The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

[wellington_street]

I don't read wellington_street's post as contradicting that though; the pedestrian shouldn't have started to cross but the driver was required to give way to them once they did.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant.

[twizzle]

See ARR 62 (1). Drivers are required to give way to pedestrians when turning at an intersection with traffic lights. Also covered by ARR 68 & 69 as well for when there aren't traffic lights. Basically... ped crossing lights at intersections have no effect on the drivers/riders obligations.

A road user isn't required to give way to someone approaching or on the footpath corner when turning - only someone that is _on_ the roadway. (62-1 in the ACT for this intersection). Relative speeds (and hence visibility through windshield) of the 2 parties on approach actually matter a fair bit, both for police choosing to charge, and for civil torts. Far left corner impact or side impact and the driver is likely to not be charged.

I know what you are saying.... but it's fairly hard to hit someone that isn't crossing the road. I really should get a camera.

LOL moment - years ago I got told off by a plain clothes policeman after I accelerated over a ped crossing... I had already taken my foot off the brake when he RAN onto the crossing from the other side, my foot was already on the accelerator so I floored it because that was the only thing I had time to do. He was in such a hurry he had to run onto the ped crossing... but had enough spare time to come and tell me off for doing it.

re. wellington_street... you said it was a duty of care, but there is a give-way requirement.

[cp123]

i was riding in Melrose Drive Canberra northbound this morning at approximately 30 kmph (on road bike lane and 2 lanes of cars) There was a woman ahead and I'm not sure if she looked a bit simple or a bit substance affected but she was walking on the grass near the edge of the road. Quite often there are people standing looking like they want to cross rather than going to one or other set of lights, but somehow i got a vibe about her. I kept one eye on her and slowed and she started to walk on the very edge of the gutter with her arms out sideways - like a tightrope walker. she was still coming towards me. by now i'd looked back over my right shoulder to see if the left car lane was clear so i veered slightly right (now in the car lane) so i could give her plenty of room. she's still walking towards me but i've slowed significantly she turnes to her left and walks straight out onto the road without so much as even looking up. i'm almost at the point of impact and yell LOOOOOKOOOOUT as she suddenly realises that i'm about to clobber her.

I'm glad i got the correct vibe about her but she's damn lucky i wasn't driving a car as she'd've been toast.

[twizzle]

Riding home last night on a shared pathway, watching two cyclists ahead while one rider sloooowly overtakes the other around a long blind corner. Then this morning, I ride around a corner to find a cyclist on my side of the shared pathway. What the flip is wrong with these people??!

I reckon the word needs a highly contagious virus that kills people who can't identify that you shouldn't overtaking on blind corners.

[nescius]

Dumb cyclist on the weekend was me:



I thought I'd take my 26" hardtail mountain bike on a BMX track, I had done a few confidence inspiring laps so I thought I'd increase the speed a bit and get some air off the first jump. It turns out I have no idea how to ride jumps, it was nothing like as easy as it looks on youtube videos. I landed way too far forward on the front wheel and hit the ground pretty hard so now I have some solid bruising on my left hip, and scraped a good amount of skin off my left arm. In case it isn't obvious, I'm 95% roadie and 5% mtb, I'm going to have to spend a lot more time developing skills if I'm going to engage in any more of these types of shenanigans.

Also dumb cyclist was my mate, who saw my crash, pointed and laughed then did exactly the same thing except he landed on his face

[jules21]

riding on the shared path this morning, approaching some old chooks walking towards me, over both lanes. i was a way away so i kept riding and i could see one woman fidgeting around, kind of moving but not moving, then finally moving out of the way (over to her left). as i pass without incident, i can hear the others admonishing her, lol.

similar thing happened the other night, with a young lady walking in the RH lane next to her friend. i could see her being a smart arse from a distance, extending her arms across the path as if to say "no one gets past". i rang my bell as i approached - no acknowledgement - then rang it again, same result, but then her friend yanked her out the way me 1 smart arse 0

[bychosis]

Shared path very busy for the moring commutes this time of year. Glad the bell is working. Plenty of dumb peds out there, but most keep left fairly well.

This morning riding along after plenty of dinging. Three young male joggers approaching 2 on correct side of the line, the third merrily jogging beside his mates. Figured he would see me approach and duck in behind his mates - no. There were also 2 walkers headed in my direction so I couldnt' move over. Decided to hold my line, give the walkers sufficient safety space, and stay on my side of the line. Figured I would 'do the right thing' and ring the bell in case the dude was blind, he didn't seem to look at me while I watched him approach. Eventually I had to brake reasonabley hard and swerve a little while he moved over enough at the last second to let me past, almost running into his mate.

Muppet and cyclist 1/2 point each.

[wellington_street]

Walk outside this morning and there's a (female) bell end on a bicycle merrily riding the wrong way up my one-way street.

'Proper' cyclist too, not some hipster on a fixie

[g-boaf]

Few days ago, a runner all in black with iPod blasting at full volume running down the absolute middle of a shared path. No amount of yelling "passing" at increasingly high volumes did any good. Even worse, he was waving his arms about while running and nearly flung his right arm into me as I went past.

These rogue runners should be forced to have registration so they can be identified when they do the wrong thing.

[PB12IN]

Personally when ever I see any reckless behaviour by anyone I have two words
"Darwin's Theory"
I refuse to give respect for someone that does not respect themselves!

Donald

Same here. Sure I've done stupid things, mostly by accident and some deliberately (but I'll blame long distant youth on that) but everyone has to take responsibility for their own actions. That's something that seems to occur less and less in this "it's someone else's fault" society.

And when said idiot does something stupid and nominates them selves for a Darwin Award with a car, no doubt the driver will be crusified by some on this forum for the cyclists death.

[Mulger bill]

A little rain and a Friday evening close to Xmas sure brings 'em out

Ninjas aplenty on Footscray Rd/ Harbour Esplanade, wobbly booted peds EVERYWHERE along Southbank. A near dooring from a seemingly unmanned Fire engine near the Town Hall was the last straw. Cut it short and got to work 25" early

[Boognoss]

Personally when ever I see any reckless behaviour by anyone I have two words
"Darwin's Theory"
I refuse to give respect for someone that does not respect themselves!

Donald

Same here. Sure I've done stupid things, mostly by accident and some deliberately (but I'll blame long distant youth on that) but everyone has to take responsibility for their own actions. That's something that seems to occur less and less in this "it's someone else's fault" society.

And when said idiot does something stupid and nominates them selves for a Darwin Award with a car, no doubt the driver will be crusified by some on this forum for the cyclists death.

Depends . Good debate either way.


Cheers, Simon

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KonaCommuter]

Idiot jogger with headphones nearly taking out old timer on his pushie.


Idiot jogger = KonaCommuter

[jasonc]

seems appropriate to post this here
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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]

seems appropriate to post this here
language warning
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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]

seems appropriate to post this here
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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 !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! 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.