I was driving towards this crossing last night, when a number of pedestrians from both sides started to cross (the crossing man was on red). I was in the right hand lane going north and the pedestrians had basically reached my lane on both sides, with one actually crossing in front of me.
preview.tinyurl.com/yefedho
Obviously I had to stop and had a few seconds of trying to judge whether the pedestrians were going to try to walk in front of me, much to the annoyance of people behind me. There was beeping of horns, but I couldn't very well go through until I was sure that they weren't going to walk in front.
After ascertaining that they had stopped walking (they didn't move back and so were stopped in the left north hand lane and right south hand lane), I drove on and noticed that the crossing man then turned green after I passed.
What I don't get is, how is the crossing man light timed compared to the traffic lights? I imagine that when the north-south lights are green the man is red, but does he turn green when they turn red, and what about traffic coming from the east and turning north?
There is no light to directly "protect" the crossing, so I don't really understand what the protocol is. There is a button on the lights, but does it actually do anything? Perhaps it prevents the east side lights turning green, so that you can't turn north?
Any guidance would be appreciated.
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Sounds as if you paused for no good reason SS. Unless continuing through the green light would have meant running over someone of course.
Stopping merely because you think some pedestrian may place a foot on the road as you pass is completely unnecessary, and it's hardly surprising that the cars you held up hooted in annoyance.
I don't know how you would manage in a London rush hour. There you have continuously populated zebra crossings. The only way through is to insert a corner of your jalopy between a couple of the carphounds and slip through. The others are used to it and just go round you.
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And of cours in London the beauty of it is, you dont kill them at speed, merely nudge them aside with the odd small bruise.
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... and bawl unkind remarks out of the window as they pick themselves up...
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...you dont kill them at speed...
One of the reasons why driving in central London never bothered me - not enough speed to do much damage/have much damage done to you.
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The map just comes up as a large area of Hackney for me, with the pin halfway up a residential street.
But I concur, it sounds as though you hesitated when the surrounding motorists wouldn't have done so, and the pedestrians took advantage of your uncertainty to try and get across. You need to "present" your vehicle in a more assertive way so others can infer from your actions an intention to continue where the right of way is yours.
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I got a "Street View" of a road junction on Seven Sisters Road.
I agree with Dave, it appears you need to be more assertive. What would you have done if you had been one of the pedestrians? What do you do in other situations as a pedestrian?
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You need to "present" your vehicle in a more assertive way
Buy one of those "Warriors"...
Only joking... ;-)
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"present" your vehicle in a more assertive way
'Never mind manoeuvres. Go straight at 'em!' (Admiral Lord Nelson)
Pedestrians can be extremely cheeky and arrogant. But very few of them will cross a red light when a car is approaching at some speed and in a determined manner. If they must waddle all over the road at random, pedestrians in this town usually find that the traffic, while trying to avoid squashing them for a number of good reasons, certainly won't hang about saying 'After you, Cecil' but will go behind or in front of them, quite close, and expect them not to do anything downright suicidal.
It isn't a good idea to be more considerate than is absolutely necessary to avoid actual bloodshed. It just encourages the carphounds.
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As a pedestrian, when in London, I wait quietly on the kerb and then stride out purposefully in front of the first BMW to come along. You know it makes sense ....
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You're fibbing vob. If you weren't you would be verydeadbear and wouldn't have been able to post.
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Sounds as if you paused for no good reason SS. Unless continuing through the green light would have meant running over someone of course. Stopping merely because you think some pedestrian may place a foot on the road as you pass is completely unnecessary and it's hardly surprising that the cars you held up hooted in annoyance.
That is not quite the way that it was. There were eight pedestrians actually on the crossing, not just thinking about crossing. They were actually either side of the lane that I was in. There was, in my opinion, no way that I could go through without being absolutely sure that they had decided to stop, any one of them would have had to have stepped forward a few inches and I would have hit them.
Given the situation, the guy behind me was, in my opinion, just being an idiot.
I agree that pedestrians in London will take advantage of hesitation, but this was not a good situation to assert myself, especially just to make sure that the guy behind wasn't held up for a few seconds.
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When they are close, you do have to be sure that they won't step under your wheels. You just have to keep rolling though. If you stop they may take advantage.
I didn't take it in fully from the OP. It's possible that the person hooting was being rude and impatient. Sorry for jumping to conclusions.
But it is important not to stop completely when it's your right of way unless you absolutely have to.
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But it is important not to stop completely when it's your right of way unless you absolutely have to.
Yes, I am sure that is good advice, I could perhaps have kept moving forward slowly, will bear that in mind. Was difficult because a car in front had slowed for the same pedestrians, so I was almost stopped behind that car anyway (apart from that car the road was pretty much clear - was about 11:30pm, so there was no question that I could not clear the box junction - except for the pedestrians who decided to start crossing).
Anyway, I have just posted another situation where I was perhaps *too* assertive. Let's see how that one turns out! :)
All good for my learning. Thanks.
Edited by SteelSpark on 04/12/2009 at 23:20
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