I'm ashamed to say that when a young galoot did this to me recently, ie crossed when he had a red don't cross and I had a green light texting all the while, I accelerated quite hard and drove close enough to shift his baggy trousers as I went by.
I can only hope that when he got home and changed his trousers he carefully considered his behaviour.
I feel better now I've told someone that.
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The mobile phone lad was not quite as simian-looking as the 'dance across the road and then back again for absolutely no reason other than to annoy people' lad, but he gave the impression that he had missed the screeching brakes, beeping horns and wind on his trousers. The in-ear headphones probably help with that.
I've tried to frighten idiots before, the problem is that bravery tends to go along with idiocy and I'd need to put myself closer to danger than I'm prepared to do in order to provoke any sort of reaction from them.
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One tried it while I was on the bike...accelerate sharply then clutch in and off the rev limiter changed the stupid look on his face...
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Pedestrians, often young, sometimes want to tough it out with traffic by flaunting their vulnerability.
If you keep going at a good lick the carphounds don't dare to do it. If you're crawling anyway because of the traffic it simply doesn't matter.
Same thing applies to cyclists who think it's all right to suddenly do a 90 degree turn on a pedestrian crossing and constitute themselves pedestrians to make you stop. I try to keep going or even accelerate and make them stop. It scares my wife, but the people concerned need it. Also applies to black cabs trying to do cheeky u-turns. I go straight at them and round them.
I am not an aggressive driver. I am simply practical, and generally courteous. But I am still quick-reacting enough not to have to eat everyone's carp. Of course you can't win them all.
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I am not an aggressive driver. I am simply practical and generally courteous. But I am still quick-reacting enough not to have to eat everyone's carp. Of course you can't win them all.
I guess the problem is that when a young hoodlum decides to provoke some cars (an inherently amusing image - what's a fist against even 65hp and a ton of Fiat Punt) you never really know who is behind the wheel. An old duffer with poor reactions, a mother dealing with her kids, somebody on their mobile, etc. Many drivers are compromised, legally or otherwise, and testing them out is not the wisest move.
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We have quasi political organisations like ' BRAKE", one of the chief anti motorist groups in my view , making out that pedestrians can never be at fault for any accident they are involved in ( visit their site, it's full of nasty motorist stories ) .
Yet everyday, we as motorists, generally temper are driving to take in to account, the dangers some pedestrians pose both to themselves and other road users.
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generally temper our driving to take in to account, the dangers some pedestrians pose both to themselves and other road users.
Yes Mr X, we have to in practice, because in the event of a collision with a pedestrian we will feel guilty (even if we aren't).
I too have heard this assertion that pedestrians can never be at fault. No one who has been a pedestrian or a driver can see it as anything but total and utter excrement.
Unfortunately if you run over someone the question of whose fault it really is recedes into the background in the short term, and may have to be established - if that is the word - by a court of law. And both driver and pedestrian are going to feel bad about it whatever happens. The squashy pink carphounds have got us over a barrel. So avoid the internal red mist, because you certainly don't want to witness the external one.
:o}
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i hate jay walkers
one should get points for things like ripping their arms off with wing mirrors
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You probably would get points - and a fine!! :-)
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tinyurl.com/y9um8e
Not just America either.
'In Brisbane, police have begun doling out fines after complaints from motorists involved in near-misses with jaywalkers. In Beijing and Shanghai, city officials have clamped down on jaywalkers in an attempt to improve public behaviour ahead of the 2008 Olympics and 2010 World Expo respectively. '
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Hold on. Jaywalking is fine. A young whippersnapper of a New York policeman gave me some cheek about it once.
I jaywalk all the time. But I don't get in the way of cars and they don't think I'm going to. Quite a lot of pedestrians are like that in this town.
Unfortunately though the mimser and aggressive PITA sub-species exist among them too. Pedestrians are as rubbish as drivers, or nearly.
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There is one trick I do to these chavs and labour-louts who walk into my path with 'that look' on their face, I put my foot down and slide one hand quickly across the top of the steering wheel while holding it firmly with the other had out of view. It work best if you accompany it with a simultaneous slight deviation of the car's path, because as soon as it deviates and they see your hand 'swerve' they jump and fall over their unwashed and grey half-mast leisure suit bottoms to get out of the road.
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Arrogance !....I see this all the time. We have a brand new comprehensive close by and at chucking out time you get a lot of the inmates sauntering across the road in front of you with a sneer on their faces. as if daring you to wipe them out ! The shame is that these are not chavs or swamp-donkeys but kids from well-to-do families from a certain ethnic background These same kids walk in groups past my house with 12 to 15 yr old girls Effing and Blinding like common louts. I'm sure their parents would be mortified if they knew.
I have complained to the teachers about this behaviour, but, of course, it continues.
Ted
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Just turn your windscreen washer jets 90 degrees before you pass the troublesome school or college and give them a cooling shower as you pass.
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I thought it was quite OK to run 'em over on a crossing if the lights were against them.
Push bikes on a (pedestrian) zebra crossing are 'fair game', I understood.
I'm a cyclist. ;>)
Edited by bathtub tom on 21/05/2009 at 00:51
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I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the MP3/Ipod brigade - earphones in their ears and completely oblivious to the rest of the world - I'm sure that there's been several accidents already...
Just found:
tinyurl.com/qkwbr4
Edited by b308 on 21/05/2009 at 10:20
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One young lad who was playing football refused to move off the road for me a few months ago.
Instead, he spun round, bent over and dropped his trousers.
Silly boy - there are people I see at court who would see that as a leisure opportunity.
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Was in Ireland recently, Celbridge near Dublin, Mother in Law driving, and came to within a gnat's crotchet of taking out a teenage girl who literally just walked out in front of the car without looking. On the phone, obviously. Didn't even react to the honk MiL gave her. Scary thing is that less than 18 months ago, MiL's niece & friend were run down & nearly killed by a car on the same road. No prosecution, no drinking by the driver; possibly excess speed though given extent of injuries. Broke her pelvis, took her months to learn to walk again. Worst part is that this girl is apparently friend of the Niece.
Bring back the cycling profiency, the Tufty club & the green cross code!
A.
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SHOCK HORROR! THEY'RE ALL YOUR SONS AND DAUGFHTERS!!!!!!!
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In the event of a collision with a pedestrian we will feel guilty (even if we aren't)
The trouble is that the nerks we are discussing believe, probably rightly, that any motorist that hits them will be deemed in the wrong; in the same way as in a rear-end collision. They also assume the driver knows that and won't take the risk. The difficult judgment is whether a nerk deliberately jay-walking is being more foolish than a driver who tries to give him a serious come-uppance.
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The difficult judgment is whether a nerk deliberately jay-walking is being more foolish than a driver who tries to give him a serious come-uppance.
Not that difficult surely? The nerk belongs in boot camp, the driver in a straitjacket.
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I always thought it was an offence to obstruct the Queen's Highway, pedestrian or otherwise. Is it also not an offence to impede or obstruct other road users?
Doesn't seem to be enforced. Perhaps we need jaywalking laws, as they do in the States.
It's quite annoying when you miss your green light "window" because pedestrians ignore the red man and carry on crossing regardless, usually accompanied with a malevolent stare.
Sorry. Rant over...
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The chavs who saunter across the road daring you to run them over pick their victims carefully, ie those who look like responsible citizens who would be horrified to cause injury or end up going to court.
They do not do it when the approaching car is a modded Corsa with a boom-boom sound system and four baseball cap wearers inside, for obvious reasons.
Edited by Robin Reliant on 21/05/2009 at 19:06
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Perhaps we need jaywalking laws as they do in the States.
Perhaps we need our own (British) word for it before we start making laws about it. Why should we use an Americanism?
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Why should we use an Americanism?
Why not?
Why do you use a French pseudonym Mr Snail- half the English language is imported from other languages. Jay walking is understood. Why not use use it?
Edited by CGNorwich on 21/05/2009 at 19:28
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Why do you use a French pseudonym Mr Snail- .........
It's not French. My name is Les and I've got a car. Les car got. Geddit?
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It's not French.
Nice one, Les. :-)
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Jay walking is understood. Why not use use it?
It's a vague and flexible term.
An anti-jaywalking law, US style, might be intended to keep people safe and prevent Kevin the teenager from gratuitously holding up traffic, but would inevitably be used to fine sensible pedestrians for crossing the road safely against the lights.
I see people all the time stabbing at the buttons and waiting with their mouths open for the little green man to legitimise further action, when if they weren't half-witted they would just walk straight across the road when it was safe to do so.
There are places where light-controlled pedestrian crossings are necessary, anyway at busy times. But there are really very few of them. Most of these crossings are completely unnecessary.
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I see people all the time stabbing at the buttons ... when if they weren't half-witted they would just walk straight across the road when it was safe to do so
And I see some similar people stabbing similar buttons when there is hardly any traffic to stop. That must annoy the few drivers that have to stop unnecessarily.
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It's quite annoying when you miss your green light "window" because pedestrians ignore the red man ..
Speaking as an occasional pedestrian, it's equally annoying when cars keep running red lights so there is too short a gap to cross the road safely between two streams of traffic.
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