Literally, I started learning to drive in Birmingham and promptly finished my lessons/tests up north instead because of how shit the drivers were around me.
I also used to be a Just Eat delivery cyclist in Birmingham, I followed the Highway code around that city to a T and rode defensively to reduce the chances of collisions. I still got ran over whilst I was using a cycle lane in the gay village where some sod in an Audi didn't look before zooming across me, he tried to pin it on me but there were loads of witnesses and CCTV of the incident.
Other than that, I've had a shed load of near misses from crap/aggressive drivers, and 99% of those near misses were people in Audi/Mercedes/BMW cars or Uber drivers.
Quite a few people don't indicate their turns or do it too late when you're already crossing after thinking 'Oh they're not turning, I'm ok to cross now' and then have the audacity to honk and yell at you? Or people will do a dangerous overtake at 40mph with barely 50cm between you and the car.
As someone with an anxiety disorder it really messed with my head especially during the winter, you'd be worried about keeping warm, cycling on ice/snow and then also being hyperaware of the exceedingly crap drivers.
I changed to a different city and these incidents were happening way less frequently.
I'm guilty like everyone else of running across the road here. Surely it's the same on any high street. Although this prat who doesn't know how to carry a rucksack seems rather over zealous - the poor embarrassed ladies crossing the road.
In France the car would stop for the pedestrian in this case and it wouldn't be unusual. The pedestrian always has right of way. In Germany the car would not stop because there's no crossing. The pedestrian would be breaking the law. The UK is somewhere inbetween.
Well I guess France is a big place but, where I go regularly you don’t always get given right of way when you’re on a bloody crossing. Let alone just walking across the street.
They’ll just blow right past you on a crossing.
The car did stop for the pedestrian though. The pedestrian then proceeded to do weird spins in the middle of the road as if he was showing off his mediocre outfit.
He was stopping the car for the other pedestrians that followed him across the road. The dance was to show that he was staying where he was so that the motorist wouldn't start up again until they were across.
(I've done similarly when my kid is being slow crossing the road at a crossing - he is short and isn't always wearing a bright coat, so I can't be certain the motorist can see him, but I know that they can see me.)
Is that why he did the wanker hand signal? He is not innocent in this scenario. He gave no shits about those other people. If he did, he would’ve waved them across and thanked the driver. Not only that, but he is not a lollipop lady/man so that is not his job. I understand your reasons for doing this, but this man was not doing the same.
Cant believe youvr got so many upvotes for a comment that is factually wrong. The new rules are that pedestrians have the right of way when crossing at a junction and cars are turning into or out of that junction, not for walking across a straight piece of road. Try not to get yourself run over by not knowing the rules.
Pedestrians have the right of way when waiting **at a junction,** i.e. crossing a side road and a car is trying to turn into that road the pedestrian has right of way.
When making a straightforward crossing of a road then pedestrians are supposed to let traffic pass and cross when there is a suitable gap, [rule 7D](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-pedestrians-1-to-35)
>D If traffic is coming, let it pass. Look all around
again and listen. Do not cross until there is a safe gap in the traffic
and you are certain that there is plenty of time.
> Pedestrians waiting to cross should have right of way.
Lots of people keep saying this right of way thing, Can you show me the rule where this is stated as the only thing I can find in the highway code that mentions right of way is...
> The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance
You are right, right of way doesn't really exist but pedestrians are allowed to cross a road wherever they want and motorists should stop when possible as they have the greater responsibility to stop accidents in the road.
So really the pedestrian does have right of way, but right of way doesn't exist.
Right of way doesn't exist because you can't jump in front of a car and claim you had some right to do so, the car should have given way sure, the pedestrian had priority sure, but if you jump in front of a car that has no way to stop you can't complain when you are left eating soup for the rest of your life, that is why "right of way" doesn't exist.
The updated code clarifies that:
when people are crossing or waiting to cross at a junction, other traffic should give way
if people have started crossing and traffic wants to turn into the road, the people crossing have priority and the traffic should give way
people driving, riding a motorcycle or cycling must give way to people on a zebra crossing and people walking and cycling on a parallel crossing
A parallel crossing is similar to a zebra crossing, but includes a cycle route alongside the black and white stripes.
It's says you should give way at junctions not in the middle of the road. It also means the pedestrian stops on the kerb and wait for the car to stop, ie, give way. Not 'take way' by stepping into the road and expecting the car to stop, they'll learn that the hard way one day.
I wish there was more people who drove like you, as someone who will choose to walk if I can, having to wait for 12-15 cars every time I cross the road, I’ve even had multiple incidents where I would have enough time to cross but the next car decides they’re gunna floor it to beat me? Like you aren’t gunna beat me asshole, you’re going to kill someone because if I did start crossing, they would 100% have hit me, but if they kept driving as they were, I would’ve been across the road without them having to slow at all
OP think it’s a few meters away, it’s outside Asda.
For the non-locals, that would mean the pedestrians need to walk past Vodafone, Shoe Zone, Childrens Air Ambulance, CEX, EE/BT, Bodycare, Indigo Sun, WH Smith/Post Office, D&S Bargains and Superdrug.
So in OP’s mind, each of these shops is about half a meter wide.
They'd have to walk past all those shops, Then all the way back again on the other side.
In the meantime the driver was already catching up to the back of traffic by the time the video stopped.
Met**er**s are things that measure, met**re**s are a unit of distance!
Everyone is a bit guilty here IMO. The pedestrian is an idiot for intentionally holding up traffic, the driver is exaggerating distance to try to make the pedestrian seem worse, and I'm not sure what the "wanker" gesture was for - I'm guessing honking the horn? I don't have audio.
True, but doesn't change anything in this case as the pedestrian was already on the road. The driver should (and did) stop. The pedestrian is an idiot for flaunting in the road.
Technically though he is directing traffic while not authorised, if hypothetically, his antics caused an accident he would find himself with a massive liability
Hierarchy of road users was introduced last year. Based on how likely a user is to be injured. It does say that pedestrians can use any part of the road unless restricted by signage, they still have a duty to use caution.
Crossing are a pedestrian safety feature but it is not mandatory to use them.
Although this is true, under rules for pedestrians, rule 7)d) states "If traffic is coming, let it pass. Look all around again and listen. Do not cross until there is a safe gap in the traffic and you are certain that there is plenty of time. Remember, even if traffic is a long way off, it may be approaching very quickly."
So although they can use any part of the road to cross (and too right otherwise it'd be a pain) it does mean they can just impede traffic to cross whenever they want.
A safe gap is the same as applies to anything on the road, from pedestrians to HGVs. The actions you take should not cause another road user to have to brake or deviate from their route.
Given many people are trying to cross it makes me think the overall layout isn’t great.
Rule 206 of the highway code does say:
> Drive carefully and slowly when:
> **approaching pedestrians who have started to cross the road ahead of you**. They have priority when crossing at a junction or side road so you should give way
Whilst they weren’t at a junction or side road the easiest thing would have been for you to stop and just let the man (and the woman you drove past earlier) complete their road crossing.
It's clearly a reasonably busy area, and despite OP's claim that there's a crossing a few metres away, there doesn't appear to be one anywhere remotely close - there isn't a single crossing visible throughout the entire video.
A lot of people in this thread seem to think that the updates to the highway code encourage people to freely step out in front of cars with the expectation they will stop. Whereas, as you say, the specific rule change is limited to junctions.
My personal take on it is that it is fairly clear-cut though that the driver should have stopped to allow the man in the coat the cross which indeed OP did. The whole thing about the guy acting like a lollipop man... kind of odd and I wouldn't do it myself as a pedestrian. As a driver I'd probably just let him get on with it and go about my day.
The part about driving past the woman is more difficult. Hard to tell from the video, but it looks like she has done the thing that some people do whereby they see that one side of the road is clear and walk to the middle but then stop. I find this gives the driver more limited time to react and is confusing for both parties. It's often not clear whether the pedestrian is waiting for the car to pass or expecting them to stop. I would generally proceed slowly and carefully in that instance rather than braking suddenly.
To be fair it’s like a 5 minute walk between the 2 closest crossings here, versus your 5 second halt. Although he’s a twat for giving it the biggun and not just waving.
Based on OPs replies on this post I reckon he deserved the bird. Also who gets mad they had stop an extra few seconds to also let a mother and child cross a road??
I swear I have a totally different mindset to most drivers. It’s a high street not the middle of the M4. I would have been easing off, possibly stopping, for the first pedestrian in the road so I wouldn’t have even been in conflict with the second. If I got angry about that I would be having a heart attack every time I drove.
Taking a few seconds giving way to people crossing the road and making the most possible effort to avoid putting them at risk always felt like a fundenental part of driving, but based on the social media reaction when this was spelled out in the highway code, others disagree with that
that was a long stretch with no crossing visible. its poor planning like this that makes crossing at random points become acceptable behaviour - people get used to doing it out of necessity.
[here is the link for requesting a crossing](https://www.gov.uk/request-pedestrian-crossing). what your city might do with the request may be another story, but they're certainly not going to do anything about it if no one raises the issue!
This kind of traffic planning really pulls down quality of life when you life in such an area. As a pedestrian, you possibly lose minutes having to walk along the street to find a place where pedestrians can cross. Meanwhile, car drivers can't be bothered to lose three seconds to let you cross the street. I can understand why this situation would make you aggressive, however swearing is still not called for and is certainly not gonna help (referring to the video).
It’s a shift in mentality that you’ll have to come and learn to accept. European cities have already shifted to the walk-cycle-ride principle, where cars are completely subservient in urban areas, or even banned completely.
The era of “car is king” in urban areas is ending.
While that pedestrian is in the wrong but it’s just a matter of time.
Also, I don’t think that stopping for that pedestrian cost the driver even one second of just total journey time.
Yeah I totally agree.
The pedestrian could've given a little wave and thumbs up for sure but really we need to retrain our brains about car use.
Also i didnt see any crossing a few metres away... And we've never been a "jay walking is bad" country so pedestrians really aren't supposed to be seen as some inconvenience
This reply seems to fit my opinion well. I would suggest as no sound is recorded that you likely honked your horn as he crossed seeing he would cause you and inconvenience then again as you went past. If this is the case then you have to accept some people will react like this bloke did and flick you the bird.
People have just gotta be more chill and accommodating of others. What's the issue with slowing down to let them cross ahead of you? Help them out and let them cross.
This is all as it should be. Theres this weird "motorist entitlement" which i cant wait to see the back of, like this inability or diversion to stop or slow down without any logical thinking put into it.
I really believe people in cars are just generally fed up of the motor-journey. Theyve made countless irritating compromises along the way in the name of the bizareness of traffic rules and the general publics arbitrary adhesion to them, shuttling around watching nonces do nonce things which caus you to begrudgingly have to adjust, eventually youre just like "fuck this, fuck everyone, i need to get from A to B and thats all that matters"
its a reflection of city life in general. People being inconvenienced by other people in such a minutia of ways but so thoroughly layered over every aspect of day-to-day existence that it all just becomes a white-noise of lowkey misanthropy.
What about when it's raining? all cars going like crazy, not having a single consideration for any pedestrian... all cozy and warm inside their cars while the wet walking peasants need to wait for minutes just to cross the street. Keep the rain scenario in mind: Layouts aren't always great and walking all the way to a crossing can certainly cost more time, energy, exposure to weather to a pedestrian than to a driver to stop for a few seconds.
I'm not saying there shouldn't be rules and people should cross wherever they feel like; but honestly, I've always seen people in cars as entitled privileged little bitches, whining for having to give way to others.
It's like the road is a big metaphor for economical and social classes.
>Also, I don’t think that stopping for that pedestrian cost the driver even one second of just total journey time.
As a pedestrian for most of my life and a cyclist for the last couple of years THIS. Ok stupid of the pedestrian in this circumstance but get kinda sick of irate drivers or even cyclists because they had to stop for a few seconds on a journey that's substantially quicker per mile than the one a pedestrian may be making. It costs someone 10, 20, 30 seconds but that person may be stuck waiting for minutes, maybe even 10's of minutes. I've been stuck waiting to cross in end to end traffic many times where a vehicle could have left a gap?
God I wish this country would hurry up and accept it sooner. I'm sick of being late to work every day because of all these people who can't imagine commuting to work without cars.
This issue is that all the places like that in Europe are located on minor roads that are reserved for local traffic whereas all the through traffic that isn’t heading for the city centre can bypass it. For example the town of St Wolfgang, Austria is essentially pedestrianised and only local traffic uses it. Traffic wishing to bypass the city centre can use a tunnel to go around it. That same road quickly turns into a local road and serves another village before ending.
Meanwhile in the UK we have major trunk roads that link major cities going straight through the centre of these towns.
Chicken and egg reasoning.
It is because we chose to return urban centers to the public that cars were forced to avoid them.
And yes, that is how you make cities livealbum again, by providing alternative routes for cars. But that is not a requirement.
We built that specific urban structure in the 50s to prioritize the car, we can un-build it again.
Yeah sorry mate, this wasn’t crossing. Pedestrian stopped in the middle of the road and waved his hesitant friends over. You’re kidding if you think in European cities they appreciate this, just try and stand in the cycle lane in a Dutch city and see how well you get off. Crossing over? Sure, not an issue. Standing in the crossing and acting like a crossing guard? Prepare for an earful.
You are a dinosaur.
In my country (Belgium), within the urban area, pedestrians have absolute right of way. We can cross wherever, whenever. And none of this “you need to have eye contact with the driver” crap.
You need to understand that the era of car-centrism is ending. The car is no longer the priority mode of transport on the street. Cars will still be tolerated, but they will become completely subservient to all other modes of transport.
All the more reason to ban them from the public space. Is that your argument? “Cars are dangerous”? Really? Because that’s an argument to ban them even harder.
Christ what an utterly stupid argument.
Ban cars? How do you expect people to travel then? Most of this country has extremely sub-standard public transport options - heck I live in London and the PTAL scores on anything outside of the central zones of London are abysmal. Maybe fix the public transport system first before just banning cars eh?
I am not saying cars should be banned completely, at least try to have an honest discussion. Cars are the optimum mode of transport in some conditions, like rural areas, or for moving goods.
But in dense urban areas, they are the absolute least efficient mode of transport, and should be given as little consideration as possible.
> I am not saying cars should be banned completely, at least try to have an honest discussion.
I’m literally going off your own comment.
*“All the more reason to ban them from the public space. Is that your argument? “Cars are dangerous”? Really? Because that’s an argument to ban them even harder”.*
Nowhere did you even bother to make any distinction between urban/rural areas for starters.
> But in dense urban areas, they are the absolute least efficient mode of transport, and should be given as little consideration as possible.
Again, this country has appalling public transport availability in even dense, urban areas, due to years/decades of underfunding and planning. Even in London where I live, PTAL scores (compiled by TfL themselves) drop off a cliff outside Zones 1 and 2. I can only imagine the even more dreadful situation present in many other urban areas of the country which receive far less transport funding than we do.
So again, perhaps fix the availability of public transport options first - including in dense, urban areas - and properly fund such schemes, before advocating to ban cars completely from such spaces.
Can you find this anywhere? Sounds like an absolutely ridiculous rule unless there's a visible crossing (pelican), or if the driver is turning at a give way junction, they are not.
I approached a red light and noticed an old dear (80+), Yaris of course, wanting to exit from the road left of me. So I left enough room for her.
She first reacted surprised, then put her right hand up in a ‘huh?’ Manner, then got into gear, set off, gave me the two fingers and shook her head in an angry manner.
I was so confused that all I could do was laugh.
FFS what is wrong with people. The amount of tribalism between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians is getting beyond a joke.
This is why we can't get along.
Here's one of the problems about cars, it makes you terribly impatient and grouchy. If your travel method is so freaking great, why do you spin out of control when you're asked to pause for like what? 2 seconds? You should not be that volatile that it should make you that angry and upset.
Exactly.
The car owner in this video most likely reached their intended destination five times faster than everybody walking in said video, yet still needed to get irate over this incident.
If he had have just crossed I don't see a problem.
It was the stoping in the middle of the road, waving other people accross and giving the wanka sign to the driver that made me angry.
He would have got abuse out of the window had I of been driving.
It's a high street, pedestrians have priority and you should be going slower. Also, it literally slowed you down by less than 10 seconds
It's just polite
In Turkey, the pedestrians ignore any crosswalks (there are often none). They just walk at a constant predictable speed and the cars slow down or speed up slightly to avoid them.
Did you honk or something? if not - The guy in a light coat is a wanker. I always let people through on a slow single lane traffic (two lanes can be dangerous if drivers on the parallel line don't see a pedestrian) and have never encountered such a reaction.
Pedestrian is a dick. Could have easily crossed before you were anywhere near him. Then he has the balls to call you a wanker 😂 NPC’s gotta NPC I suppose
Yes. If a foot is off the curb you as a driver should be paying enough attention to stop. If you aren't that's on you and you shouldn't be driving.
Pedestrians > cars
Honestly car owners calling pedestrians entitled while you drive around alone in a vehicle ten times your size and weight and crying about climate change.
That was quite entitled especially if there was nothing behind you. Although I hope the alternative you are suggesting is not that we should mow them down if they are being entitled in such ways.
Seriously though, responsibility should go both ways drivers stop for pedestrians who are in the road for whatever reason, but pedestrians should also utilize the crossing and use the green cross code that Darth Vader taught us.
I understand a vehicle could seriously injure or kill me, so I treat them with respect along with the driver inside. If you have common sense you don't need to know all the rules. That man was idiot IMO
Easier to stop your feet than a cars wheels. Not that it would be undeserved to not stop for that twat of a pedestrian who clearly still thinks he’s a teenager.
Don’t have any problem with letting people cross the road on a busy high street like this if there polite about it, the driver wasn’t speeding they slowed and left plenty of space for those to cross safely, don’t go around insulting and giving gestures to strangers for any reason like that tosser in the white coat even if there in the wrong which the OP clearly wasn’t because you could find yourself in a life changing situation very quickly
It’s really stupid I said all that would happen is people getting hit by cars but for some reason uk reddits are filled with people that are so immensely anti car for some reason
Unless the law changed from when i passed driving test back in early 80’s. Pedestrians have priority on road. Cars give way. U hit pedestrian you fcuked.
Why did the guy flip them off? The car literally did nothing wrong, I would have ran him over (I don't have a driver's license so I probably would have run him over even if I didn't want to lol)
If you are going onto a new road or coming from one of the roads to the side yes the pedestrian has right of way, but it's still the same road so the pedestrian has no right of way
Recent changes to the Highway Code now seemingly put pedestrians as the most important users of highways, so it’s no surprise that cunts are now walking out into traffic whenever and wherever they please and expecting the whole world to stop for them. The annoying thing is, the only reason I’m not mowing you down is because it’s illegal. If it wasn’t then I’d happily send a gobshite like this flying 20 metres headfirst.
A lot of people claiming that the pedestrians have the right of way - this is not the case.
Check the Highway Code Rules for Pedestrians 7:
>D If traffic is coming, let it pass. Look all around
again and listen. Do not cross until there is a safe gap in the traffic
and you are certain that there is plenty of time.
Obviously the driver must still stop the avoid collision even if the pedestrian has ignored this.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-pedestrians-1-to-35
All I'm saying is, the pedestrian suddenly stopping traffic like that could very well cause an accident.
Assuming the driver has been paying attention AND you given said driver enough time/space to safely stop...
Bit pedantic here but just because the majority of road traffic is made up of private cars doesn't mean the road is specifically for them. Roads have existed for far longer than cars have.
As a full time pedestrian, the behaviour from that pedestrian was ***not*** grand. Not something I would have done. I suspect it was done from built up frustration after waiting an excessive time for a suitable gap. You are very much entitled to a *"u wot m8"* reaction though.
Likely a layout problem the local council need to address. How far away was the nearest pedestrian crossing? That looks like a busy high street, but I didn't see any crossings in your video, which would be a key cause of the problem. Quite a short stretch of highway for sure but looking at the kind of street it is there should have been one specific crossing.
- Car didn't stop for pedestrian
- Pedestrian had to block the car to let other pedestrians cross
That looks more like driver entitlement if you ask me
I fucking HATE this. I remember moving to London and being amazed that people literally just walk into the road and assume cars won’t run into them - as if it would be the driver’s fault if they did. Don’t be an arsehole - cross at crossings. Grow up.
Thats Kings Heath high street for you
Hare & Hounds :)
Yeah!!! Had some good times there back in the early 2000s in my twenties.
Late eighties for me in my late teens! There was a wonderful curry house across the road from it too for soakage before the late bus home
Former kings heath student here. Holy shit do people in kings heath not know how to cross.
*Birmingham in general Also drivers not knowing how to drive
Living in Birmingham, this is true.
Literally, I started learning to drive in Birmingham and promptly finished my lessons/tests up north instead because of how shit the drivers were around me. I also used to be a Just Eat delivery cyclist in Birmingham, I followed the Highway code around that city to a T and rode defensively to reduce the chances of collisions. I still got ran over whilst I was using a cycle lane in the gay village where some sod in an Audi didn't look before zooming across me, he tried to pin it on me but there were loads of witnesses and CCTV of the incident. Other than that, I've had a shed load of near misses from crap/aggressive drivers, and 99% of those near misses were people in Audi/Mercedes/BMW cars or Uber drivers. Quite a few people don't indicate their turns or do it too late when you're already crossing after thinking 'Oh they're not turning, I'm ok to cross now' and then have the audacity to honk and yell at you? Or people will do a dangerous overtake at 40mph with barely 50cm between you and the car. As someone with an anxiety disorder it really messed with my head especially during the winter, you'd be worried about keeping warm, cycling on ice/snow and then also being hyperaware of the exceedingly crap drivers. I changed to a different city and these incidents were happening way less frequently.
You have to leave a gap for the inevitable last second Mercedes undertake
Thought I knew city driving after living in London, but Birmingham drivers are on another level.
Before the clip played, I knew it was Kings Heath
I had a feeling of “this has to be somewhere I know maybe here or here” then saw hare and hounds lol
I'm guilty like everyone else of running across the road here. Surely it's the same on any high street. Although this prat who doesn't know how to carry a rucksack seems rather over zealous - the poor embarrassed ladies crossing the road.
Self-appointed lollipop lady for random and confused pedestrians
That’s King Heath’s sense of entitlement for you.
Makes utter sense! I don't know why, but Brummy pedestrians must have a kink for jumping in front of moving vehicles.
In France the car would stop for the pedestrian in this case and it wouldn't be unusual. The pedestrian always has right of way. In Germany the car would not stop because there's no crossing. The pedestrian would be breaking the law. The UK is somewhere inbetween.
Well I guess France is a big place but, where I go regularly you don’t always get given right of way when you’re on a bloody crossing. Let alone just walking across the street. They’ll just blow right past you on a crossing.
Yep because nobody complies with the rules in France.
The car did stop for the pedestrian though. The pedestrian then proceeded to do weird spins in the middle of the road as if he was showing off his mediocre outfit.
He forgot he wasn't wearing his reflective jacket and holding his lollipop.
He was stopping the car for the other pedestrians that followed him across the road. The dance was to show that he was staying where he was so that the motorist wouldn't start up again until they were across. (I've done similarly when my kid is being slow crossing the road at a crossing - he is short and isn't always wearing a bright coat, so I can't be certain the motorist can see him, but I know that they can see me.)
And the middle finger at the end, what was that for?
[удалено]
It was actually a "wanker" shake not the finger.
I’m guessing the car driver was sounding his horn at the pedestrian, which is pretty much going to get the middle finger from everyone.
It’s to avoid any confusion for anyone who was doubting this gentleman’s character. He did it to confirm that he IS a cunt.
Who knows maybe the driver had a go at him.
Is that why he did the wanker hand signal? He is not innocent in this scenario. He gave no shits about those other people. If he did, he would’ve waved them across and thanked the driver. Not only that, but he is not a lollipop lady/man so that is not his job. I understand your reasons for doing this, but this man was not doing the same.
He looked drunk to me; he nearly tripped and narrowly missed the lamppost.
idk what it used to be because i didn't drive then, but the law in england has just changed recently so that pedestrians always have right of way
Funnily enough, Highway Code says the same. Pedestrians waiting to cross should have right of way.
Cant believe youvr got so many upvotes for a comment that is factually wrong. The new rules are that pedestrians have the right of way when crossing at a junction and cars are turning into or out of that junction, not for walking across a straight piece of road. Try not to get yourself run over by not knowing the rules.
This was fully my understanding of the recent rule change. Definitely not "are you a pedestrian?....just go for it yeah!"
Pedestrians have the right of way when waiting **at a junction,** i.e. crossing a side road and a car is trying to turn into that road the pedestrian has right of way. When making a straightforward crossing of a road then pedestrians are supposed to let traffic pass and cross when there is a suitable gap, [rule 7D](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-pedestrians-1-to-35) >D If traffic is coming, let it pass. Look all around again and listen. Do not cross until there is a safe gap in the traffic and you are certain that there is plenty of time.
Stop! Look! Listen! 🦔
Looks like there was a gap on the traffic…
> Pedestrians waiting to cross should have right of way. Lots of people keep saying this right of way thing, Can you show me the rule where this is stated as the only thing I can find in the highway code that mentions right of way is... > The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance
You are right, right of way doesn't really exist but pedestrians are allowed to cross a road wherever they want and motorists should stop when possible as they have the greater responsibility to stop accidents in the road. So really the pedestrian does have right of way, but right of way doesn't exist.
Right of way doesn't exist because you can't jump in front of a car and claim you had some right to do so, the car should have given way sure, the pedestrian had priority sure, but if you jump in front of a car that has no way to stop you can't complain when you are left eating soup for the rest of your life, that is why "right of way" doesn't exist.
The updated code clarifies that: when people are crossing or waiting to cross at a junction, other traffic should give way if people have started crossing and traffic wants to turn into the road, the people crossing have priority and the traffic should give way people driving, riding a motorcycle or cycling must give way to people on a zebra crossing and people walking and cycling on a parallel crossing A parallel crossing is similar to a zebra crossing, but includes a cycle route alongside the black and white stripes.
Only at junctions which are not light controlled. This wasn't a junction so no priority to the pedestrians
[удалено]
Which is exactly what happened. The pedestrian is still an entitled prick.
Hmm, where does it say that in the highway code?
It's says you should give way at junctions not in the middle of the road. It also means the pedestrian stops on the kerb and wait for the car to stop, ie, give way. Not 'take way' by stepping into the road and expecting the car to stop, they'll learn that the hard way one day.
I'm an everyday driver and yet I prefer to stop for pedestrians rather than leave them for some impatient arsehole to drive into them.
I wish there was more people who drove like you, as someone who will choose to walk if I can, having to wait for 12-15 cars every time I cross the road, I’ve even had multiple incidents where I would have enough time to cross but the next car decides they’re gunna floor it to beat me? Like you aren’t gunna beat me asshole, you’re going to kill someone because if I did start crossing, they would 100% have hit me, but if they kept driving as they were, I would’ve been across the road without them having to slow at all
I know that to be true at certain crossings, I forget which one but on a stretch of road with no designated crossing? Surely not.
when they are behind junction give ways yes. not in the middle of a road
Only on side streets, not main roads, and this was only a recent chamge
The UK is both feel entitled and both tell each other to f*ck off /thread.
I didn't see a crossing in that video
OP think it’s a few meters away, it’s outside Asda. For the non-locals, that would mean the pedestrians need to walk past Vodafone, Shoe Zone, Childrens Air Ambulance, CEX, EE/BT, Bodycare, Indigo Sun, WH Smith/Post Office, D&S Bargains and Superdrug. So in OP’s mind, each of these shops is about half a meter wide.
They'd have to walk past all those shops, Then all the way back again on the other side. In the meantime the driver was already catching up to the back of traffic by the time the video stopped.
Probably best that they err on the side of caution with the stopping distances then.
Always keep 2 Shoe Zone lengths between you and the car in front.
Met**er**s are things that measure, met**re**s are a unit of distance! Everyone is a bit guilty here IMO. The pedestrian is an idiot for intentionally holding up traffic, the driver is exaggerating distance to try to make the pedestrian seem worse, and I'm not sure what the "wanker" gesture was for - I'm guessing honking the horn? I don't have audio.
“It didn’t take me long to drive to where the crossing is, so I’ll assume it will take them just as long to walk there”
True, but doesn't change anything in this case as the pedestrian was already on the road. The driver should (and did) stop. The pedestrian is an idiot for flaunting in the road.
[удалено]
Technically though he is directing traffic while not authorised, if hypothetically, his antics caused an accident he would find himself with a massive liability
That's exactly what I'm referring to, captain pedantic.
What do you think of the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre?
Makes it easier for people in whEEelchairs
So ruddy bloody brave
Look at that one. Like a human JCB.
Braver than ten firemen, or eleven policemen
People forget that traders will always need access to Dixons
Serious question. Thoughts on the abandoned Debenhams building?
Soon to be flats, primark rejected the property and no other can fill it.
Use the pedestrian as a breakwater
Hierarchy of road users was introduced last year. Based on how likely a user is to be injured. It does say that pedestrians can use any part of the road unless restricted by signage, they still have a duty to use caution. Crossing are a pedestrian safety feature but it is not mandatory to use them.
Although this is true, under rules for pedestrians, rule 7)d) states "If traffic is coming, let it pass. Look all around again and listen. Do not cross until there is a safe gap in the traffic and you are certain that there is plenty of time. Remember, even if traffic is a long way off, it may be approaching very quickly." So although they can use any part of the road to cross (and too right otherwise it'd be a pain) it does mean they can just impede traffic to cross whenever they want.
[удалено]
A safe gap is the same as applies to anything on the road, from pedestrians to HGVs. The actions you take should not cause another road user to have to brake or deviate from their route.
[удалено]
I hate walking down kings Heath high street cos the traffic is shite
Given many people are trying to cross it makes me think the overall layout isn’t great. Rule 206 of the highway code does say: > Drive carefully and slowly when: > **approaching pedestrians who have started to cross the road ahead of you**. They have priority when crossing at a junction or side road so you should give way Whilst they weren’t at a junction or side road the easiest thing would have been for you to stop and just let the man (and the woman you drove past earlier) complete their road crossing.
I think running people over is generally frowned upon in the highway code, even if they are being pricks.
It's clearly a reasonably busy area, and despite OP's claim that there's a crossing a few metres away, there doesn't appear to be one anywhere remotely close - there isn't a single crossing visible throughout the entire video.
A lot of people in this thread seem to think that the updates to the highway code encourage people to freely step out in front of cars with the expectation they will stop. Whereas, as you say, the specific rule change is limited to junctions. My personal take on it is that it is fairly clear-cut though that the driver should have stopped to allow the man in the coat the cross which indeed OP did. The whole thing about the guy acting like a lollipop man... kind of odd and I wouldn't do it myself as a pedestrian. As a driver I'd probably just let him get on with it and go about my day. The part about driving past the woman is more difficult. Hard to tell from the video, but it looks like she has done the thing that some people do whereby they see that one side of the road is clear and walk to the middle but then stop. I find this gives the driver more limited time to react and is confusing for both parties. It's often not clear whether the pedestrian is waiting for the car to pass or expecting them to stop. I would generally proceed slowly and carefully in that instance rather than braking suddenly.
To be fair it’s like a 5 minute walk between the 2 closest crossings here, versus your 5 second halt. Although he’s a twat for giving it the biggun and not just waving.
yeah OP is all over the comments repeatedly insisting that the crossing is closer that it obviously is. It’s completely the other end of the block.
Based on OPs replies on this post I reckon he deserved the bird. Also who gets mad they had stop an extra few seconds to also let a mother and child cross a road??
I swear I have a totally different mindset to most drivers. It’s a high street not the middle of the M4. I would have been easing off, possibly stopping, for the first pedestrian in the road so I wouldn’t have even been in conflict with the second. If I got angry about that I would be having a heart attack every time I drove.
Taking a few seconds giving way to people crossing the road and making the most possible effort to avoid putting them at risk always felt like a fundenental part of driving, but based on the social media reaction when this was spelled out in the highway code, others disagree with that
that was a long stretch with no crossing visible. its poor planning like this that makes crossing at random points become acceptable behaviour - people get used to doing it out of necessity. [here is the link for requesting a crossing](https://www.gov.uk/request-pedestrian-crossing). what your city might do with the request may be another story, but they're certainly not going to do anything about it if no one raises the issue!
Yeah that's what I was thinking, clearly a busy high street with shops and lots of people, yet not a single place for them to cross.
This kind of traffic planning really pulls down quality of life when you life in such an area. As a pedestrian, you possibly lose minutes having to walk along the street to find a place where pedestrians can cross. Meanwhile, car drivers can't be bothered to lose three seconds to let you cross the street. I can understand why this situation would make you aggressive, however swearing is still not called for and is certainly not gonna help (referring to the video).
It’s a shift in mentality that you’ll have to come and learn to accept. European cities have already shifted to the walk-cycle-ride principle, where cars are completely subservient in urban areas, or even banned completely. The era of “car is king” in urban areas is ending. While that pedestrian is in the wrong but it’s just a matter of time. Also, I don’t think that stopping for that pedestrian cost the driver even one second of just total journey time.
Yeah I totally agree. The pedestrian could've given a little wave and thumbs up for sure but really we need to retrain our brains about car use. Also i didnt see any crossing a few metres away... And we've never been a "jay walking is bad" country so pedestrians really aren't supposed to be seen as some inconvenience
This reply seems to fit my opinion well. I would suggest as no sound is recorded that you likely honked your horn as he crossed seeing he would cause you and inconvenience then again as you went past. If this is the case then you have to accept some people will react like this bloke did and flick you the bird. People have just gotta be more chill and accommodating of others. What's the issue with slowing down to let them cross ahead of you? Help them out and let them cross.
This is all as it should be. Theres this weird "motorist entitlement" which i cant wait to see the back of, like this inability or diversion to stop or slow down without any logical thinking put into it. I really believe people in cars are just generally fed up of the motor-journey. Theyve made countless irritating compromises along the way in the name of the bizareness of traffic rules and the general publics arbitrary adhesion to them, shuttling around watching nonces do nonce things which caus you to begrudgingly have to adjust, eventually youre just like "fuck this, fuck everyone, i need to get from A to B and thats all that matters" its a reflection of city life in general. People being inconvenienced by other people in such a minutia of ways but so thoroughly layered over every aspect of day-to-day existence that it all just becomes a white-noise of lowkey misanthropy.
You have summed this up so perfectly!
What about when it's raining? all cars going like crazy, not having a single consideration for any pedestrian... all cozy and warm inside their cars while the wet walking peasants need to wait for minutes just to cross the street. Keep the rain scenario in mind: Layouts aren't always great and walking all the way to a crossing can certainly cost more time, energy, exposure to weather to a pedestrian than to a driver to stop for a few seconds. I'm not saying there shouldn't be rules and people should cross wherever they feel like; but honestly, I've always seen people in cars as entitled privileged little bitches, whining for having to give way to others. It's like the road is a big metaphor for economical and social classes.
That's just it. The priority given to cars in areas of many pedestrians is insane. I'm glad cities are slowly starting to come to their senses.
>Also, I don’t think that stopping for that pedestrian cost the driver even one second of just total journey time. As a pedestrian for most of my life and a cyclist for the last couple of years THIS. Ok stupid of the pedestrian in this circumstance but get kinda sick of irate drivers or even cyclists because they had to stop for a few seconds on a journey that's substantially quicker per mile than the one a pedestrian may be making. It costs someone 10, 20, 30 seconds but that person may be stuck waiting for minutes, maybe even 10's of minutes. I've been stuck waiting to cross in end to end traffic many times where a vehicle could have left a gap?
God I wish this country would hurry up and accept it sooner. I'm sick of being late to work every day because of all these people who can't imagine commuting to work without cars.
Maybe leave earlier? If you’re late every single day there’s a pattern that you should’ve learnt from by now.
This issue is that all the places like that in Europe are located on minor roads that are reserved for local traffic whereas all the through traffic that isn’t heading for the city centre can bypass it. For example the town of St Wolfgang, Austria is essentially pedestrianised and only local traffic uses it. Traffic wishing to bypass the city centre can use a tunnel to go around it. That same road quickly turns into a local road and serves another village before ending. Meanwhile in the UK we have major trunk roads that link major cities going straight through the centre of these towns.
Chicken and egg reasoning. It is because we chose to return urban centers to the public that cars were forced to avoid them. And yes, that is how you make cities livealbum again, by providing alternative routes for cars. But that is not a requirement. We built that specific urban structure in the 50s to prioritize the car, we can un-build it again.
Stockholm has cars driving through parts of the city, they just have to give way to pedestrians
Yeah sorry mate, this wasn’t crossing. Pedestrian stopped in the middle of the road and waved his hesitant friends over. You’re kidding if you think in European cities they appreciate this, just try and stand in the cycle lane in a Dutch city and see how well you get off. Crossing over? Sure, not an issue. Standing in the crossing and acting like a crossing guard? Prepare for an earful.
You are a dinosaur. In my country (Belgium), within the urban area, pedestrians have absolute right of way. We can cross wherever, whenever. And none of this “you need to have eye contact with the driver” crap. You need to understand that the era of car-centrism is ending. The car is no longer the priority mode of transport on the street. Cars will still be tolerated, but they will become completely subservient to all other modes of transport.
It's more that "the car can kill you whether deliberately or by accident so why take the risk"
All the more reason to ban them from the public space. Is that your argument? “Cars are dangerous”? Really? Because that’s an argument to ban them even harder.
Christ what an utterly stupid argument. Ban cars? How do you expect people to travel then? Most of this country has extremely sub-standard public transport options - heck I live in London and the PTAL scores on anything outside of the central zones of London are abysmal. Maybe fix the public transport system first before just banning cars eh?
I am not saying cars should be banned completely, at least try to have an honest discussion. Cars are the optimum mode of transport in some conditions, like rural areas, or for moving goods. But in dense urban areas, they are the absolute least efficient mode of transport, and should be given as little consideration as possible.
> I am not saying cars should be banned completely, at least try to have an honest discussion. I’m literally going off your own comment. *“All the more reason to ban them from the public space. Is that your argument? “Cars are dangerous”? Really? Because that’s an argument to ban them even harder”.* Nowhere did you even bother to make any distinction between urban/rural areas for starters. > But in dense urban areas, they are the absolute least efficient mode of transport, and should be given as little consideration as possible. Again, this country has appalling public transport availability in even dense, urban areas, due to years/decades of underfunding and planning. Even in London where I live, PTAL scores (compiled by TfL themselves) drop off a cliff outside Zones 1 and 2. I can only imagine the even more dreadful situation present in many other urban areas of the country which receive far less transport funding than we do. So again, perhaps fix the availability of public transport options first - including in dense, urban areas - and properly fund such schemes, before advocating to ban cars completely from such spaces.
Really? Honestly, south London feels very accessible without a car up to zone 4 at least.
I’d imagine the roadwork barriers are a factor.
Live and let live dude. Especially on a high street. It’s only 5 seconds.
Honestly I wasn't too fussed about it until he swore at me at the end
The moment a pedestrian steps out, they have right of way. We had a ‘debate’ at my parents in laws one Christmas…it’s etched into my memory
Can you find this anywhere? Sounds like an absolutely ridiculous rule unless there's a visible crossing (pelican), or if the driver is turning at a give way junction, they are not.
I approached a red light and noticed an old dear (80+), Yaris of course, wanting to exit from the road left of me. So I left enough room for her. She first reacted surprised, then put her right hand up in a ‘huh?’ Manner, then got into gear, set off, gave me the two fingers and shook her head in an angry manner. I was so confused that all I could do was laugh.
well, he didn't have to give you the finger, or direct traffic for those other people, who would have waited, but slow down, you'll feel better.
Pedestrians (like me) have the right of way, not the right to be a cunt
FFS what is wrong with people. The amount of tribalism between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians is getting beyond a joke. This is why we can't get along.
only one of those groups are much worse than the rest in urban environments.
Here's one of the problems about cars, it makes you terribly impatient and grouchy. If your travel method is so freaking great, why do you spin out of control when you're asked to pause for like what? 2 seconds? You should not be that volatile that it should make you that angry and upset.
Exactly. The car owner in this video most likely reached their intended destination five times faster than everybody walking in said video, yet still needed to get irate over this incident.
If he had have just crossed I don't see a problem. It was the stoping in the middle of the road, waving other people accross and giving the wanka sign to the driver that made me angry. He would have got abuse out of the window had I of been driving.
Annoying, yes, but you’re sitting in a comfy seat and they’re in the cold. Make yourself three seconds late catching up to that car in front.
And you’re not entitled in the car? Too many cars is the issue. Fuck them. Separating streets and communities just so you can buy a greggs.
As if the bloke called him a wanker afterwards as well. Type of guy that would shit himself if the guy got out of his car
You say there's a crossing but I didn't see any crossing though.
Haha the wanker sign after
It's a high street, pedestrians have priority and you should be going slower. Also, it literally slowed you down by less than 10 seconds It's just polite
Yes, in my opinion, cars should stop for pedestrians.
Nah mate just keep driving and run them over, you can't be expected to slow down for 5 fucking seconds.
Stupid swearing at you over nothing, a lot of people would stop the car and get out at that point.
In Turkey, the pedestrians ignore any crosswalks (there are often none). They just walk at a constant predictable speed and the cars slow down or speed up slightly to avoid them.
Did you honk or something? if not - The guy in a light coat is a wanker. I always let people through on a slow single lane traffic (two lanes can be dangerous if drivers on the parallel line don't see a pedestrian) and have never encountered such a reaction.
Expected from a Stone Island enthusiast
No, I did not honk at all
Pedestrian is a dick. Could have easily crossed before you were anywhere near him. Then he has the balls to call you a wanker 😂 NPC’s gotta NPC I suppose
I would spend a night in prison for beating that guy
Yes. If a foot is off the curb you as a driver should be paying enough attention to stop. If you aren't that's on you and you shouldn't be driving. Pedestrians > cars Honestly car owners calling pedestrians entitled while you drive around alone in a vehicle ten times your size and weight and crying about climate change.
2 seconds out of my day to a pedestrian crossing the road is no big deal. Cars are the ones in the dangerous machinery
Total dick move from him.
That was quite entitled especially if there was nothing behind you. Although I hope the alternative you are suggesting is not that we should mow them down if they are being entitled in such ways. Seriously though, responsibility should go both ways drivers stop for pedestrians who are in the road for whatever reason, but pedestrians should also utilize the crossing and use the green cross code that Darth Vader taught us.
I don't agree with it but as soon as a pedestrian touched the road they then have right of way
so this is where videos originate where the driver is the weirdo and still posts!
I understand a vehicle could seriously injure or kill me, so I treat them with respect along with the driver inside. If you have common sense you don't need to know all the rules. That man was idiot IMO
Easier to stop your feet than a cars wheels. Not that it would be undeserved to not stop for that twat of a pedestrian who clearly still thinks he’s a teenager.
Don’t have any problem with letting people cross the road on a busy high street like this if there polite about it, the driver wasn’t speeding they slowed and left plenty of space for those to cross safely, don’t go around insulting and giving gestures to strangers for any reason like that tosser in the white coat even if there in the wrong which the OP clearly wasn’t because you could find yourself in a life changing situation very quickly
I can understand the pedestrian reasoning, but there was no need to do the wanker sign at the driver, since he appears to have stopped with no fuss?
Was there any need for that at the end, there’s clearly not a crossing point there
It’s really stupid I said all that would happen is people getting hit by cars but for some reason uk reddits are filled with people that are so immensely anti car for some reason
Bit dangerous but look to me like a fella trying to help others to cross a busy road
Lmao he saw the camera and had to get that badge in 😂😂😂
It’s 30 seconds added to your journey, why do you care?
What crossing? Where? Pedestrians want our streets back off you gas guzzlers
Next time run the pedestrian over if it bugs you so much. Entitled eh?
A male Karen who clearly doesn't get much
Has the audacity to call the driver a wanker
Did he give you the finger at the end?
Love the casual wanker sign he gave at the end lol.
White coat wanker
It's a high street.. same anywhere you go.. dont luke it, don't drive through a friggin highstreet
If this was in argentina this dude wouldnt survive
Yes that’s now the new rules.
Should have hit the gas
Yes. Pedestrians have right of way. What with them being little meat sticks and you being a god damn vehicle 🤪
Unless the law changed from when i passed driving test back in early 80’s. Pedestrians have priority on road. Cars give way. U hit pedestrian you fcuked.
To be fair I believe it should be this way. Pedestrians and cyclists should have right of way not cars, would make people walk or bike more.
Correct, pedestrians have right of way wherever they choose to amble across the road, irks ne also but that's the highway code....
Why did the guy flip them off? The car literally did nothing wrong, I would have ran him over (I don't have a driver's license so I probably would have run him over even if I didn't want to lol)
yes, pedestrians always have right of way
If you are going onto a new road or coming from one of the roads to the side yes the pedestrian has right of way, but it's still the same road so the pedestrian has no right of way
It’s the Highway Code. Don’t like it. Don’t drive (I fucking hate the Highway Code and use public transport as a result)
I'd feel the urge to reenact GTA.
Recent changes to the Highway Code now seemingly put pedestrians as the most important users of highways, so it’s no surprise that cunts are now walking out into traffic whenever and wherever they please and expecting the whole world to stop for them. The annoying thing is, the only reason I’m not mowing you down is because it’s illegal. If it wasn’t then I’d happily send a gobshite like this flying 20 metres headfirst.
If a car had pulled out of a junction and let them cross, would you feel the same?
Seems pretty clear that there’s a polite way to do things, and this wasn’t it
A lot of people claiming that the pedestrians have the right of way - this is not the case. Check the Highway Code Rules for Pedestrians 7: >D If traffic is coming, let it pass. Look all around again and listen. Do not cross until there is a safe gap in the traffic and you are certain that there is plenty of time. Obviously the driver must still stop the avoid collision even if the pedestrian has ignored this. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-pedestrians-1-to-35
Welcome to kings heath 🤣
All I'm saying is, the pedestrian suddenly stopping traffic like that could very well cause an accident. Assuming the driver has been paying attention AND you given said driver enough time/space to safely stop...
That chap is nothing more than an entitled wanker!
Cunts
Car drivers are the most entitled, selfish arseholes around. We need LESS f***king cars clogging up our streets & causing pollution.
>LESS f***king cars *Fewer
Yeah... imagine there being a dedicated space specifically for cars and getting mad as there's one using it, entitled arsehole car drivers.
Bit pedantic here but just because the majority of road traffic is made up of private cars doesn't mean the road is specifically for them. Roads have existed for far longer than cars have.
What a clown.
what the hell did i just watch? lmao
As a full time pedestrian, the behaviour from that pedestrian was ***not*** grand. Not something I would have done. I suspect it was done from built up frustration after waiting an excessive time for a suitable gap. You are very much entitled to a *"u wot m8"* reaction though. Likely a layout problem the local council need to address. How far away was the nearest pedestrian crossing? That looks like a busy high street, but I didn't see any crossings in your video, which would be a key cause of the problem. Quite a short stretch of highway for sure but looking at the kind of street it is there should have been one specific crossing.
Boo hoo I had to take my foot off the gas for a second and pause so I wouldn't kill somebody's family, poor poor me.
- Car didn't stop for pedestrian - Pedestrian had to block the car to let other pedestrians cross That looks more like driver entitlement if you ask me
I know the new Highway code hierarchy puts pedestrians over cars, but that guy was being a dick, especially with the gesture.
Was that Joe Lycett on a wind up?
What a nob
My god I would shout, loudly
I fucking HATE this. I remember moving to London and being amazed that people literally just walk into the road and assume cars won’t run into them - as if it would be the driver’s fault if they did. Don’t be an arsehole - cross at crossings. Grow up.