brihoppy

had a really close call the other day and i was just wanting to vent my spleen really...

there i am in hitchin, i know a few of you guys know it and if you do said incident occurred at the traffic lights outside wilkinsons on the high street...anyway, there are 2 lanes at these lights-straight on and right turn and they have filter lights...

at the front of the right hand lane which is on red is a large van, transit i think it was, and my filter was on green and had only just changed so without stopping i carry on rolling, change up to third and right from in front of the transit step some fella with a very young child in either hand...

i couldnt believe it...!!! i swerved slightly to the left, which was bad enough as people crowd around the crossing at those lights and often spill into the road, and as i went past, he was close enough that something clipped my car (i think it was his coat, no scratch thank god)...looked in the rear view ready to pull over but hes still standing and so are the kids and hes waving his hands around pointing at me, etc...i couldnt believe it, i almost stopped so i could give him the good news...

he just strode right out into the road, the idiot, and im fortunate that i had 2 passengers who witnessed it if the worst had happened...im sure that if i hadnt swerved those 2 kiddies would be dead...really wouldve ruined our day as we were off to a wedding...!!! i really dont know what people are thinking when they cross the road...i wonder if theres any CCTV footage as i was half expecting a knock on the door to be honest

the thing is, if i had hit him, you can imagine what everyone would be saying...not hit by a car, hit by a subaru impreza...and of course its always the driver of an impreza whos at fault...!!!

trails

iTrader: (41)

glad you did get away with in...had someone pull out in front of me from a side road the other day whilst I was travelling quickly on a national speed limit stretch of road. I saw him sitting at the side road, made eye contact with him and he still pulled out!! The only reason he isn't dead was because i was able to swerve into the road he pulled out from. Scared the $hit of me, i was actually shaking at the thought of what could have happened by the time i got home.

lesson learned though, treat everyone else on the road like a muppet and assume they will do the worse.

OllyK

If your visibility is impaired at a junction, I would suggest that either you have huge amounts of torque, a very low 3rd gear or were perhaps travelling a little on the rapid side for the conditions.

imlach

Not gonna preach, but always expect the worst to happen at junctions....especially when hidden dangers behind cars. You've learnt the hard way, but I suspect you'll take more care if the situation arose again.
Yes, he was wrong with kiddies to be doing what he did, but care & caution on a drivers part never goes amiss.

From the Highway Code :

146-159: Road junctions


146: Take extra care at junctions. You should

- watch out for cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians as they are not always easy to see

(and not applicable in this case, but one which gets my goat - the amount of drivers that don't know this rule is beyond belief!).

- watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way

brihoppy

tell you what, i always take care at that junction because of the masses waiting to cross but i did learn a lesson, maybe i didnt change gear though i seem to remember doing so, but see whats happening now...? in the nicest possible way, the blame is starting to shift ever so slightly in my direction...imagine what it would be like if id hit them...?!

OllyK

I'm well aware of that one, but it is amusing to see if they turn back or bolt when you drop a cog and floor it

brihoppy

and to cap it all, hes lucky it wasnt one of the many chavs in the area speeding through as they do with no regard whatsoever for other road used or pedestrians...i know its all ifs, buts and maybes, but had it not been me driving, he could be childless now...(unless he had a few more)

OllyK

Don't want to seem harsh, but neither of you are "innocent" in this case.

imlach

No...it's not about "blame", it's about awareness. If the Transit van had been in the left lane stopped at a left filter, and you in the right lane going straight on with a green filter, would you not have slowed down on approach thinking "people often come out behind cars here as it's a pedestrian crossing".

It's called "defensive driving". Not many practice it, mores the pity. Many drivers plough on regardless not expecting anything untoward to happen.

brihoppy

okay, point taken...do you always drive perfectly...?

imlach

Driving (and life!) is a continual learning experience.

OllyK

Of course, that's what my IAM badge means

No of course not, we all have "off moments" where our attention may be focusing on the wrong hazard or we don't assess a hazard correctly. As Imlach said, it's about driving defensively (but confidently) so that you minimise the risk of finding yourself in such a situation. Have a read of "Roadcraft" and consider the IAM test, I don't suggest it is perfect, but it is an eye opener.

Shonen

I am with you here Brihoppy, when you see a green light regarless of driving at 10 miles an hour or 50, you dont expect to see a clueless pedestrian jumping infront of you. And it is always the drivers fault regardless of how stupid the pedestrian is.

brihoppy

hey, you know what, i dont want this to turn into a 'im a better driver than you' contest as im sure there are far better and far worse drivers on this forum than both of us...perhaps my hazard perception was a little off that day...good job my reactions werent...!

imlach

I suggest you revisit your attitude
The roads are for use by everyone, not just vehicles. Expect the unexpected.

Shonen

Nothing wrong with my attitude, just saying that if the light is on green and you are driving towards it you dont expect a pedestrian to appear infront of you. The roads are for everyone, but only for pedestrians when the lights are on red or the road is clear enough to cross. Surely the said pedestrian should be teaching the child better road crossing?

imlach

So that means it's safe to plough on regardless just because you don't expect something?
No no no.

brihoppy

thanks for the support shonen, but imlach is right...you do have to expect the unexpected, but unfortunately even when you do, it can still sometimes get the better of you

Shonen

The road was clear when he accelerated towards the lights, he didnt see anybody about and when he got level with the lights a person jumped out. You can have as much hazard perception as you like but if somebody steps infront of a moving car regardless of speed you are going to hit them.

imlach

No.

1) The road ahead was NOT clear.
2) He didn't have a clear view of the road ahead as a transit van was hiding a person & two kids who were on said road. Experience teaches you to be aware of this (ice cream van scenario).

brihoppy

and i didnt accelaerate toward the lights...i simply changed gear as i tend to travel in town in third usually anyway at speeds upto 30...

brihoppy

going to have someone on my case about bad gear changes now arent i...?!?!

Shonen

But it was clear when drove towards the lights, it only became not clear when level with the van. If some tool decided to cross the road without waiting for the little green man then its entirely the pedestrians fault.

Something we are going to have to agree to disagree on otherwise this thread will run for pages and pages.

OllyK

No it wasn't, people don't materialise out of thin air. It was clear as far as could be seen, which wasn't far due to another vehicle blocking his view.

Not really - if I'm doing 30mph and somebody steps out 500 yards in front of me, I reckon I'd be able to stop. There is a simple rule of thumb:

If there is an obstruction, that may mean you have to slow to a crawl

imlach

No it was NOT clear. There was a transit van hiding 3 people behind it who were ON the road.

I suggest you talk this over with your driving instructor at your next lesson

OllyK

Beat me to it, some people seem to have "obscured" and "clear" confused.

Shonen

But the obstruction wasnt there until he was level with the van, if he was 50 yards away and saw the person crossing the road and then carried on at the same speed, yes I would agree with you that he was irrisponsible and deserved a good slap, but he didnt, it was clear and as he got level with van THEN he saw the pedestrian and took evasive action.

trails

iTrader: (41)

even if you were right (which you are not), how would you feel if you have hit and injured, possibly fatally another road user especially a child?

what’s the rush anyway?

Shonen

I suggest you talk this over with your driving instructor at your next lesson

I dont have a driving instructor as i passed my test years ago. All i have to say is that if I hit a pedestrian and it is their fault as they stepped into a road without looking to see if it was safe to do so, it will hurt them more than it will hurt me.

OllyK

Good grief, the van prevented brihoppy seeing the people as he approached the van. For the whole time up until the last moment, he could see the van, but could not see the road that it was blocking, which happened to have pedestrians on it. Now unless you have X Ray vision, a vehicle in front of you is going to obscure at least some of the road.