The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

[jasonc]

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[bychosis]

You really have to wonder at some people. Went for a quick pedal before work today and saw a dumb jogger. Jogging on the road, on a roundabout, no shoulder lane, over the kerb from grassed park, 15 paces from a shared pathway along the foreshore. I didn't see where she ended up, but it looked like she was going to jog along the fogline past a row of parked cars. Also dressed in black, running with the traffic ie back to oncoming traffic.

So it wasn't a one off either, saw the same dumb, dressed in black jogger on the same route this morning. This morning watched her jogging along the fog line, between parked cars and traffic before the roundabout.

Have seen this jogger again along the same section a few times, but Friday made me really wonder. Driving to work got startled by someone on the centre of a roundabout, same stupid jogger. There are two ped crossover points on this roundabout and plenty of footpaths in the area and she chose to cross where traffic does not expect to see pedestrians.

[jasonc]

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well i did say language warning. my wife's nana likes "Mrs Brown's boys"

[human909]

You really have to wonder at some people. Went for a quick pedal before work today and saw a dumb jogger. Jogging on the road, on a roundabout, no shoulder lane, over the kerb from grassed park, 15 paces from a shared pathway along the foreshore. I didn't see where she ended up, but it looked like she was going to jog along the fogline past a row of parked cars. Also dressed in black, running with the traffic ie back to oncoming traffic.

So it wasn't a one off either, saw the same dumb, dressed in black jogger on the same route this morning. This morning watched her jogging along the fog line, between parked cars and traffic before the roundabout.

Have seen this jogger again along the same section a few times, but Friday made me really wonder. Driving to work got startled by someone on the centre of a roundabout, same stupid jogger. There are two ped crossover points on this roundabout and plenty of footpaths in the area and she chose to cross where traffic does not expect to see pedestrians.

Oh dear? Somebody think of the motorists!

I cross through the centre of roundabouts all the time. Whats the problem? Or are we becoming so regulated that we must only walk where we are expected?

[bychosis]

Oh dear? Somebody think of the motorists!

I cross through the centre of roundabouts all the time. Whats the problem? Or are we becoming so regulated that we must only walk where we are expected?

How to respond to this....

This jogger is obviously inconsiderate of others. On the occasions I have observed there have been much better alternatives available, nearby footpaths is one, plenty of area out of traffic etc. There is such a thing as being selfish when using roads and this was another classic example. We all need to share the road system wether on foot, on bike or in car and following a few basic courtesies makes the system work. Jogging across a two lane roundabout to the vegetated centre and then off again is putting yourself in a dangerous situation easily avoided. It is the act of a dumb pedestrian.

[jules21]

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absolute gold!

i had a near punch up today. i'm coming down the really steep pinch under heidelberg road on the capital city trail in fairfield when i notice 2 pedestrians ahead - man and woman, side by side. i hit the brakes to slow down and my avid elixirs do the job as i cruise past at walking pace. the problem is, they sound like WW3 and by this stage the nice lady has all but jumped into her man's arms, in fright at the seemingly impending collision.

i must have laughed as next thing i know, mr tats-and-wife-beater is all in my face, asking me what was funny. i apologised again in the most genuine tone i could muster, then he wanted to know why i didn't ring my bell. this was actually a pretty thoughtful question, but the answer was - i couldn't let go of the brakes on the 15-20% grade. anyway he calmed down, which i reckon was lucky for him as he didn't look in great shape to be picking fights.

[Mulger bill]

Elixir riders don't NEED bells. It's a clever design feature...

[Lizzy]

Dumb pedestrian sighting on this morning’s commute: Three girls, two pushing prams, none could have been over 19, and none felt the need to wait for the lights to cross a 3 lane highway and major truck route. One of them had a bit of a tough time trying to hold her cigarette at the same time as keeping her pram steady on the island in the middle while trucks blasted past it at close enough to 70kph. Several kinds of awesome there

[martinjs]

Oh dear? Somebody think of the motorists!

I cross through the centre of roundabouts all the time. Whats the problem? Or are we becoming so regulated that we must only walk where we are expected?

The words' "double standards" cross my mind.
Lets or winge about motorist doing the wrong think, kick showtime out of them and all that.
BUT lets break all the road rules ourselves.

Martin

[wellington_street]

Oh dear? Somebody think of the motorists!

I cross through the centre of roundabouts all the time. Whats the problem? Or are we becoming so regulated that we must only walk where we are expected?

The words' "double standards" cross my mind.
Lets or winge about motorist doing the wrong think, kick showtime out of them and all that.
BUT lets break all the road rules ourselves.

Good sentiment but it isn't against the road rules to cross through the middle of a roundabout.

[zero]

Oh dear? Somebody think of the motorists!

I cross through the centre of roundabouts all the time. Whats the problem? Or are we becoming so regulated that we must only walk where we are expected?

How to respond to this....

This jogger is obviously inconsiderate of others. On the occasions I have observed there have been much better alternatives available, nearby footpaths is one, plenty of area out of traffic etc. There is such a thing as being selfish when using roads and this was another classic example. We all need to share the road system wether on foot, on bike or in car and following a few basic courtesies makes the system work. Jogging across a two lane roundabout to the vegetated centre and then off again is putting yourself in a dangerous situation easily avoided. It is the act of a dumb pedestrian.

Roundabouts are extremely inconsiderate of pedestrians needs by design, as the road rules do not require turning motorists to give way to pedestrians, in the way that other intersection types do. This is not a drama when the roundabout is implemented with pedestrian crossings on the more common pedestrian routes, but is a real problem when it isn't.

ie If it were me, I would write road authority law such as to require the installation of any roundabout on any road with any footpath within 25m of the roundabout to require a minimum of 2 marked zebra crossings in the throats (typically 1 - 2 car lengths back from the outer edge of the circle lanes so a car can exit the roundabout and not foul other roundabout traffic.

[Cowcorner]

Four-ways dumb cyclist this evening.... Adult riding on footpath, sans helmet, talking on his mobile phone and (wait for it) walking his dog - all at the same time. Not a small dog either - Airedale or something similar. Obviously the guy believes in multi-tasking.

[g-boaf]

Four-ways dumb cyclist this evening.... Adult riding on footpath, sans helmet, talking on his mobile phone and (wait for it) walking his dog - all at the same time. Not a small dog either - Airedale or something similar. Obviously the guy believes in multi-tasking.

!!!!

I've seen someone walking the dog while on the bike, but never all of that at once!

Yesterday the group of "bike riders" who decided they should stop for their talk/rest all the way across the track, blocking the way for pedestrians and everyone else. Apart from that not much else - my riding has been uneventful recently.

[ColinOldnCranky]

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Love it. I couldn't resist, I had to click the like button.

And great that (so far) no one seems to have taken offense to it. It is what it is - witty and quite well done.

[herzog]

[g-boaf]

Pedestrian running out without looking. How many times have we seen that before.

As a pedestrian, even if you've got a green signal to cross the road, you look and cross carefully. Running at full speed is a big no-no. If this pedestrian wasn't running, he wouldn't have been involved in this accident.

[greyhoundtom]

I'm confused as to why there is an orange as well as a green light showing as the cyclist approaches the intersection.

Any ideas?

[jules21]

[Marx]

I ride this bit daily.
The 2x incidents highlighted on your vid didn’t even result in you changing your lane, so I wouldn’t regard them as bad really. This would be compared to what can be possible with avoiding other path users.
Being a shared path, there would be the expectation that a common speed would be experienced there, so that may well mean that bikes might need to slow when approaching peds & later speed up again. A lot of this stop & double take peds do is when bikes ‘come out of nowhere’, which results from peds travelling at walking pace & regarding their surroundings in a similar vein., when a bike approaches at twice or perhaps three times this speed.

[Karati]

I'm confused as to why there is an orange as well as a green light showing as the cyclist approaches the intersection.

Any ideas?

No right turn signal.

[jules21]

The 2x incidents highlighted on your vid didn’t even result in you changing your lane, so I wouldn’t regard them as bad really. This would be compared to what can be possible with avoiding other path users.

running down the middle leaves very little room for others. if he has to alter his line slightly, there's nowhere for me to go. yes, i can slow down, but that won't make the path wider.

the 2nd one with the ladies was bad - she just didn't look at all, despite the fact i was approaching her and in plain view. she realised her 'mistake' and apologised as i went past. legally it would be my fault if i hit her, but honestly - there's a limit to what's practicable for me to avoid, i wasn't going fast.

Being a shared path..bikes might need to slow when approaching peds & later speed up again.

i'm pretty careful. i don't split pedestrians (like the runner did, but i see cyclists doing it) and happily slow down where necessary. i ring my bell when approaching from behind and give max. room and/or slow down. but as i said, with the utterly careless behaviour of some other path users, sometimes you feel like you're shouldering all the burden.

[Marx]

To an extent, a cyclist on a shared path is shouldering most of the burden of responsibility. This comes mostly from the greater complexity of actually riding a bicycle compared to running, walking or just standing still. There is more for the rider to do & also to ‘lose’ when things go wrong, due to the slightly high speed & additional coordination required to stop/swerve.

[jules21]

i disagree with your justification Marx. road (and to my knowledge, all types of) safety laws have a primary objective of reducing risk to all relevant persons. the measures which are most practicable (i.e. staying at home would be safest, but isn't practicable) and would most effectively reduce risk should be adopted. imposing no substantial obligations on pedestrians using shared paths would appear to fail that test. this reduces safety on shared paths. it's done as cyclists are unspoken 2nd class citizens. note what degree and types of negligence motorists - whose capacity to kill and maim far outweighs any other road user type - can get away with only a slap on the wrist. there is no logic to it other than the one i mentioned.

[Mulger bill]

the 2nd one with the ladies was bad - she just didn't look at all, despite the fact i was approaching her and in plain view. she realised her 'mistake' and apologised as i went past. legally it would be my fault if i hit her, but honestly - there's a limit to what's practicable for me to avoid, i wasn't going fast.

Pretty sure this applies...

236. Pedestrians not to cause a traffic hazard or obstruction
(1) A pedestrian must not cause a traffic hazard by moving into the path of a driver.
(2) A pedestrian must not unreasonably obstruct the path of any driver or another pedestrian.

Looks like a fair whack of contributory negligence could be claimed if things went pear shaped. Not like you were hooning along head down bum up...
Jogger spends his spare time undoing nuts and hitting nails with his face

[jules21]

Pretty sure this applies...

236. Pedestrians not to cause a traffic hazard or obstruction
(1) A pedestrian must not cause a traffic hazard by moving into the path of a driver.
(2) A pedestrian must not unreasonably obstruct the path of any driver or another pedestrian.

ta Shaun. i keep getting caught out by that whole driver is a rider thing. scratch my last post!