SMIDSY, SMIDSTRLE, SMIDEKWFPIAO!

[ColinJ]

I wasn't on my bike this time, I was on foot. I wanted to cross the main road and was standing at the traffic lights in the centre of Hebden Bridge. The lights turned to red. The traffic from my left came to a stop, and 3 cars were approaching from the right, still about 50 metres from the lights.

I started to cross.

The drivers of cars #2 and #3 had seen the red light and were slowing down but I observed that the driver of car #1 was in a world of his own and was not. The lights had already been on red for about 5 seconds.

I am watching car #1 intently. Now, I am 6' 1" tall, and weigh 16 stone - I am a pretty big man, hard to miss when standing in the road directly in front of your vehicle, I would think! Apparently, I was wrong. The driver was looking straight towards me but he hadn't seen me ...

I decided that my usual technique of forcing the driver to stop by standing my ground and glaring back at him ain't gonna work with this guy. I hopped backwards and he swooped by about 10 cm in front of me. I was waving at him and pointing at the red light as he passed but he still didn't notice me, or the red light.

I looked at the first driver on my left. I made a 'Did you see that!' gesture and he pointed at his temple with his finger and rotated it several times. Quite!

I looked at the first driver now stopped to my right. I made the same 'Did you see that!' gesture and he shook his head slowly, from side to side. If my lip-reading is up to scratch, he said "BLOODY HELL!"

I imagined somehow catching the red light jumper and asking what he was playing at ...

SMIDSY! (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You!)

SMIDSTRLE! (Sorry Mate I Didn't See The Red Light Either!)

SMIDEKWFPIAO! (Sorry Mate I Don't Even Know Which Ferkin Planet I Am On!)

There are dangerous fools about on the roads, so my fellow CycleChatters - remember ...

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Thank gawd you're okay!

 

[benb]

You clearly need to invest in a camera when out being a ped!

 

[ColinJ]

This wasn't your typical RLJ - it wasn't that he was homicidal, or even impatient, he just had no awareness whatsoever of the traffic lights or me. It was like he was on auto-pilot and his mind was 100% elsewhere***!

*** I cycled back from work once when I was still thinking hard about a technical problem that I'd been working on. After some time, I suddenly realised that I had been cycling on auto-pilot and had ridden 8 miles on a busy A-road without giving any thought to what I was doing. I had ridden up a steep climb, through a set of traffic lights, done a fast descent, passed through another set of lights, and then done several more miles up a long, gradual drag. It shook me up because I had no recollection of doing it. I remembered getting on the bike and then - BAM - I was 8 miles down the road. Scary stuff!

 

[Moodyman]

Another reason for pedestrians to wear Hi-Viz and helmets.

 

[Nearly there]

I shake my head at drivers daily its unbelievable the things you see especially at round a bouts oooofffff scary stuff

 

[Maz]

Glad you're OK Colin. Sounds like you're better off on the bike!

 

[ColinJ]

Glad you're OK Colin. Sounds like you're better off on the bike!

I almost expect it when I'm on my bike, and I'm used to drivers not stopping for me when I'm using pedestrian crossings but this was so stupid that it nearly caught me out!

 

[Globalti]

Any driver who is honest will admit that this happens, especially if they are stressed and looking for an address for example. Inexcusable, yes, but it happens. I'm sure I have committed moving traffic offences without even realising it, especially on busy unfamiliar roads. This the reason why an experienced road user takes nothing for granted and checks both ways on entering a junction - a very common explanation for collisions being "he came from nowhere!" meaning he came from a direction I didn't expect.

Now consider that many drivers view time behind the wheel as inactive boring time so they might as well do some eating or drinking, make a few calls or send some texts and generally daydream, rather than concentrate and make safe reasonable progress, and you can see why most accidents happen.

 

[Night Train]

Any driver who is honest will admit that this happens, especially if they are stressed and looking for an address for example. Inexcusable, yes, but it happens. I'm sure I have committed moving traffic offences without even realising it, especially on busy unfamiliar roads. This the reason why an experienced road user takes nothing for granted and checks both ways on entering a junction - a very common explanation for collisions being "he came from nowhere!" meaning he came from a direction I didn't expect.

Now consider that many drivers view time behind the wheel as inactive boring time so they might as well do some eating or drinking, make a few calls or send some texts and generally daydream, rather than concentrate and make safe reasonable progress, and you can see why most accidents happen.

This is true.
I do make every attempt, when driving, to concentrate on what is happening around me so that I can run a mental commentary on every hazard, movement, and anticipated movement of others in the environment.
It is hard work so I tend not to drive for hours at a time without rest.

Even so, I sometimes get the 'Oh S**t!' moment sometimes when something I've missed surprises me.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm sure I have committed moving traffic offences without even realising it, especially on busy unfamiliar roads. This the reason why an experienced road user takes nothing for granted and checks both ways on entering a junction - a very common explanation for collisions being "he came from nowhere!" meaning he came from a direction I didn't expect.

I know that drivers regularly jump those lights so I always leave a few seconds before starting to cross. It was the length of time that they had been on red that lulled me into a false sense of security. I could hardly believe that the driver could be that far from the lights when they changed and not notice. The fact that all the oncoming traffic had stopped didn't alert him to it either. As for me standing there waving at him and pointing at the red light ... I could understand it if he'd only then come to his senses, but I'm sure that he was completely unaware of what he did.

I sometimes get aggressive drivers aiming for me and forcing their way through, but this one had a blank look on his face and was driving at a sensible speed - other than the fact that he was supposed to have stopped!

I wonder now whether he was using a phone at the time. I didn't see one, but something was distracting him, that's for sure!

 

[Globalti]

Go back and stand where he was as he approached the junction and see how many confusing signs and lights you can see then consider how it all looks to someone who was unfamiliar with the town and looking for directions. Then add in the factor that some drivers are very nervous and easily stressed.

 

[TVC]

A close call. Unfortunately a few years back I saw the same thing happen, but with bad outcome. The lights at the crossing changed, and the 12 year old girl waiting at the crossing saw the 'green man' and set off. I, however, looked right towards the on coming traffic to see a car approaching without any sign of braking. The girl spent a week in a coma, and six weeks in the QMC. I still have the image of what happened just six feet in front of me. The driver maintained that the traffic light was showing green right up to the point where he was convicted, despite the evidence of over a dozen witnesses.

 

[ColinJ]

Go back and stand where he was as he approached the junction and see how many confusing signs and lights you can see then consider how it all looks to someone who was unfamiliar with the town and looking for directions. Then add in the factor that some drivers are very nervous and easily stressed.

Streetview have done it for me ... here!

Imagine that those lights are on red, all oncoming vehicles have stopped at the opposing red light, there are no vehicles in front on this side of the road, no temporary yellow notice below the lights, and it is a bright sunny morning with perfect visibility. I was where that second vehicle in front is. It looks pretty straightforward to me!

There used to be a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road but it was taken out a couple of years ago. I think it was safer the way it used to be but I suppose it was considered better not to impede the flow of traffic ...

 

[MontyVeda]

it's your own fault for not wearing hi-viz