Pedestrian Safety Question

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united4ever

Über Member
Sorry not cycling but I didn't know who better to ask....

My son started secondary school this week and is walking by himself for the first time. He has a tricky road to cross and had a near miss from his rather unclear explanation this week. I went with him to the junction tonight so we could work out how safest to cross it but I was still unsure.


Location here: https://www.google.com/maps/@53.391...4!1sRo3oaGEhcLVO11ZltRjc0A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Unfortunately there are is no pelican crossing at the lights at the junction to the south and traffic comes fast on a winding road with poor visibility. Also traffic ques at the lights so he has difficulty seeing if there is a gap in traffic on the other side of the road. It seems that stepping between stationary cars waiting for the lights to change may be inevitable which is awful when you cannot even see above the cars.

Where is the safest point to cross this road in this area?

He could cross at the lights themselves but even if the lights are red for one direction they are always on green for another direction approaching so I wouldn't fancy that.

My advice to him tonight was to cross where the 'Keep Clear markings' are (above location in link above) thinking that at least here there should not be queing cars so the gap provides better visibility of both directions. This obviously relies on road users obeying the faded 'Keep Clear' markings.

The near miss on Friday shook him up a bit and I tried to drill into him how he really has to focus here (he can be a bit of a daydreamer). Anyways - where would you advise your kid to cross this road?

The thought of him crossing here a couple of thousand times over the next few years scares me tbh.
 
Location
South East
I would cross earlier, around the Thorsby road junction, or wait for the red light to show in Woodlans parkway and go half way across, waiting in the middle of the stopped lane for a gap to complete the movement to the path.
 

Seevio

Guru
Location
South Glos
Hard to say without seeing the traffic in action. Depending on the level of traffic turning, it might be worth going to the Stockport road junction and trying there. At least the visibility is better.
 

Debade

Über Member
Location
Connecticut, USA

Drago

Legendary Member
Cross a bit earlier, or a bit further along, where you have a clear view in both directions, even if it means a slight detour and an extra 30 seconds.

Please forgive me, but I'm not seeing the issue here. If somewhere is a bit of a dicey spot to cross, then one should cross elsewhere - perhaps if kids were taught the green cross code they'd know this.
 

rogerzilla

Legendary Member
One problem is that the advice we were given: "find a safe place to cross away from parked cars" is now impossible in residential areas. There are parked cars everywhere. The number of registered PLG vehicles has tripled in 50 years.
 

rogerzilla

Legendary Member
I hope you're not suggesting that childrens lives are more important than convenient parking.
Au contraire, I'm suggesting that people shouldn't keep buying cars and appropriating, as their right, ten square metres of public road, which we all pay for, for 90% of the car's existence.
 
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