike!” Or was she too cool to use a bell?! “It all happened too quickly”? Well slow down until you are capable of responding swiftly. Or was she daydreaming/thinking about work/etc and not switched on to the road AND pavement in front of her? When I first started commuting across London I had a near miss every week mostly with vehicle but also a few pedestrians. However as I got in tune with it all and got a bell I only had 2 incidents in 4 years, both of which were the fault of the driver’s not obeying the Highway Code. If I am cycling down Oxford Street or passed train/tube stations I keep my thumb on my bell and cover my brakes. Am I the only one?!
There’s a difference between it being her fault, and her taking responsibility for her own safety.
The cyclist certainly has a responsibility (to herself) – to anticipate potential hazards and cycle assertively and with this in mind.
However – to say cyclists have to ‘give way’ to pedestrians that randomly step out without looking is ridiculous. Some pedestrians should be far more aware of cyclists & if they get hit it’s because they didn’t look properly. They too need to take responsibility.
It’s not always possible to get out of the way in time, and noise often doesn’t work – people might be listening to music, might not react in time, daydreaming or as in this case freeze.
If the pedestrian doesn’t look you are perfectly within your rights to put them down IMHO.
Why is it that according to your posts BOTH the drivers AND pedestrians MUST be “aware of cyclists” and cyclists don’t have to do anything – just BE as they are kings of the world?
“If the pedestrian doesn’t look you are perfectly within your rights to put them down IMHO” – lets kill/run over everybody who is NOT aware enough!!! (that INCUDES cyclists TOO)
Sounds a bit dumb and misinformed to imply that collisions with peds are always to cycliist’s fault. No one can anticipate a ped walking along and then suddenly running across your path suddenly when you’re a few feet away from them.
Bit Harsh, Jules. Sometimes people are just unlucky. I am a careful cyclist – and I don’t daydream when I ride. I have been cycling in central London for five years. What’s more, I learned how to drive in London and have been a London driver for nigh on 15 years. I know plenty about the dangers of London roads. When I put my hi-viz and helmet on, it’s like I’m about to go into battle. I yell, I shout, and I am a very defensive cyclist, but there is only so much one can do when faced with the indecisive deer-in-the-headlights pedestrian wiggle.
Anyone who has ever cycled through the Aldwych/Kingsway junction, as I have done every day for the last three years, knows how precarious it can be – with people stepping out willy nilly without looking. The reason this pedestrian – or Mendacious Marcia, as I have taken to calling her – got me this time, was because she moved in front of me again and again as I corrected my trajectory. In the end, I wiped out to avoid hitting her.
The point, however, of sharing my story, was not to have a big whinge about how unlucky I have been or apportion blame. I wanted to raise awareness about the fact that when you hit a pedestrian, it is a RECORDABLE ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. This is the important bit.
Technically, although cyclists aren’t afforded the same rights as people involved with cars, we should be dealing with these incidents in the same way – calling the police, taking details and witness statements etc. More importantly, until these sorts of incidents are recorded, the authorities are not going to have a handle on how frequently they happen and wider transport issues around this stuff will not be addressed. I would put money on the fact that ped v bike happens exponentially more often than ped v car. But until we have records, no one’s going to do anything about this. That was my point.
When I was learning to ride a motorbike the training was formidable, the actual riding the thing was easy, it was all about situational awareness and defensive riding, speed and two wheels leads to trouble. The same applies to cycling.
I’ve traversed London using bicycles, cars, vans, motorbikes and rollerblades (didn’t work out too well) and in every case I concentrate a lot on what other people are doing and what might happen. I’d love to know the statistics for the number of cyclists who are also trained road users, because you can tell those who are unaware of what’s going on around them. I did cycling proficiency at school, vaguely remember something in cub scouts, and that instilled some idea of road safety.
I guess I’m saying there should be government backed cycling proficiency schemes, not compulsory, because we don’t like being told what to do. Every borough could run them on a Saturday, all bikes shops could be made to advertise them. Someone’s going to tell me they already exist, which my be so, but like so many things (kings cross bike parking) noone knows about them.
My tips for riding in London:
Anticipate – what other road users and pedestrians might do as you’re coming up to them. Look for vehicles that may want to turn infront of you or change lane, even if they aren’t signalling, modify your road position and speed in case they do, doesn’t matter if they don’t but protects you for when they inadvertently do. Imagine no one has seen you and everyone is oblivious even if you’re lit up like a Christmas tree.
Eye contact – make eye contact with any pedestrians at crossings, make sure you catch their eyes and mouth or say no to them if there’s a hint they might be looking to cross. The same for car drivers at junctions. If you have a bell, use it, it’s not there just to get rusty.
Speed – hand in hand with anticipation, lose the speed as you come up to crossings and junctions just in case, especially in inclement weather.
MOT – how often do people service their brakes and get their tyres replaced to keep them in good condition? Vehicle owners have to by law once a year to maintain legal stopping distances.
Ride safely people.
I currently use this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-automatically-Sounds-Ultra-loud-Electronic-Bicycle-Bell-Bike-Horn-Siren-Black-/260896964914?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3cbeabc132#ht_3013wt_922 (no affiliation) and it’s rather good, especially for when a gang of pedestrians decide that as long as there are no cars on the road, they can muscle their way across a red light (red for them, green for me). Sounding this horn tends to make them stand still long enough for me to ride through the green light (which I hope we all agree is a reasonable thing to expect). I used to use this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Bicycle-Loud-Siren-Horn-Beeper-Bell-4-Sounds-Tones-/280866508552?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item4164f2cf08#ht_4078wt_920 which was also all right, but when you press one of the buttons, the sound carries on for a solid 10 seconds. this can be good or bad, depending on whether you want to keep holding the button down or if you want to flick it and get your hand back onto the handlebar so you can maneouvre – which is likely since you’re clearly not in a good place if you have to sound the horn…
anyway, a horn is the way forward! at least then you can say to people, “I got the electric horn”, if your humour takes you in that direction…
I like to use this: http://www.airzound.co.uk/ . The only problem that I’ve had with it is that some people can’t relate to so much noise coming from a bike but it’s stopped buses and Addiscum Lee drivers in their tracks (possibly because they think a bigger whale is in their pond…)
I came very close to colliding with a female pedestrian and her two youngish kids crossing a pedestrian crossing on a green light (ie a red man). I had to swerve practically up on to the pavement to avoid them, as I carried on (albeit fairly slowly), (wrongly) assuming they’d look to their left and stop. The woman gave me a tirade of abuse, acusing me of trying to run down her children, and tried to hit me. It was in the afternoon on a busy high street, and I suspect most of the other pedestrians thought I was the one in the wrong. It was one of those situations where the more you protest, the more you look just like the crazed cyclist…
Don’t forget that if you hit a pedestrian or car or whatever, even if it wasn’t your fault, you could be sued for any damage caused to them. And occasionally even if they hit you!! If you join a cycling organisation, you would at least have 3rd party cover if that happened.
Some of the posters here seem to see pedestrians in much the same light as white van men see cyclists. Perhaps white van man is taking to two wheels.
So which is better, getting sued for no good reason or fined for failing to report an accident. Failing to report would probably be cheaper than settling with a Ped claiming backlash, whiplash, ear nose and throatlash
Pedestrians make me more on edge than other road users.
Why would ANY road user make you “on edge”? Just be calm and be prepared…
It would be great to have more police presence on the street, but we all know there’s bugger all money for it. We’ve also got peds from all manner of countries who will act in whichever way they’re used to, so all we can do as cyclists bar funding the police or retraining the masses as to how to cross the road is get insurance, ride sensibly and get a whopping great horn on the bike.
Yes, I have an air zound on the shopping list! even the electric horn driven by a 9 volt battery isn’t doing the trick anymore…
If we look to the future in London we can see fewer cars, more bikes, more motorbikes, more buses, and lower speed limits. In fact, an urban limit of 20 mph on most roads is inevitable in the near future. This is also going to mean more pedestrians mixing it with the rest of the traffic. So cyclists are just going to have to adapt their riding styles and speeds to accommodate increasing numbers of ‘peds’ on the roads. If you want to see the future – just look at the past. Here is a video of San Francisco in 1905. http://youtu.be/oubsaFBUcTc
You aren’t wrong. But your language as well as the language of many others seems to suggest that the “peds” are untouchable.
“there will be more peds on the road, so cyclists will have to adjust”
to an extent YES, but what about
“there will be more CYCLISTS on the road, so PEDS will have to adjust”
In reality, of course, I believe that some kind of middle ground needs to be reached, the peds need to look, as well as stop regarding cyclists as some kind of lower life form. We are vertebrates too!
The peds need to be re-educated re: green cross code, etc, so that this doesnt keep happening:
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=63157
of course, cyclists need to also be re-educated, RLJing needs to stop (applies to everyone), but most of all, everyone needs to stop putting themselves and others in danger.
also, remember that we are all peds at one point or another. I spend a lot of my time being a ped, and despite listening to music a lot of the time, I look before I cross and have not caused a vehicle travelling through a green light to have to swerve to avoid me for over a decade (when I was still a child). It’s time for all other peds to grow up too…
John, I love your San Fran clip. Substitute buses for trams, taxis for buggies and thats my daily commute already
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I ran into a pedestrian at London Bridge, Tooley street. Her timing was immaculate, just stepped out from in front of a van and my shoulder got her right in the face and I went arse over tit. 2 transport police were standing right there and a commuter saw everything and said it was her fault. I was fine, just a split second thing, I had no chance to see her. She didn’t look for cyclists. I wasn’t going too fast. You see pedestrians crossing into the station without looking every day, must happen a lot. I was fine so just went on my way.
It does annoy me how many cyclists don’t use a bell, this is a big reason that collisions happen.
Some very interesting views on here, not all of which I agree with but Nick D does seem to talk sense.
I hit a ped once. She wasn’t looking. She was crossing at one of those stupid raised bits around the Southbank that make people think there isn’t actually a road there! As I’d seen her I slowed down, fully expecting the left right left right shuffle as soon as she realised I was there – she didn’t disappoint and I hit her. Had she just carried on walking I would have gone round her and we’d have both been on our way! Anyway, we both went down but neither of us were hurt and she was very apologetic and took full responsibility, even asking if my bike was ok, which was nice and seems to differ from most other peoples experiences.
Since then I just assume that there is the possibility that anyone could be a moron and therefore could do something unpredictable and I ride accordingly – particularly as I work in a very touristy part of town so I often come across people looking the wrong way when crossing the roads or groups of people who are more interested in the London Eye than the traffic around them!
If you are prepared you shouldn’t come off too badly but it still doesn’t make it right that we’re generally assumed to be the bad guys in these circumstances, or that pedestrians can assume they always have right of way.
Been riding in London on and off for about 10 years and haven’t had a collision of any sort yet. Sometimes I do fantasize about a close call with an attractive pedestrian/motorist of the opposite sex which in turn leads to a Hollywood-style Romcom..
I know as a cyclist this is wrong, but sometimes I really find myself attracted to motorists and pedestrians.
I have been hit by a cyclist at speed.
I was minding my own business – outside Pret looking forward to my lunch – when I was run over by a cyclist. She neither apologised or commented on my prostrate position. Just cycled on. I was so shocked that I just picked myself up and went to lunch. Did have a massive bruise on my bum…
My crime? Not looking left or right ON THE Pavement!!!
If a see a cyclist on the pavement again, do I have duty to protect others? And should I push them off?
The answer of whether you should push a cyclist off their bike if you find them on the pavement depends on the situation, as always. Each situation should be judged on its own and a blanket response NOT applied. I get the feeling the next cyclist would be the recipient of your revenge attack and a 5 year old might not understand your reasons. Without question the cyclist who knocked you over was in the wrong, but that does not mean all cyclist are in the wrong.
If ever I find myself crossing pavements with pedestrians, which happens a fair bit around London’s bicycle routes, I slow down to walking pace.
Even so, I have met a pedestrian who was so incensed that I was on the pavement that he pushed me into the road. Luckily I resisted initially and waited until after the double decker bus had passed. I had the distinct impression that had I gone under the bus the pedestrian would have been quiet happy.
@ Julian
I also ride a bike.
Sorry to hear that you were pushed off. Not even a cyclist deserves the bus, though some do…
I did not act out of revenge nor would, though I might think it… Like most people I just get on with my life, and anyway when I challenged the last guy for riding aggressively he told be I was c**t and spat in my face.
I think we agree – regardless of the mode of transport there are those out there who think they own the road, and act accordingly.
I am pretty shocked at the comments here. – shoulder barging? Come on..
“Peds” are in fact people, and people do stupid things. If you are capable of riding at speed then like it or not you have a responsibility to others. That even includes the stupid ones like me having lunch.
The issue here is over aggression in all us. What is going on when a great cycle to work turns into a spit laden tirade of verbal abuse? I am only going to the office for goodness sake! Chill out!! We could be on the tube…
Good point Patrick!I’ll have to try some of these for my subject lines as well ….Cheers,
I like reading blog postings that have been going on for a couple of weeks. By then a wide range of thoughts, perceptions and experiences have been given. The stronger the view, the less accommodating blogging individuals are to taking on the views of others, with the blog soon degenerating into personal abuse, or here is my partial government research (which out trumps your lack of research!).
If one accepts the view that there is a normal distribution of human behaviour (in terms of how people conduct themselves when walking, cycling, motorcycling and car driving), then it is inevitable that there will be a smaller proportion of people who have relatively little awareness to their their surrounds and the humans in it; the greater rump of those who have increasing and possibly fluctuating awareness; to those who are highly sensitized and hyper-vigilant to everything around them, whether human or inanimate (be it moving or static). If each of those ‘groups’ were the only ones about then their somewhat more predictable behaviour could be factored into the cycling ‘equation’. Unfortunately, everyone is in the ‘stew’ at the same time! It is inevitable, therefore that cyclists will have to cycle defensively, rather than blame any one group for all the wows.
This reminds me of the Advanced Motorist qualification (for car, motorbike and cycle) where the core theme is to anticipate within the context of the current road conditions. The best example of this was a government tv advert from a couple of years ago when a high powered motorcyclist goes out for a short ride before returning back home safe and well. He was able to position himself well on the road, anticipate blind spots, ease off when unsure and yet at the same time keep up a brisk pace.
I like to think of myself as being at the more vigilant / anticipatory end of the continuum, but twice in the last couple of days as a ped have I nearly got in the way of cyclists whilst on a short visit to central London. The first was walking off the path to pass slower moving peds. Bypassing into the adjacent cycle lane (and checking to see there were no distance cyclist approaching), some ‘assertive’ on a fix wheel emulating the Tour de France swept by with no regard and secondly a cyclist thought he could jump the red lights by going across the pedestrian side road crossing and barging through the peds! Both of these near misses are now logged into my vigilance / anticipatory database.
Ok I’ve read through all of these comments and it’s quite scary. First off, from what I’ve read of Tiva’s story (on here and elsewhere) I don’t think she was at fault. However here are a few points I’ve gleaned from other posts and would like to comment on:
1. In the UK, a pedestrian is allowed (nay entitled) to cross the road at any point they so choose. You can hope that they will show common sense in this but should in no way expect that will be the case.
2. Pedestrains crossing on a red man. These aren’t people suddenly jumping out from between two parked buses. Pedestrian crossings are rarely hidden so if you see someone who looks like they may start to cross, perhaps you should start to slow down. Unless there is an element of surprise (like a ped leaping out from between two buses) if you fail to stop in time to prevent an accident, it will be deemed by law that you were travelling too quickly for the situation (this will be used in an insurance claim to reduce the %age liability).
I’ve been commuting in London for over 15 years. I regularly get my bike to over 30mph and yet in 15 years I’ve only had two accidents. The first was 15 years ago and I was going too quickly for the situation (I was new, I learnt). The second I hit a ped who literally stepped out from between two cars without looking. I don’t apportion blame to her. We both got slightly hurt, we both walked away.
As to the correspondent who was doing 20mph down the INSIDE of a van (regardless of the fact it was turning right) I’m just stunned you can think it was anyone else’s fault. That is reckless cycling. End of.
I found this website after reading about a recent article about a young woman ‘tweeting’ about hitting a cyclist!
I’m a cyclist myself, so in no way is this a ‘I hate cyclists rant’, but seriously, why do so many cyclists think they are completely above the law/common sense?
In maybe the past 2/3 weeks, on my way to/from work, crossing the same zebra crossing, I have almost been hit three times by cyclists who fail to stop – they act as if they’re the only road users! And when you confront them, they act totally innocent.
If anybody sees this, I wonder if they could provide comment on what, if any, repercussions there would be for stepping in front of the cyclist who is breaking the law and failing to stop at a zebra crossing while pedestrians are either waiting or already crossing?
This is in London, so I do get that the ‘London cyclist’ is a unique being!
Many cyclist where I live speed along the pavement, it is only a matter of time before someone gets hit. They come so close it is very disturbing. As they carry no insurance what happens to me. I am no spring chicken so I am not a fast mover.
i have just had a crash into someone who just stepped out into the main road into the path of my bike and because i didnt slow down fast enough and hit him he started shouting at me saying that all pedestrians have right of way on the roads and pavements and that i should have stopped i told him to thats not correct and to f off ,because i was on the road in moving traffic and there was no crossing where he had tried to cross, so how could i not have right of way is this man an idiot or am i wrong
He’s half right. The UK doesn’t really operate a right of way policy, we have a priority policy that starts with the most vulnerable. So pedestrians have priority at all times but they are also expected to exercise a level of care and attention to protect themselves. So yes he can be in the road in front of you and for example if you see someone about to step off the pavement into the road you should attempt to avoid contact if at all possible. Can he sue you for injuries sustained? Extremely unlikely as he hasn’t exercised enough care. So in answer to your questions no he’s not an idiot and yes I’m afraid you’re wrong you don’t have right of way.
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Last year I had a jogger run out in front of me as I was making a left turn whilst cycling to work. I wasn’t going fast as I’d just started from standstill at a red traffic-light and I could see the jogger running on the spot on a traffic island, looking in my direction which made me think she’d seen me and was waiting for me to pass, but the moment I’d decided to commit myself to continuing, she darted out in front of me. I ended up hitting her, glancing off, my bike hit the kerb, I was thrown over the handlebars and I ended up with my left leg hitting a traffic sign and breaking my fibula and smashing the top of my tibia (just below the knee). Two operations and a 14 day stay in hospital, I had the wear a frame for 6 months and face a further year to fully recover.
Funny how things develop.
After the Alliston/Briggs collision we have the probability of Dangerous/Careless cycling prosecutions. There is less than I month to answer the Govt consultation process. I’ve said that I’d only be happy with the new laws if they also apply reciprocally to pedestrians. What about you?
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/new-cycling-offences-causing-death-or-serious-injury-when-cycling
I have not read all the above posts, but I find the accounts of accidents elicit little sympathy in me.
I have been cycling the streets of London for 40 years now and I can honestly say that I have never had a single accident – I have never hurt myself or anyone else.
Two or three principles guide my cycling: 1. Assume vehicle drivers are trying to kill you. 2 Assume all mammals within 100 m of you will do the most unpredictable thing. 3. Know your geography and thread through the back streets.
These principles have implications about speed: it is rare to find a situation where I could ever travel at 20 mph in London. And about concentration: only when you can clearly see that there are no humans, dogs, cats, horses etc ahead or to the side (including potentially inside a vehicle) can you momentarily relax. London cycling is about 100% concentration 100% of the time. In fact cycling down back streets is also about the concentration thing: large roads with much vehicle traffic are not only intrinsically dangerous; they are also very tiring as vigilance must be total.
Expect people to step out in front of you when they shouldn’t and adjust your speed and positioning accordingly. If other humans behave stupidly or dangerously, give them a piece of your mind… but NEVER be surprised: simply anticipate. Anticipation is the number 1 tool in the stay-alive toolkit.
I think everyone should be able to walk around safely, using common sense and consideration for others. But with no test for physical or mental capability, and no age limits, should pedestrians all be assumed to take terrible risks on purpose? Or, do some drivers and cyclists think some people should not go out of doors? People on foot may have disabilities such as poor vision, hearing or mobility. Non- drivers can be unaware of issues for drivers/ cyclists, such as anticipation. Road layouts are not usually planned for pedestrians, and the visual environment can be chaotic. People on foot need to look ahead and downward to avoid tripping over. It’s often hard to see an oncoming cyclist until they are very close, especially when you’re really wondering if you’ll be mown down by a motor. I don’t like anyone jay walking, but ( except in big cities), there may be few or no foot crossings. Should I have to walk half a mile to cross from one pavement to the one opposite, and walk back again? Maybe just stay indoors and never leave the house…
Oh behave as a learner driver, you have to take a hazard perception test right.. so as a cyclist
Approaching a crossing surely you’d be schooled in believing
A pedestrian my step out and slow down
On your approach? Or stop at a red light nut no do pay
Any road tax don’t see
That laws of the road apply too them.. jump
Red lights do as they like..’but when it goes wrong they wanna moan on ya bimlke ya divy