[Rayxt]

Wear a hoodie.
Ipod blasting
Experiencing virtual reality.
Step off the kerb without looking to the right.
No problems in London - you have rights!

The right to be STUPID.
The right to die!

Cycle past any school you care to before opening time and you can count any number of kids and parents stepping off the kerb without a thought in their head about what's coming on the right.

Why?
Because they hear nothing.
They never thought there could be an electric car. Or a hybrid.
Or some cyclist who will come off worst if they walk under his wheels.

Don't schools teach kids road safety?
Or are people just so stupid they don't think about the environment they're in.

Count how many pedestrian you see in a week step off without looking. Or are halfway into the street before suddenly they realise where they're at, and the next London bus they see might be from under its wheels.

Post the results. And let's see just how stupid pedestrians are in UK cities.

[The BikeForums Team]

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[markhr]

lol

Try Oxford street in summer - never ending pedestrian pinball :D

[Rob1900]

lol true, it isn't confined to London either from my experience.

[Treefox]

Try Oxford. All the stupid tourists oblivious to the world around them.

'Like oh my god! Look at the buildings! They're like so old!' *THUMP*

Tourists even sometimes stop to take pictures of us at our meetup point before group rides.

'Like oh my god! Look at the funny people in tight clothes! It even says Oxford on their tight clothes!'


And with some roads pedestrianised, plenty of people seem to think that most of the other ones in the city centre are pedestrianised too, so just absent-mindedly stroll across without looking.

[mulleady]

Or step out on yo Marylebone Road at a green light. Oh no cars coming, bicycles can't hurt me! It seems pedestrians never gauge how fast bikes can be travelling on a flat main road!

[Green-Moo]

I think pedestrians guilty of not looking out for bikes should be transported to any Dutch town centre for a week and see if they survive.

[markhr]

I think pedestrians guilty of not looking out for bikes should be transported to any Dutch town centre for a week and see if they survive.

:lol: death by sit-up-and-beg

[blamire]

in Birmingham i once crashed into a random lady who didn't look properly. she got up and was like "what are you doing you shouldn't be going so fast" i was like WHAATT??? i should have slapped her.
people just tend to glance and if they don't see a great big car they will walk.

[mustang1]

Problem in the City of London as well. However, looks like we live in an era where everyone's in a huryy (tho to be fair, I guess every gerneation says the same thing). People are just in a hurry to get where they need to go, pedestrians wont look where they're going (if they can step in front of a car, what a cycle?).

I'm not making excuses for them, just giving a reason as to why this happens. It's why cyclists jump red lights (they dont want to loose momentum), it's why drivers speed, it's why white van drivers tailgate, it's why pedestrians cross without looking (maybe they just got off a packed London Underground train and are fed up). A number of reasons...

[Scotty_Iscariot]

Worst place I've had problems with people wandering into the road without looking is Greenwich. Because of the traffic light positions and amount of traffic that goes through there there are constant problems with people just not thinking about cyclists. I had a woman wander in front of me several weeks ago-luckily i'd just tuned me brakes. Didn't stop me from taking a header over the handlebars mind-but i woulda done some serious damage to her. She asked if I was alright mind-then wandered off:rolleyes:. The guy in the car i touched when i was getting up got out and checked if his car was ok-he thought I'd hit it. He got all irate on me. Dick. Especially as it was only a poxy ford fiesta

I still say that taking a few Judo lessons years ago taught me how to land/roll correctly was one of the things that has saved me on a few occasions from serious injury. Seriously.

[Elfynibs]

Coming from the States I've never had a problem with pedestrians before (although I've been hit by a few stupid drivers). I've biked pretty extensively in St Paul MN and less extensively, but still significantly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and its so much better than here. I've never had so many close calls with pedestrians in such a short span of time! In one week I had a pair of 10 year old kids jump out in front of me and I swear it was 'death wish' rather than plain stupid. They looked, saw no cars, and figured it was fine to cross even though I looked the kid in the eyes before he stepped off the curb. Grrr. The kids were obnoxious about it, but all the adults I've nearly run over have been very apologetic for stepping out into the street w/o looking. Still, a remarkable number of near crashes in only two months biking here!