Walking home just now with a brolly in hand (not up though as it had stopped spitting).
Anyway, I was crossing at a zebra crossing, I'd stopped and looked, and there was a car coming, but a fair way off. I start to cross and they carried on, close enough to clip the umbrella handle about 35cm in front of me 😬
They then stopped and had a go at me for 'hitting' their car with my umbrella!?!
I used a few choice words, and offered to call the police for them, at which point they drove off. ****ing idiot!
Almost guaranteed they were on their phone I suppose. I really do despair sometimes.
had one do the same a couple of weeks ago. Was walking the dog with the girlfriend and we came to a zebra crossing, looked both ways and there's a van slowly approaching at about 10mph I guess. He's clearly looking down at his phone trying to text or look at something, He didn't even look up, see us or notice that he'd just driven straight over a crossing. Unbelievable to watch really.
If I thought the Police would do anything, I’d say ‘Report’, but as they won’t, all you can do is put it down as another interaction with one of this planets A-holes.
Had one similar. It was actually a light controlled crossing and the driver sailed straight through the red. Not going especially quick and I could see she was texting. She got about 20m further up the road and got stuck in traffic so I banged on the window and suggested she stopped texting. Looked very surprised.
Some people seem to do anything but focus on driving. At least they are now doing it at 20 rather than 30
But if the brolly was clipped, you must have only just started to cross which means the car was quite close surely (and obviously you should ensure it’s safe to cross before stepping out).
I’m not trying to justify the driver’s actions, but both parties do have a responsibility in this scenario.
no it is quite common. i had the council install one at great expense close to our house. i can see it from my boys room. i use it most days, sometimes multiple times
cars regularly do not stop, you cannot trust them to have seen you or care at all. in fact i relatively regularly have drivers, usually white vans, beeping their horn to point out that they have seem me and are not intending on giving way at all
its a bloody liability, im surprised someone hasnt been hurt yet
both parties do have a responsibility in this scenario
I’m fairly sure that’s not quite how the HC puts it.
I stopped at a crossing on my bike and was driven into from the rear. I had my Trace r on pulse, which I couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed.
I accused the driver of being on the phone which made him quite aggressive towards me and the young Mum who had been waiting to cross.
I went straight to the Police station with a photo of the driver with reg plate and full contact details for my witness and it was the last I heard of it. Absolutely unbelievable!!
But if the brolly was clipped, you must have only just started to cross which means the car was quite close surely (and obviously you should ensure it’s safe to cross before stepping out).
I’m not trying to justify the driver’s actions, but both parties do have a responsibility in this scenario.
Fairly wide, one way road, and I was about 1/3 of the way across.
I'd say the car was 20m off when I started crossing - which is only about 2 or 3 seconds at 20mph.
Yes, maybe I should have waited, but you kind of assume that people will stop!
“Yes, maybe I should have waited, but you kind of assume that people will stop!”
I generally assume that most people in cars are trying to kill me, unless they present very strong evidence to the contrary.
Have to admit if there's cars coming from either direction at a crossing I wait at the side untill they are slowing down/stopping as I don't trust them to actually notice when I'm on my way over.
Yep we have a Zebra crossing on the route to our kids school. Mostly drivers are good but we have had the nearest side stop for us, we head across and a we get to the middle nearly get wiped out by a car coming the other way that doesn't stop. Had it when pushing youngest in a large Pram a couple of times. Even had a car stop and a car from behind it come past nearly hitting us, the stopped car and the car stopped in the other direction.
gimlets everywhere!! a zebra crossing has recently (6months ago) been installed outside my kids school and the amount of people who dont stop or are super aggressive is crazy so we always step out extra cautiously
assume
Makes an ass of u and me.
It's easiest to assume most drivers are ****s. Eye contact is important, imo.
There's a thing in Germany about crossing against a red man at pedestrian crossings. There are often signs on the lamppost saying "nur bei grün, den Kindern ein Vorbild", which kinda means "be an example to the kids when it's green. I used to get tutted at by old ladies when I crossed despite they're being no cars in sight.
Friends of ours were in Hamburg last year with other friends of theirs. Pedestrian light goes green, five year old runs across the road and gets hit by a Mercedes.
Dead.
Currently in Italy.... Only once your foot is on the tarmac so people stop..... And that's one handed whilst a phone is held to their ear. Impressive and shocking in equal measure.
When I lived in Gothenburg it took me quite a while to understand that drivers were purposely approaching slowly to give me time to cross without stopping - it was quite the culture shock given my assumption was they hadn't seen me and had no intention of letting me cross a la UK
It’s easiest to assume most drivers are ****. Eye contact is important, imo.
Eye contact doesn't mean shit, it just gives you a false sense of security. I learned that one the hard way. A lorry driver entering a roundabout looked me square in the eyes, I thought "it's OK, he's seen me." Pulled straight out in front of me, I left two sets of skid marks that morning.
In France if there isn't a pedestrian crossing within 50m you have priority over cars to cross the road just by indicating your intention to do so. Raise your hand and stride out. As many people don't seem to know this rule I don't suggest trying it unless you're good at spinning round and retreating.
Sure there are national variations but they are less marked than local ones IME. In Berlin you're unlikely to get told off for crossing bei Rot but in the south they'll get upset. Crossing in Pau is relatively safe but not in Tarbes only 45km away.
I disagree with the eye contact thing on zebras, they're more likely to stop if you're looking the other way and show no signs of hesitating.
When drivers do slow down when they see me I jog across and give them a wave which means they get a reward (not having to stop) for courtesy.
Yeah refusal to make eye contact works just as well. Half the time you can't even see the driver due to reflections on the windscreen anyway.
I feel like Alan Davies posting this image, just before the QI Klaxxon goes off.
When I was last in Italy, I genuinely didn't know what the rules were regarding pedestrian crossing and, on one occasion, when I needed to cross a busy road and there were no locals about to follow their example, I was somewhat "stuck". Anyway, I was stood there for what felt like a few minutes waiting for a non-existent gap in the traffic before I risked stepping on the crossing. No one stopped for me.
Even when I DID step on the crossing, traffic didn't stop. So I cautiously edged out into the road expecting, maybe, the traffic would finally stop. Not a chance.
Eventually, I noticed a bus was slowing down and so a gap in the traffic opened up, so I walked a little further out into the road, thinking that a 'professional' driver would actually follow the law. NOPE - he drove straight across the crossing even though I was now 3/4 of the way across and about two feet from being hit...
So, if anyone knows what the law/convention is for crossing roads in Italy (at marked pedestrian crossings!), please let me know....
Wait for a nun to cross the road and follow in her wake as the traffic screeches to a stop
There’s a Zebra crossing at the top of my road, on what used to be a main trunk route, the A350. It’s now just a ‘B’ road, but a major road connecting the A4 and the A420, with something like 13 minor urban roads branching off and a couple of schools close by.
I cross it more often now because the Bath bus stop is nearby, and I’m very careful about crossing the road - if vehicles are approaching from either or both directions, I’ll stand and wait for them to clearly show they’re stopping, because a number of times one vehicle has slowed right down and another from the other direction has driven straight past just as I’m about to step out onto the road; it happened the last time I went to catch the bus.
It’s usually vans but quite often cars. 🤷🏼
Maybe I should take to carrying one of my walking sticks, they’ve got tungsten carbide spikes in the ends for grip… 😏
There was a story a bit back of a lollipop lady who would use her sign to bash cars that didnt stop as the kids started to cross.
Compared to other European countries we are very much a car culture where it's assumed that the car has priority, irrespective of crossings or HC or vulnerability levels of other road users. I think people genuinely feel that the car should be allowed to go unimcombered by default.
Which is totally at odds with the rest of the fairly considerate aspect of the culture compared to those other countries.
I never really got my head around that one since I moved here. Ignoring a pedestrian crossing in France is socially unacceptable whereas it seems par for the course here. Anything else is pretty much the other way round however 😂
You’re not mad. Crossings should be approached with an expectation of stopping. We have one in our village where traffic backs up four times an hour thanks to level crossings.
I reported this. We really need cameras and automated fines. Someone was hit when crossing in a similar situation. Looking right and run over by a car on the wrong side of the road. There are no keep right indicators because you MUST NOT cross the zig-zag lines at a crossing.
We really need cameras and automated fines
I think the issue there is that councils aren’t allowed to keep the fines from enforcement, but have to pay the costs of it (as a result of previous Ending the War on Motorists bollocks). If that changes we might get better enforcement.
When I lived in Gothenburg it took me quite a while to understand that drivers were purposely approaching slowly to give me time to cross without stopping – it was quite the culture shock given my assumption was they hadn’t seen me and had no intention of letting me cross a la UK
And the pedestrian priority, light controlled crossings on every exit from some roundabouts.
Or even not light controlled, just crossings. Get there just after a bus has dropped off and no one in a car is going anywhere for a couple of minutes!
Takes some getting used to, but definitely worth it.
(And the bus stops are deliberately *in* the carriageway with the express intent of stopping the traffic, so a central reservation to make sure you don't pass. Some places even go down to one lane at the bus stop, to stop traffic in both directions)
Almost guaranteed they were on their phone I suppose. I really do despair sometimes.
You crossed the road on a zebra without keeping an eye on the traffic you'd already seen coming towards you?
Let this be a 'safe' lesson.
There's a traffic light pedestrian crossing near me which often has drivers run it.
It's on the main road but by a staggered junction so traffic pulling out onto the main road is often trying to "make a dash for it" and they concentrating on other cars, not the pedestrian lights.
I stopped once (on my bike) and nearly got flattened by a car which drove straight through, narrowly missing the woman crossing as well. Driver simply hasn't seen the lights, they'd just looked at the gap in traffic.
Compared to other European countries we are very much a car culture where it’s assumed that the car has priority, irrespective of crossings or HC or vulnerability levels of other road users. I think people genuinely feel that the car should be allowed to go unimcombered by default.
I don't know the "how" for this, but this is what needs to change. Some people appear to have a dual personality: reasonable, decent flk in general until they get behind the wheel of a car.
But there's the A-holes too. Couple of years ago but I still remember it clearly. 30mph residential street with traffic island in the middle to help pedestrians cross the road - quite narrow and not pleasant to stand on island with cars whizzing by with zero protection other than keep left signs (no railings, barriers etc). Kids and me waiting in middle for gap to cross remaining carriageway and I hear car approaching at speed on carriageway we'd already crossed. Close passes us doing 40mph+ blasting their horn to make us shit ourselves. Bearing in mind that's young kids in school uniform. Total dick move.
As a biker you should know this though: yes you are absolutely in the right, and the driver is driving in an illegal way. But no, being right doesn't prevent serious injury or worse.
Take photos, take it up with the driver; if their window's open take their phone and throw it down the drain. But whatever you do, keep your eyes peeled at all times!
Same this morning - cycling toward a pelican crossing and a young girl was waiting to cross on her way to school. I stopped, but the car (Black MG mini SUV thing) on her side of the road (who'd had more time to react to her) just barrelled through while she was on the crossing, swerving on to my side of the road and missing her by mere CM. I gesticulated in frustration and they beeped at me and gave me the finger as they drove away? WTF?
I checked she was okay and carried on to work. Driving standard really are appalling at the moment.
Seems to be a theme right now, has been since the pandemic. A lot more anger on the roads too. I'm trying to consciously rein in showing any kind of reaction to bad passes right now as it feels like there are a lot more frustrated and unhinged drivers out there.
If you think the brits have problems with pedestrian crossings try cycle lane crossings. I probably came the closest to dying on the new A27 light controlled crossing near West Firle. Just cycled off the downs was about to cross towards Glynde. It’s a fast road and so the lights are on yellow for quite awhile then on red for some time before the little green bike comes on to give everyone plenty of time. Car coming from the left had stopped completely and there was a car and caravan coming from my right so closest lane. As they were a hundred meters away and the light had been on red for some time I kind of mentally assumed they were slowing down and was just starting to cross - the car missed me by inches, they had sped up - probably going 60 over the crossing….I still remember the look of horror and panic in the eyes of the two cyclists on the other side who were clearly paying more attention. They told me afterwards they honestly thought I was dead.
Nobody got the number
Apparently it happens a lot on that crossing - driver’s just don’t think a cycle lane crossing is a real thing and the red light is just advisory!!!!! Absolutely unbelievable.
Crossing etiquette seems to have gone downhill the last 15-20 years, I'm convinced it's because people have sat-navs telling them what to do that they've stopped actually thinking for themselves in a car.
Wasn’t there an advert that recommended a supply of bricks in a basket either side of crossings. Carry the brick as you cross, car does not stop and they loose their rear window. Would make drivers pay more attention!
That's a real-world meme from America where some states/counters have started putting a box of red flags at crossing points of you to walk across waving.
Obviously this is stupid, hence someone form an active transport group suggested waving bricks instead would be far more effective at getting cars to stop.
i sometimes get a bit of a look from drivers who have slowed down to let me cross, but I don't actually start to cross until they've slowed down even more (or actually stopped).
But I don't care - I have been cycling and walking long enough that I try never to rely on other people not to run me over!
That’s a real-world meme from America where some states/counters have started putting a box of red flags at crossing points of you to walk across waving.
In Canada the equivalent of pelican crossings have signs highlighting that you're supposed to walk across the road with your arm and finger outstretched in front of you. Could never work out why.
But even in Canada where pedestrians have always had priority - no matter how stupid or inappropriate - drivers are becoming wilder. Canadians are incredibly aggressive drivers anyway, and cyclists and pedestrian crossings are becoming fair game. It's largely driven by (utter lack of) enforcement; if there's no punishment for running people off the road, drivers will continue to do it
I've got a zebra crossing I use every day near my office, at least 30% of people sail right through, sometimes even when you're already into their lane!
I think they need to start putting the crossing on a raised speedbump section that you simply can't whack over at full speed without headbutting the steering wheel.
Canadians are incredibly aggressive drivers anyway
I was surprised by this when I was out there last year. I think it feels worse because they all drive those gigantic fragile ego trucks. At least in the UK when you're being tailgated by a simpleton it's probably just an Audi A3. Over there it's a truck bigger than my house and all you can see in the rear view is a pair of wheels like you're about to be run over...
raised speedbump section
Do not get me started on this, as this is what the council put close to our house. In absolutely does not work. In fact now I get woken up at 5am by the local scaffolding / council / balfour beatie flat bed using it as a ski jump as they hit it at 40+ mph (in a 20) and get air.
They actually removed refuge islands in 3 places to build 2 raised zebra crossings. The refugees gave you the ability to cross safely by only having to worry about a single lane of traffic at a time, they were far far safer, especially if you were trying to cross with a pram or small kids, or are elderly / disabled and can't sprint across the road dodging drivers who refuse to slow down.
Absolute waste of money in the name of 'improving' safety (which I absolutely support and its needed)
I think average cameras is the only way to make it safe or mandate black boxes in cars. I've noticed those travelling at 20mph or close to it will always stop. Those doing 30-40+ are the ones you need to watch out for.
About to pop out and use it in a sec. Wish me luck
DT78
Do not get me started on this, as this is what the council put close to our house. In absolutely does not work. In fact now I get woken up at 5am by the local scaffolding / council / balfour beatie flat bed using it as a ski jump as they hit it at 40+ mph (in a 20) and get air.
Bad luck, those kind of drivers in those kind of vehicles are a PITA. At home I have a similar issue from those off-road tipper trucks and skip lorries going over a speed bump at full pelt. The chains banging around on the skip lorries in particular are chuffing loud.
Tosspots above aside, I think it does work for 95% of the traffic though...?
In my town, they had to stop the school traffic patrol (aka Lollipop Lady/Man) because there were so many near misses. How you can miss someone in a bright yellow coat and a big sign. I seem to recall there was an 'accident' where the car 'took out' the big sign! We now have TWO sets of pedestrian crossings. Along with lots of zig-zag lines.
They beeped at me and gave me the finger as they drove away? WTF?
You probably know this but the real meaning of such behaviour is of course...
"Deep down in my subconscious I know I've just been a total selfish **** of the first order. Unfortunately I am currently demonstrating my lack of ability to accept and learn from my blatant mistake and doing so on a level that a toddler would be dismayed by through transferring that aggression to the person who highlighted my exceptional stupidity".
You can see why when you type that out it's quicker to just beep and give you the finger. 🙂
Does it work? Being the pedestrian crossing or the fact its raised?
I'd say it is less safe overall than the refugee islands it replaced, when it was a 30mph with no designated cycle lane (it has little cone things to seperate it'
Before the 'improvements' I was happy to ride with my kids on quieter times, as I could ride next to them and prevent them from wandering out into the traffic when looking behind them, now I can't so they ride on the pavement
As this thread prompted it, you cannot trust cars to stop, I'd say its about 1 in 20 time I look to cross that a drivers fails to stop
The raised speed bump is only effective for those drivers that do not regularly use the road, all locals know full well they can hit it a 30+ and it'll be fine. The sort of drivers that go faster either don't own the vehicle or don't care. So all it does really is create additional noise for no real benefit
If drivers were doing 20mph the speed bump makes virtual no sound, so they need to start actually enforcing the limits. The times I go to cross, those doing 20 ish have always stopped. Its the tosspots, usually in commercial vans who just don't seem to care.
Standards are slipping and have been slipping for years. Best not to pay any attention to it. People are so much more aggressive these days for some unknown (well, i can think of a few really) reason. I find it's best to stay cool and not let knob heads like this affect you. As long as you're right, then it's all good, there the one with the problem.
Last week i was in London and there was a Merc SUV hurtling down one of the side streets near Earls Court, must have been doing 45-50mph. It was around 0800 so plenty of people around including kids going to school. A woman with a kid about 7, waved her arms at the guy as a gesture to slow down. He screeched to a halt and then was calling her a dumb C U next tuesday, threatening to have her shot etc..... i mean, where do you go with someone like that..... i see and hear more and more things like this from numerous posts on here and just walking around. It's all a bit odd.
useless cockwombles everywhere.
I strongly think that ALL cars should have to have dashcams factory fitted, that not only film outside, but also the driver and car interior too.
And that the police should be able to remotely access it at any time.
Give them a reg and a time and they can check to see who the idiot as and take some action.
Probably not populer with doggers, mind.
I hate drivers at times. So many absolutely bell ends who shouldn’t be allowed to be in charge of a vehicle. Was out on a road ride at weekend and some knobber in a van gave us a deliberate close pass on a wide open road. He obviously didn’t realise there were traffic lights just round the corner
my 6.4 100kg mate offered to have a ‘a discussion’ with him when he caught up. Driver wasn’t so tough at that point strangely enough. Oh how I laughed..
my 6.4 100kg mate offered to have a ‘a discussion’ with him when he caught up. Driver wasn’t so tough at that point strangely enough. Oh how I laughed..
Haha, I am 'that' guy (only 6ft mind, but that makes me taller and heavier than almost anyone else who says they're 6ft), but I have a very short allowance when it comes to motorized dicks.
I think I once made a hells angel* wet themselves whilst kindly explaining to them the error of their ways. It's not my fault if I look more intimating 6" from your face making myself heard over the exhaust pipes you chose in lieu of a personality.
I'm quite a nice person really when car's aren't involved, honest.
*Berkshire dentist
Given the immediate possibility of wrecking their vehicle by wrapping it around a pedestrian doesn't put selfish people off driving like arses, I really don't see that the gradual cumulative wear and tear of whacking over speed bumps at speed does much to slow them down either. I have speed bumps outside my house and am treated to the sound of scraping car undersides and all the rest hourly: all speed bumps do is create unnecessary noise and wear and tear on vehicles. There's simply no substitute for enforcement of reasonable norms for driving with actual likely consequences.
At least in the UK when you’re being tailgated by a simpleton it’s probably just an Audi A3
I dunno, there's an awful lot more massive SUVs around now. Guy near me has one of those colossal Dodge RAM pick up trucks that's so huge it overhangs the entire pavement when he parks it on his drive.
I've seen it in the supermarket car park. Top of the wheels was as high as the neighbouring car's roofline. 🤯
what ped-controlled crossings "need" is a pair of cameras (one for each lane) that activate when the lights change ... and then the will to fine (heavily) drivers seen to be taking the piss. Zebras could do the same, just with a button to activate the camera before you step out. Both systems would need a button to save the last 30 seconds of footage like a dashcam might
There are some properly vicious speed bumps in Spain, (well theres a mixture actualy, there doesn't seem to be a standard), but you'd properly wreck your suspension if hit some of them any faster than jogging speed. Keeps you on your toes when driving!
Guy near me has one of those colossal Dodge RAM pick up trucks
Yeah you're starting to see them a bit here now. But there are areas of Canada and the US where every other vehicle is one of those!
I have speed bumps outside my house and am treated to the sound of scraping car undersides and all the rest hourly
Same here. Although I get a chuckle from it at least, laughing at the plonkers damaging their cars because they refuse to drive properly...
Nothing boils my piss more than twunts barrelling through a zebra crossing when I'm walking my daughter to school. Of course, they're never in the wrong even when you point out it's a 20mph zone directly outside a school. Nothing beats a car for bringing out the absolute worst in people.
I was about to say it's an age related thing, but that would be wrong... It's mostly just selfishness & lack of awareness, and that's not age related.
Back in in my late teens/early 20's, I was guilty of driving like a bit of a knob, so I can't really talk.
In my 40's now, I find driving much more pleasurable by driving as progressivley as I can, according to the conditions, of course...it not only saves fuel, it makes for a much smoother ride - If I have to brake any more than very gently, I take that as a personal failing on my part (emergency braking aside).
And above that, it makes for a much more stress-free flowing driving experience, which also is safer for me and those around me.
A friend of mine drives quite agressivley, by my standards, anyway, and always seems to be stressed when driving... IMO that really doesn't help anyone.
You'll always get idiots, though, so all you can do is be aware, I suppose.
I don't know if it's an old wives tale or not, but I read a long time ago, a test, for would-be Chauffeurs, would be to put an egg on a shallow bowl fixed to the dashboard.
If the egg ever rolled out of the bowl, then they would fail the test.
You’ll always get idiots, though, so all you can do is be aware, I suppose.
And there's a lot of people who are just vile beyond words.
Some piece of human refuse C- bombed my 12 year old son today while he was cycling home from school along a quiet residential road and from what I can gather the thing that occasioned this was that the van driver pulled off the grass verge that he shouldn't have been parked on without looking.
It comes to something when you think your child needs a camera to ride two miles to school.
Worse driving does seem to have increased in line with car leasing/ PHP - newer cars, often faster, and people seemingly driving them like actual hire cars, rather than as if they have to keep them with every scratch and dent for the next 12 years.
In... Spain? maybe France? there's an invention in a few towns with a speed camera and, a little further on, an arbitrary traffic light. If the camera sees your speeding, the traffic light flips to red, so you have to sit and wait. Unless, I suppose, you're *really* speeding, in which case you might beat the light before it turns red...
In… Spain? maybe France? there’s an invention in a few towns with a speed camera and, a little further on, an arbitrary traffic light. If the camera sees your speeding, the traffic light flips to red, so you have to sit and wait.
Netherlands has this in places too. As a reward for not speeding, you get a clean flow of green lights. If you try speeding, you get stopped at all of them!
These idiots probably wouldn't make the connection between their speed and the arbitrary light. After all, they've spent their lives going 40 in a 30 yet not working out why I'm still in their mirror when they reach the next junction, and will dangerously overtake bikes just to have them filter past 10 seconds later when they get to the back of the queue.
Referring back to my earlier post about my mates ‘altercation’ the other day, typified many drivers mentalities. The same people who wouldn’t say boo to a goose to you if you met them in the pub, or wouldn’t dream of having the nerve to push infront of you in a queue you were standing in etc, yet put them in their protective little steel box and they think they can do whatever they want. And that extends to how they treat other drivers in on the road, not just cyclists
in some ways its not too dissimilar to this place, where some little nerds are more than happy to spout off and insult from behind the comfort of their keyboards, but wouldn’t dream of doing it to a stranger in the pub..
The synchronised lights are referred to as green wave, i've got a few runs of them near me.
Get the first one just as it turns green and you just cruise through at 5-8km below the limit for a dozen sets of lights. Unless any of them are ped controlled (that takes prio in a lot of places here).
Top of the wheels was as high as the neighbouring car’s roofline
This is quite an interesting website, the example highlights a Dodge RAM against my 2014 i20, but you can compare a vast array of cars with each other, although putting on Carlos Fandango super-size wheels isn't an option (shame!).
The same people who wouldn’t say boo to a goose to you if you met them in the pub, or wouldn’t dream of having the nerve to push infront of you in a queue you were standing in etc, yet put them in their protective little steel box and they think they can do whatever they want.
Exactly the mentality in Canada. They're so "nice" (deliberate inverted commas there) in person, but clearly love the anonymity of being in a big blacked out box, and letting all their selfishness and aggression. They're bad with pedestrians, but they're ****ing awful around cyclists, both in and out of towns
Wait for a nun to cross the road and follow
On a crossing? Now you see her, now you don't, now you see her...
in some ways its not too dissimilar to this place, where some little nerds are more than happy to spout off and insult from behind the comfort of their keyboards, but wouldn’t dream of doing it to a stranger in the pub..
I'm not sure that intimidating people into feeling unable to challenge you for fear of physical retaliation is an admirable quality either, mind.
that traffic light concept is quite a good idea... so therefore it will never be used in uk
I don't recall details but I'm sure I remember an article on TV where they were trialling this system over here. I remember at the time thinking it was a great idea but surely could only work in one direction.
I have found car drivers in Canada ti be unfailingly polite stopping if you even look at a crossing. Freaked me right out
I remember at the time thinking it was a great idea but surely could only work in one direction.
Use smart lights with variable timing, just make it work in the direction with most traffic, then have (slightly) suboptimal flows in the other direction. Then switch when the traffic does.
There was a documentary about this a while ago, they even make traffic planning software that allows you to trial in in the virtual world, before you commit to actual live traffic.
There was a documentary about this a while ago
I'm sure I've seen it, but I'm damned if I can remember what it was.
I’m not sure that intimidating people into feeling unable to challenge you for fear of physical retaliation is an admirable quality either, mind.
This may be news to some on here but you can challenge peoples opinions without resorting to insults. As most people manage to do in real life.
I totally agree.
But it's a lot easier to call (say) a racist a racist when the fear of having your head kicked in for your troubles is removed.
I came across this photo a while back showing the scale of American 4x4 trucks these days. That’s a Jeep Waggoner (I think) in the middle…
😳
Something I’ve noticed lately though isn’t so much drivers driving too fast, rather they’re dawdling along at 15-20 mph below the posted speed limits, a couple recently were sat at 35 mph on a dry road in sunny weather, where the limit was 50-60. Why? It holds up long strings of cars, and frustrated drivers then take stupid chances trying to get past.
Well my turn to be nearly taken out on a pelican crossing today. It crosses a road with one lane approaching from the right and two lanes from the left.
Press the button, wait 30 secs, lights go to red, green man comes on, lights make the usual chirping sound indicating it's "safe" to cross.
Car from the right has stopped, as has the car from the left. I begin to cross but then notice another car approaching from the left in lane 2 who has clearly not seen the red lights and all the other cars that have stopped and just sails right on through.
Nor did he notice me standing in the middle of the road waiting for him to stop.
Had I just walked without checking (like some folk do with their heads buried in a phone), or indeed someone with poor eyesight, things could have been rather nasty.
