Complete ar5e on CS3 last night

[jefmcg]

An east bound cyclist on CS3 hit a pedestrian last night. The pedestrian was stepping onto the Shadwell pedestrian crossing. The collision was low speed, and no one was hurt - maybe the pedestrian will sustain a bruise. IMHO, these things happen: the cyclist was moving slowly; the foot path abuts the cycle lane, so there is no time to stop after the pedestrian as stepped onto the crossing.

However, instead of asking the guy if he was alright and then apologising, the cyclist starting giving the pedestrian advice "you should look before stepping out" (which he should, but I think being hit with a bicycle is probably a good way to teach that lesson). The cyclist kept repeating this, to the point I was ready to slap him, but instead I checked with the victim that he was ok and left the scene.

 

[david1701]

sounds like a shock type reaction to me?

 

[wiggydiggy]

Having had an accident with a ped it is hard to not immedately berate them especially when you thinks its their fault, or the guy could just be an arse like you say!

 

[sabian92]

I had a similar incident yesterday, coming round the corner into the road where I live - it had just started pissing down and I was barrelling down hill, ready to swing left into the road. I came around the corner and a girl stepped out - I screamed at her because she didn't look before she crossed, and if my bar tape was any thicker I'd have hit her at around 20mph. If you don't look before you cross a road (especially in the rain), then you should expect to irritate road users and possibly end up being ran over. It isn't the cyclists fault if you're blind.

 

[Matthew_T]

it had just started pissing down

I see you got caught out in that rain as well. I live right where it hit mainland. I got the worst of it: 30 mph tailwind blowing salty water all over me. At this point I still had my sunglasses on because of the sun before, but now I couldnt see a thing.
I rushed and dived underneath a protected bench where other people were and dried myself off for about 5 mins whilst the worst of the rain went away.

 

[CopperCyclist]

I had a similar one too. Walking a friends German Shepherd whilst he was on holiday, crossing a pedestrian crossing with my lights on green, and a RLJ cyclist goes past in front of me. He had been travelling relatiely slowly, but I was expecing him to stop, and he passed literally centimetres in front of me. Its a good job the dog was bike friendly.

I shouted 'OI' at him, he shouted back something about 'being a bike' so I just told him he was a knob for doing the red and walked on.

Some people really think they have right of way on a bike.

 

[fossyant]

You have to be wary with pedestrians, they are more vulnerable (ish ?)

Had two cross road and not look this week, one was an iped (caused me to lock up), the other a school kid wandering across a dual carriageway - not even looking - very dangerous for him, I just said 'hey look out' (no shouting) - didn't even come close to hitting them, but you do need your wits.

 

[growingvegetables]

If you don't look before you cross a road (especially in the rain), then you should expect to irritate road users and possibly end up being ran over.

It's the cyclist's (or the driver's) responsibility to be aware that the pedestrian may not have seen or heard, and watch out, take care? And once they're crossing, the pedestrians have priority?

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

If he stepped onto a pedestrian crossing (just before being hit as the op suggests) then isn’t it the cyclists responsibility to anticipate and approach the crossing with the ability stop?

 

[fossyant]

You also don't want to hit one as you are very unlikely to get any cash back for a bent bike.

 

[Tynan]

what sort of crossing ffs?

 

[jefmcg]

Some people really think they have right of way on a bike.

This is it. If the ped had looked as the cyclist suggests, then he would have stopped and the cyclist would have barrelled through. "You should have looked and seen I wasn't stopping and let me through" is how it sounded, instead of the cyclist giving way as he should have.

Mind you, it's pretty common on CS3, I think. The pedestrian crossings go over the road and then the path. A lot of the time when a ped is crossing the road, they will stop at the edge of the path if there is a cycle. The pedestrian has absolute priority at this point, but I think they have gotten used to cyclists not respecting this.

 

[sabian92]

It's the cyclist's (or the driver's) responsibility to be aware that the pedestrian may not have seen or heard, and watch out, take care? And once they're crossing, the pedestrians have priority?

I understand that, but if you don't look and just walk out with a hood over your head (as she was), you can't just assume the road is clear because you can't hear anything. I did that when I was a kid - my own dad nearly knocked me over and killed me because I didn't bother to look and I couldn't hear anything (We lived on a hill, so he'd roll it off the drive, leave the engine off then bump start it as he was going down the hill). Priority or not, there was no way I was able to stop in the distance I had when it was chucking it down, going round a corner at 15-20mph, and obviously I'd rather avoid running somebody over which is why I screamed at her. I knew If i'd braked when I was turning I'd have come straight off or ran her over, and I'd rather avoid both of those.

Maybe I shouldn't have been going so fast (It was chucking it down and I only had a thin t-shirt and bibs on and I wanted to get in) but she should have looked. I refuse to take responsibility because she was ignorant and/or blind.

 

[Alan Whicker]

It's a zebra crossing outside Shadwell. There's also a junction just past it and a stretch alongside a block of flats with kids kicking footballs about in the entranceway. The only thing to do is slow down and anticipate - I see speed merchants thwanging along that bit of CS3 all the time (although that's not what happened in this instance).

 

[benb]

I understand that, but if you don't look and just walk out with a hood over your head (as she was), you can't just assume the road is clear because you can't hear anything. I did that when I was a kid - my own dad nearly knocked me over and killed me because I didn't bother to look and I couldn't hear anything (We lived on a hill, so he'd roll it off the drive, leave the engine off then bump start it as he was going down the hill). Priority or not, there was no way I was able to stop in the distance I had when it was chucking it down, going round a corner at 15-20mph, and obviously I'd rather avoid running somebody over which is why I screamed at her. I knew If i'd braked when I was turning I'd have come straight off or ran her over, and I'd rather avoid both of those.

Maybe I shouldn't have been going so fast (It was chucking it down and I only had a thin t-shirt and bibs on and I wanted to get in) but she should have looked. I refuse to take responsibility because she was ignorant and/or blind.

I agree that pedestrians shouldn't wander into the road without looking, but I think from your description you were going too fast.