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I am heartily sick of certain types of pedestrians in Spain. Some cities are significantly worse than others for this, especially with regard to the first group. Since a car driver would always de deemed to be at fault (true for most of the Continent) they think that they don't need to look.
1. Those who just cross. No looking or listening at all. Mostly older, grew up in a small village (migrating to the big city in adult life) and born at a time when cars were few and far between. Never grew up streetwise and it's too late to change habits now. Paradoxically, whenever I stop for one at a zebra - a trait not all Spanish drivers have mastered! - they often shake their heads, waving me on, refusing my courtesy and infuriating me immensely.
2. The brain-dead MP3,4,5, smartphone/enormous headphones generation. 'nuff said. Darwin is working very slowly here, luckily for them.
3. Small kids who wait for the moment (inevitably the wrong one) and sprint across the road like Usain Bolt, convinced that faster is safer.
4. Cyclists who ride across a zebra crossing, convinced that this momentarily converts them into pedestrians and earns them priority. Sadly, what passes for a Highway Code in Spain is lacking any clear ruling on this. "To cycle" in Spanish, for lack of a proper verb, is "to walk with the bicycle", so it seems to be a kind of walking as far as the law is concerned.
Edited by Bilboman on 02/10/2015 at 22:25
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I would add, at least in the UK, the following groups:
The commuter who always seems to cross either just as the lights for the traffic are about to turn green (potentially causing nasty accidents and road rage) or who thinks they are defacto police men/women and can stop moving traffic to get across anywhere because they are late for a meeting (often because they missed their train after getting up late following a night on the town);
Students, who think that just because people are already crossing (despite the 'green man flashing/countdown timer reading zero) that they can cross as well, and at slow speed whilst they chat with their mates on the way to the student union after a hard-hour's work not listening to their lecturer;
Parents who use their (occupied) baby buggies as 'German towels' to lay claim to a section of road, expecting any road user to stop on a sixpence to let them cross, but its OK as they aren't going to get hit if the car doesn't stop;
Skateboarders and rollerbladers (as some cyclist do) who don't differentiate between road, pavement, crossing or skate park, or take any notice of traffic signals;
Cats. I can understand dogs - other than a few breeds (e.g. sheep dogs), they are stupid a-la small children, but I though cats were smarter. Apparently not - most (including one I saw whiz in front of me this morning) do the same Usain Bolt-like dash in front of oncoming traffic. Even the (in)famous London pidgeons seem to do better, often walking across the road, some even like to use the Tube to go from A to B in relative safety and comfort.
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I admit to taking chances at pedestrian crossings (and elsewhere) in central London, on my 1.5 mile walk from London Bridge station to the office.
It is the only way to make decent progress, as TfL have fiddled with the signal timings over the years to progressively reduce the duration of the pedestrian phase at key junctions.
Take Ludgate Circus, in the City. Pedestrians are the primary users of this junction (next to City Thameslink station), but get a 15-second green phase for the (staggered) crossing of Farringdon Street, between 90-second vehicular/bike phases. Often, bikes and cars/vans slip through for five seconds after their lights have gone red, reducing 'my' phase to 10 seconds.
On Victoria Embankment, the Cycle Superhighway scheme involves removal of some pedestrian crossings, and lower pedestrian priority at others.
It must be extremely frustrating to have to drive for a living in central London - rather them than me - but just as time is money for tradesmen and cabbies, so it is for me, also.
I will cease taking a few chances on the day all cyclists and drivers comply with red traffic signals, and bus/HGV drivers stop obstructing pedestrian crossings.
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I believe that under Ken Livingstone's mayoralty, TfL changed traffic light sequences at many junctions (with automatica pedestrian lights, not the 'push-button ones, which, as others have said, are normally idependent) to greatly favour pedestrians, and that under Boris they may have changed most, if not all of them back to their original timings, at least in terms of lengths. Not sure about the sequencing though.
I'd rather (and do as I often work in London and know the junction you speak of) take the 'high road' as it were and not decend to the dangerous antics of other road users, as all it does is encourage them. Occasionally people are pleasantly surprised by pedestrians or other road users being polite, courteous and considerate and reciprocate. You never know, it might spread to other people!
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Parents who use their (occupied) baby buggies as 'German towels' to lay claim to a section of road, expecting any road user to stop on a sixpence to let them cross, but its OK as they aren't going to get hit if the car doesn't stop
In St Pauls area of Bristol a sneering young female once memorably shoved her loaded perambulator out in front of my fully loaded car transporter in order to make way for her royal effervescence's progress...i often wondered if the unfortunate young prince(ss)ling ever made it to adulthood.
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I was told some time ago that the buttons that pedestrians use on traffic crossings have no effect whatsoever on the traffic lights. The pedestrian lights change on a pre arranged sequence.
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I was told some time ago that the buttons that pedestrians use on traffic crossings have no effect whatsoever on the traffic lights. The pedestrian lights change on a pre arranged sequence.
I was told some time ago that the earth was flat!
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... and I was told that bashing the button 115 times in rapid succession when waiting for the lights to change... does absolutely nothing, but it sort of feels good.
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I was told some time ago that the buttons that pedestrians use on traffic crossings have no effect whatsoever on the traffic lights. The pedestrian lights change on a pre arranged sequence.
On major roads (e.g. our local ring road) it does seem that the sequence is unaffected by the button; there is a crossing which covers a left turn filter lane which does respond, but is still linked to the main road so only goes green during a red phase on that.
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All you ever wanted to know about pedestrian crossings in the UK - and all about the 6 different types.
www.2pass.co.uk/crossing.htm#.Vg_X8Pmqqko
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When you're a pedestrian, especially one who can't walk very quickly, you soon realise how, in most cases, the timings are biased in favour of the motorist. You can no longer even rely on cars to stop when it's your turn and, even if they do, you barely have time to make it across before it's their turn again.
In those circumstances, bashing the button is the only, albeit pathetic, way of getting your own back. I speak from experience.
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When you're a pedestrian, especially one who can't walk very quickly, you soon realise how, in most cases, the timings are biased in favour of the motorist. You can no longer even rely on cars to stop when it's your turn and, even if they do, you barely have time to make it across before it's their turn again.
In those circumstances, bashing the button is the only, albeit pathetic, way of getting your own back. I speak from experience.
Not any use on a Puffin crossing-there are sensors that detect if pedestrians on the crossing and hold the red light on until they are clear.
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Thankyou, Focussed. I had no idea about those (I should have read the text in your link, shouldn't I?), but I'll keep a lookout for them.
The one I use most frequently is a Pelican crossing. It's very close to another set of lights at a major crossroads and I've spotted that a lot of motorists have most of their attention on those as they're approaching the lights on my crossing. I can feel that tendency in myself when I drive along that stretch of road.
Edited by John Boy on 05/10/2015 at 00:44
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