A Question on Road Rules in Britain.. Almost got run over, again

[stressconsul]

Pedestrians do of course have right of way when crossing a side street but most drivers are unaware of this, as they are also seemingly unaware that they should indicate when turning, so it is pedestrians who have to be very careful not to get run down.

[biotechpete]

Pedestrians do of course have right of way when crossing a side street but most drivers are unaware of this, as they are also seemingly unaware that they should indicate when turning, so it is pedestrians who have to be very careful not to get run down.

 

Only when they are actually crossing. This doesn't mean we can just step out into the road to cross at will. The rules for pedestrians still apply.

[Radomu]

Only when they are actually crossing. This doesn't mean we can just step out into the road to cross at will. The rules for pedestrians still apply.

 

No one is advocating people to walk right across a main street. You can always take the crossing. The problem here is the inevitable cross in the junction to a side street.

[liza D]

My father always told me to treat all other road users as idiots. That way you are extra cautious.

I'm a driver and it also annoys me drivers don't signal when they should.

 

The best thing to do is if you see a car coming near the road you are about to cross, let it go by first then cross. If you are on a street and want to cross, do it further down from the junction.

 

Remember drivers turning into a road can't always see pedestrians, what with all these people who park right at the edge of the junction, making it hard to see a ruddy thing going in or out.

[ubermaus]

I made the following post a while back where I recounted several aggressive encounters that I have had with drivers as a pedestrian, some of which were near-death experiences.

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1344422

 

Since then I've been in two more incidents, one of which involved a pedestrian walking next to me getting his arm hit. Both incidents took place when I was crossing a side street. As you normally would when you're walking on the pavement, you would have to cross a side street, and sometimes a driver would abruptly turn into it from the main street without the use of any blinkers to indicate that he or she is changing direction. Most of the times they just stop and honk, but in these following cases they came really close to me that I was almost scared for my life.

 

1. About a week ago I was walking down infirmary road on a rainy da, and I was crossing the side street on the corner of the Infirmary Superstore (the big Tesco). As an Audi sedan went ahead to drive into the side street from the main street without waiting for us, a man who happened to be walking next to me had his arm struck by the side mirror of the car. After it slipped into the road, we shockingly glanced at the car that drove away as fast as possible. The fellow pedestrian who was just hit looked like he was about to tear up.

 

2. Today, after I came out of the Swim Inn (Wetherspoon branch) on Glossop road, me and my friend crossed a side street called Victoria Street just by Orient Express, and a white van drove in to the road so close that I almost felt like the tip of it was nudging into my chest. I was startled as my friend exclaimed, and the van drove away after saying something that I couldn't catch.

 

I of course don't want to generalise about all drivers in Sheffield, but it seems that this kind of thing happens much more frequently then I think should. So the question that I was wondering was whether if I was walking the streets 'wrongly', of if the drivers were at wrong. In driving class, I was taught to always give way to pedestrians and only honk them when they suddenly jump in front of the car as an irresponsible jaywalker.

 

Are drivers here taught the same too? Is it actually the law that drivers have the upper hand on the streets when pedestrians are just being pedestrians and crossing the side street to walk onto the other side of the pavement?

 

I would appreciate all of your responses as I sometimes feel like I'm scared for my life living in this city.

 

Learn to cross the road properly. Try standing on the pavement, look both ways and then cross, i usually find it helps.

 

---------- Post added 11-04-2015 at 08:18 ----------

 

Pedestrians do of course have right of way when crossing a side street but most drivers are unaware of this, as they are also seemingly unaware that they should indicate when turning, so it is pedestrians who have to be very careful not to get run down.

 

Pedestrians are to blame 100%. The number ive seen wandering into roads, coming out of pubs like the OP..not even looking or on a mobile. Or just simply carolling traffic in the middle of lanes..

 

---------- Post added 11-04-2015 at 08:28 ----------

 

The best are chinese or asian students. The look on their faces when you nearly run them over is priceless.

Edited April 11, 2015 by ubermaus
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[Bodie]

In general, paths/pavements are for pedestrians and roads are for vehicles. If either has to cross from one area to another for whatever reason then surely extra vigilance is needed.

 

I even look both ways when crossing a one way street - I value my life!

[tzijlstra]

In Britain cars have right of way, or at least that seems to be the primary rule.

 

Also checking here, but aren't both those junctions controlled by traffic lights?

[Bodie]

In Britain cars have right of way

 

Not when the pedestrian is ON a zebra crossing

[tzijlstra]

I've nearly been knocked off my socks on a zebra crossing before now the British road-system and associated rules is very much slanted in favour of cars.

[Bodie]

Rules and drivers are totally incomprehensible for some. I'll stop at an amber light where others will go through.