today i almost got hit by a car.

long story short, i was crossing the street. as always, pedestrians have the right of way... but i guess this **** decided that he was too important to let me cross the street. (at this point he's at a red light wanting to turn left)

anyways, the light changes and it's time for me to cross the street... i look down and step into the crosswalk. take two steps and notice the car in my peripheral vision...

(now, in hamilton, people have this thing where if you're in the crosswalk and they're trying to turn, they will basically drive right up to the crosswalk and non-verbally demand you get out of their way...)

so i thought nothing of it. then half a second later it clicked in that the car was actually moving towards me, and pretty damned fast too. almost didn't make it out of it's way. and then the usual bird-flipping and cursing ensued, all the while, the driver continues speeding down the street.

ok, so now that the "story" is over....

Quote :

23:45 <@bunder> i almost just got hit by a car
23:46 <@bunder> really ****ing close
23:47 <@bunder> as in i could have jumped on their hood
23:47 <@bunder> actually, i should have.
00:06 <@bunder> i think i'm going to start carrying around a used spark plug
00:07 <@bunder> the next bastard that tries that is going to find that they don't have a back window anymore

now i'm sure one of those options is illegal... but i wonder how much trouble i'd get into if i tried them. you wouldn't believe how many close calls i've seen in this city.

yeah, i think i'm done here... more of a vent than anything, but feel free to discuss.

Pay closer attention.

Just because it 'looks' clear or it's supposed to be, it just might not be.

Car much bigger than person
Person has right-of-way over car
If car hits person, person damaged very badly, car very little

Even though a pedestrian has the right-of-way, don't you think it is wise for the pedestrian to pay attention and not just blindly ignore the car thinking "I have the right-of-way, I am an indestructible pedestrian.."

I don't care if I have the right-of-way or not, I know that if I was to be hit by a car, it would hurt. Therefore I pay attention and watch for traffic before crossing a street no matter who has the right-of-way.

i saw him pull up, but like i said, in hamilton, they drive right up to you as it is...

Looks like the Hamiltons on both sides of the world share a common problem! Actually its not too bad here. You should try crossing the road in China. Or at least where i was in Hainan nobody obeys the road rules and to cross the street you just walk out and keep walking as everyone will swerve around you. Its actually a really good system and didnt see anyone get hit!

Yeah i've always disagreed with the pedestrians having right of way thing. It's way easier for a pedestrian to stop than it is for a car. Where i live has some really stupidly ignorant/arrogant pedestrians (and drivers too)

All you can do is be very situationally aware..
Although i do notice - not many people walk in front of my car when i have the headlights popped up...and even less used to walk in front of my previous car which had a loud exhaust

Feel free to use that spark plug method.

Because i'm sure the guy inside the car, who clearly doesn't give a shit if he hits someone else or not, will not in the slightest worry about bashing your face in because you just broke his window.


Cars can hold bats, knives, guns.

Not the smartest move...

Lol, you think those are close calls, watch this.

Quote from Furiously-Fast :

Lol, you think those are close calls, watch this.

bahh thats nothing u sould come to spain , where they think doing this is impressive , this is some kid i know from my town and he was really happy for doing this

Mhhh I often get pissed off by drivers who do not indicate that they're gonna turn and do it out of nowhere when I am about to cross.

Quote from jwardy :

bahh thats nothing u sould come to spain , where they think doing this is impressive , this is some kid i know from my town and he was really happy for doing this

I used to do U-Turns like that thru median strips, when i was young and silly (and no one else was watching)

Quote from Electric Eye :

Mhhh I often get pissed off by drivers who do not indicate that they're gonna turn and do it out of nowhere when I am about to cross.

Me too, but then similarly I get mildly pissed off when I slow down and indicate to turn into a road, and a pedestrian just steps out without even looking.

Problem is, as people say here, although pedestrians have right of way, they often don't realise a ton of car hitting them hurts.

Quote from pb32000 :

Me too, but then similarly I get mildly pissed off when I slow down and indicate to turn into a road, and a pedestrian just steps out without even looking.

Problem is, as people say here, although pedestrians have right of way, they often don't realise a ton of car hitting them hurts.

Bingo !!

Quote from pb32000 :

Me too, but then similarly I get mildly pissed off when I slow down and indicate to turn into a road, and a pedestrian just steps out without even looking.

Problem is, as people say here, although pedestrians have right of way, they often don't realise a ton of car hitting them hurts.

Mhh well the main street is quite busy so I ain't gonna spend my whole day waiting until there wont any cars at all. I don't cross the road if I can see that someone's indicating their turn into the street that I wanna cross. But I often end up crossing the road and then discovering that some twat decided to turn without indicating first.

you wont believe how many bonnets ive been on , specially in the summer , this place is full of tourists with rented cars driving on the RIGHT your walking down the street and suddenly boom your attached to a ford focus with a fat guy in flowery shorts trying to speak spanish .

I was hit by a car at the beginning of last year, not major but I went over the bonnet and ended up on the road

it's not something I want to experience again

lol... Mhh so far I've never been hit by a car - thankfully. If I will at some point I hope it will be a Peugeot as they look the most comfortable.

Quote from Furiously-Fast :

Lol, you think those are close calls, watch this.

yeah, i couldn't live there... that's just crazy to watch...

I'm sorry but BOTH should have a look. It's not because you have priority that you can act like the street is yours and cross it with your eyes closed. Yes you had priority but the car that who want to use the same path than you is a ton heavier than you so just let it pass. God peoples and common sense these days...

unless you haz right of wayz...

I really hate trying to cross pedestrian crossings here. I have to cross two on my way home every day, and you can be waiting for a car to stop for up to 20 minutes at times. One is on a 100km/h 2+1 road, which is just asking for trouble. The other is on a 30km/h stretch, but that doesn't mean cars are any more likely to stop

Quote from Riders Motion :

I'm sorry but BOTH should have a look. It's not because you have priority that you can act like the street is yours and cross it with your eyes closed. Yes you had priority but the car that who want to use the same path than you is a ton heavier than you so just let it pass. God peoples and common sense these days...

The mass of the car is completely irrelevant as long as there's still enough distance between you and the car for it to stop in time without some dangerous manouver. If I have the right of way, I always walk if the car can still stop in time, it's my right and I make use of it. Of course claiming to be able to estimate a vehicle's stopping distance might seem a bit bold, but I add a reasonable safety margin to my estimations.

Often pedestrians often wait for an approaching car to completely stop right in front of them, which is probably the safest thing to do but also a waste of time for both the waiting ped. and the driver of the vehicle, and probably following vehicles as well. I stick to my method of just estimating if it's possible to cross before the car arrives or for the car to slow down enough or stop in time, I'm not wasting my time and I'm only causing minor delays for others, I've never experienced a dangerous situation this way and frankly I don't understand why (many) others don't do the same.

€:

Quote from dougie-lampkin :

I really hate trying to cross pedestrian crossings here. I have to cross two on my way home every day, and you can be waiting for a car to stop for up to 20 minutes at times. One is on a 100km/h 2+1 road, which is just asking for trouble. The other is on a 30km/h stretch, but that doesn't mean cars are any more likely to stop

Call the cops mate, at least here in Austria, ignoring a pedestrian crossing is one of the seven sins, don't think I have to explain what that means :P