Shouting

Brendan Halpin said:

Shouting on both legs of my commute today:

Out: Me shouting, at woman who leaves dog cross the road ahead of
her on the end of an extensible leash, me doing 30 km/h in pouring
rain. Visions of a dog with a broken neck and me sliding on my back
through the intersection.

Back: I'm the recipient, the shouter a 50-ish guy in lycra with
aero-bars: "Good man, ride right in the middle, don't let them
pass, that's the way to do it", as I come around a roundabout with
body language hinting "pull out and I'll t-bone you".

Pleased to feel I'm not the only cyclist around here with a taste
for the primary position.

I'm shouting, or at least grumbling loudly (and the odd blasphemy)
almost every day now. Pedestrians just not seeming to be aware of my
approach. They walk out on to the pedestrian crossing when I have the
green. This is in daylight too. South London, of course. Perhaps I do
not appear threatening enough. Or is it in revenge for the pavement
cyclists and red light jumpers?

[email hidden] whizzed past me shouting

Quoted message said:

I'm shouting, or at least grumbling loudly (and the odd blasphemy)
almost every day now. Pedestrians just not seeming to be aware of my
approach. They walk out on to the pedestrian crossing when I have the
green. This is in daylight too. South London, of course. Perhaps I do
not appear threatening enough. Or is it in revenge for the pavement
cyclists and red light jumpers?

What we need is trolleybuses: the one-step cure for pedestrians who
walk in front of you without looking.

Mind you, they also cure cyclists of relying on their ears.

--
Sue ];(🙂

Bicycle helmets are really a bit of a scam.
They make most cyclists slightly less safe but there's money in selling them.

Sue White said:

[email hidden] whizzed past me shouting

Quoted message said:

I'm shouting, or at least grumbling loudly (and the odd blasphemy)
almost every day now. Pedestrians just not seeming to be aware of my
approach. They walk out on to the pedestrian crossing when I have the
green. This is in daylight too. South London, of course. Perhaps I do
not appear threatening enough. Or is it in revenge for the pavement
cyclists and red light jumpers?

What we need is trolleybuses: the one-step cure for pedestrians who
walk in front of you without looking.

Mind you, they also cure cyclists of relying on their ears.

....which provides a neat segue back to the iPod thread.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brendan Halpin said:

Shouting on both legs of my commute today:

Out: Me shouting, at woman who leaves dog cross the road ahead of
her on the end of an extensible leash, me doing 30 km/h in pouring
rain. Visions of a dog with a broken neck and me sliding on my back
through the intersection.

Back: I'm the recipient, the shouter a 50-ish guy in lycra with
aero-bars: "Good man, ride right in the middle, don't let them
pass, that's the way to do it", as I come around a roundabout with
body language hinting "pull out and I'll t-bone you".

Pleased to feel I'm not the only cyclist around here with a taste
for the primary position.

I'm shouting, or at least grumbling loudly (and the odd blasphemy)
almost every day now. Pedestrians just not seeming to be aware of my
approach. They walk out on to the pedestrian crossing when I have the
green. This is in daylight too. South London, of course. Perhaps I do
not appear threatening enough. Or is it in revenge for the pavement
cyclists and red light jumpers?

So when ever did pedestrians ever obey the lights at their crossings? On the
whole I find that I am more invisible to peds than I am to car drivers. Or
they are totally unable to assess the speed at which I am travelling and
blithely assume that I will stop for them ( and |I don't -- a shout is
far more effective than any bike bell and my "bulb horn" is also a useful
alerting device. I also find that if my brakes are in a "squealing mode" a
quick touch of the brakes brings a sudden awareness of my approach)

Quoted message said:

They walk out on to the pedestrian crossing when I have the
green. This is in daylight too. South London, of course. Perhaps I do
not appear threatening enough. Or is it in revenge for the pavement
cyclists and red light jumpers?

No, just a reminder that sanctimonious pedestrians don't have the
monopoly on self-righteous attitudes towards other road-users. ;-)

d.

Sue White said:

What we need is trolleybuses: the one-step cure for pedestrians who
walk in front of you without looking.

Mind you, they also cure cyclists of relying on their ears.

I wonder - has there been any noticeable rise in pedestrian/cyclist
fatalities in the Croydon area in recent years?

d.

Pinky said:

So when ever did pedestrians ever obey the lights at their crossings?

I may be wrong, but I have a hunch that unlike car drivers, pedestrians
are not obliged to obey crossing signals.

In fact, they can cross where and whenever they like, except on roads
where pedestrians are forbidden.

(Someone please correct me if I am wrong.)

Quoted message said:

a shout is
far more effective than any bike bell and my "bulb horn" is also a useful
alerting device.

I keep meaning to get an Air Zound but never get round to it (bike
budget is usually already gone on other things, eg ~£280 this week for
new wheels - ouch! though one of those wheels did come with a SON hub)

d.

Pinky said:

So when ever did pedestrians ever obey the lights at their crossings? On the
whole I find that I am more invisible to peds than I am to car drivers.

Most pedestrians take no account of the lights at all. If you watch
them trying to cross they don't even glance at the lights. They're only
watching for a gap in the traffic. A cyclist of course counts as a gap
in the traffic.

--
Dave...

dkahn400 said:

A cyclist of course counts as a gap
in the traffic.

Same applies to cars turning right out of T junctions. The [censored].

d.

dkahn400 said:

Most pedestrians take no account of the lights at all. If you watch
them trying to cross they don't even glance at the lights. They're only
watching for a gap in the traffic. A cyclist of course counts as a gap
in the traffic.

That's if they look. Today I was descending Park St in Bristol past
stationary queued traffic. Steepish hill, wet road when from the far
side of the road a pedestrian set off assuming, because there was
nothing coming on his side and the other side was stationary, he didn't
need to look at all. The back wheel of the B was lifting under braking
and the Mk I human voice on loud was having no effect so I let go the
brakes to give me control to steer round him now he was close enough I
could predict his path and where to steer to miss him. Except he chose
that moment to look up and initiate the dance of death by stepping back
into my new trajectory. The back wheel came right up (didn't fold under
this time) and I stopped with my front wheel resting against his jeans.
Whereupon he walked away without a word.

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

"dkahn400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Pinky said:

So when ever did pedestrians ever obey the lights at their crossings? On
the
whole I find that I am more invisible to peds than I am to car drivers.

Most pedestrians take no account of the lights at all. If you watch
them trying to cross they don't even glance at the lights. They're only
watching for a gap in the traffic. A cyclist of course counts as a gap
in the traffic.

Thinking back to my childhood, my mother unwittingly gave me excellent
instruction on the importance of being aware of one's surroundings. Mother
was a repeat offender when it came to attempts to get a Darwin Award. She
was *oblivious* to any form of traffic and whenever she needed to cross a
road, she'd do it immediately. No looking for a safe place to cross, no
using zebra crossings, no checking for traffic. Just march straight out into
the road.... She was saved from injury and possible death on many occasions
by a combination of my Dad, my brother, me or total stranger grabbing her by
the arm and yanking her back on to the pavement as she was just about to
step under a bus/car/van... The absolute stupidity of some of the things she
did stay with me even to this day. Especially when if it Dad, my brother or
yours truly, she'd immediately launch into a stream of long & loud invective
about how she was alright and the car would have stopped in time... Total
strangers were always courteously thanked for their aid, though. Possibly
because she was soooo stupidly inattentive it has made me attentive in this
matter! Lord how I drilled the Green Cross Code into Nathan (read: went on
about crossing the road safely to the point of paranoia...)

Cheers, helen s

davek <[email hidden]> wrote:
| In fact, they can cross where and whenever they like, except on roads
| where pedestrians are forbidden.
|
| (Someone please correct me if I am wrong.)

I think you're right; I am less sure about cycling across a road.

I know it's illegal to cross a light-controlled cycle-only crossing
when the green cycle aspect doesn't show; and I know it is illegal
to cycle across a pedestrian-only crossing; but is it illegal to
cycle across a toucan when the green cycle aspect isn't showing?

davek said:

Pinky said:

So when ever did pedestrians ever obey the lights at their crossings?

I may be wrong, but I have a hunch that unlike car drivers, pedestrians
are not obliged to obey crossing signals.

In fact, they can cross where and whenever they like, except on roads
where pedestrians are forbidden.

(Someone please correct me if I am wrong.)

No, I believe you are correct.

Of more interest, I believe that the enabling legislation for
pedestrian crossings is such that actually a pedestrian between the
rows of metal studs used to mark pelicans has priority at _all_ times
- irrespective of the state of the lights. That is, when the red man
is lit, and the traffic lights are green, pedestrians have priority
between the studs.

Motorists seem to have forgotten this at some point.
So has Pinky, apparently.

regards, Ian SMith
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