Ok, I have a driving license for like an year now, and people in my country(and especially my city) almost never stop on walkways. And this has affected me too.. I mean, in a bad way. I just didn't care about the people that want to cross at first. But then after a few times, that I got annoyed from waiting to cross(of course in front of a walkway), I started thinking that I'm the same behind the wheel. And my first question is: Is it like this in your country? Or do people regularly stop in walkways?

And the 2nd MOST annoying thing in my life as a driver: I stopped in front of a walkway, because there was a mother with a baby crossing (on a 2 lane road). And there was this COMPLETE(and I mean COMPLETE) idiot, who passed me on the left lane, making the mother run back on the sidewalk, which totally pissed me off. And now, today(a few hours ago that is) there was almost the same situation: A few people and a mother with a baby waiting to cross. And I've learned that pedestrians in my country are never sure that you will stop if you start slowing down, so you have to start slowing down earlier and stop a little earlier too(so that the people can be calm). And today this is exactly what I did, but this time I was constantly watching my mirrors, which helped me a lot, because some idiot in a red golf 2(iirc) was coming wayyy too fast... Which pissed me off and I turned left, floored it a little and stopped diagonally, to block all the cars, which of course MADE him stop and let the mother with the baby finally cross(cause she ran back on the sidewalk when she saw him). So, I'm just speechless... There's a mother with a baby, and you're gonna make her RUN back WITH her baby on the sidewalk?! I still don't understand it.

So, has this ever happened in your country? Do you have to stop in the middle of the road when you want to stop and free up the walkway? Have you ever had to block other cars so they don't pass on some of the other lanes and cause the people running back to the sidewalk? I am still really pissed off, and I just don't know how is this even possible. I'm not the best driver or anything(and who knows me knows that I do stupid stuff from time to time), but this is just too much... TOO ****ing much...

And don't get me wrong. It's not just 1 or 2 times. This is a regular thing in my country(except some cities, where people obviously have brains). But still, my city is the 2nd biggest city in my country, and according to the statistics the best(yeah, right) city to live in the country. And that kind of behavior on the road is imo just unacceptable. And the people that do those stuff are supposed to be more mature than me... Since I guess they have their licenses for longer, have more experience, etc, etc...

I'm just totally disappointed that I have to take so drastic measures to give the people the right, that is actually theirs.

Yes that happens here. I try to stop whenever I see someone that has intent to cross the road. It is just in your habits really. If you follow the car in front - likely you'll be guilty of not stopping. I do this for cars trying to enter a busy street as well. I mean, I won't let every car in front of me, but if there is a line of traffic and someone is trying to enter, how is 30 feet going to make you late? Should have left earlier...

I think the problem comes from everyone being in such a damn hurry these days - to be honest it annoys the crap out of me. Almost everything I've done I've been on time, or 5 minutes early. Rarely have I been late, though it has happened, and will likely happen in the future. But that is my impression on traffic and driving these days.

So yes, I know your annoyances, and I've been the person in the crosswalk as well - and from the point of view, it is challenging to know if a car is slowing down to let you cross, or if they are slowing down to change cd's - pesonally, I don't like to take the chance until I have eye to eye contact with the driver, and see it is safe to cross. That car has a lot more solid mass than I do.

You are required by law to allow people to cross the street. Now you've got insecure pedestrians waiting for the cars to stop; this is wrong! Pedestrians should FORCE drivers to stop. If everyone would follow this simple rule, traffic would be significantly smoother, the "movement-order-negotiation" that's happening so often is completely unnecessary.

Now what I do is take my wallet out prior to crossing the street, so I have something to throw at cars that don't slow down. So far I had to throw twice, in both cases the f*ckheads where on their phone and both were male btw.

Regarding the pass on the left, just write 'em up

Mind you, when I'm not loaded with my backpack, I usually ignore the cars completely and force all kinds of funky manouvers upon them. Law says you gotta approach a zebra crossing in a manner that allows stopping for people wanting to cross, end of story. Some call it a deathwish, I call it pedantic ignorance

usually, here drivers let people pass on walkways, on foot it takes very short amount of time to get to the other side of the road, i'm not sure about other cities of my country but i assume it's the same. And as a driver it amazes me that some people does not even look for the cars (if we are slowing down to let them pass) when they step on the road...ffs if driver does not notice she/he will be runned over, just saw an accident few weeks ago, when girl just ran out from nowhere to the walkway and got hit by a car, just because reaction time of a driver was too short to completely stop...driver was quilty as usual on these cases.

There is one right in front of my window and there are actually more cars that stop than cars that don't.

Quote from -NightFly- :

ffs if driver does not notice she/he will be runned over, just saw an accident few weeks ago, when girl just ran out from nowhere to the walkway and got hit by a car, just because reaction time of a driver was too short to completely stop...driver was quilty as usual on these cases.

Yeah obviously if you're going to enforce it, you should plan for that possibility. Hence my backpack remark, never do this when you can't jump and dive.

not as bad as it used to be round here, I've noticed the crossings that used to have a big problem have been replaced with traffic lights, Which tend to work.

Although im a Londoner and a general rule in london for any pedestrian is "just close your eyes and keep walking"

Yeah, some of the pedestrians are like brainless zombies too. Some others are just too distracted(you know that type of people, I guess). But yet, they are not such a big problem, as the complete idiots behind the wheels. I just can't understand that... How late could you possibly be? And my case today was even weirder than normal. A few meters after the walkway there was a traffic light, and it was red. And the timing on that cross there is just awful. The side I was coming from had 70+ seconds constant red light. And there were like 50 or 60 remaining when I stopped. The only explanation would be that the other guy just did not want to stop. He can't be changing his CD or anything, because he was coming too fast as for a cd change, or anything connected to getting eyes off the road. I just don't get the point of this. And if I write his car number down and go report at the police, they aren't gonna do anything.

The best I can do is have a guy with a camera next to me filming, and then I would have to send it to some tv show, or else the authorities won't do shit about it.

Leave that aside - I was with 3 of my school mates today in the car, and I had to risk getting hit to let the lady pass safely. At least after I explained why I did this weird maneuver they understood, and even supported my decision. But it's still soooooo confusing and annoying. I mean, I felt completely mad, and wanted to go there and just smack the guy's head into his dashboard, in front of that pretty lady he was with by the way.

[E] Much crossings have been replaced with traffic lights here too, but here comes the other problem: You are a pedestrian; you see the green light; you start walking; you are in the middle of the way. And there is the driver coming, seeing the straight road and the red light, thinking "Why the hell would I be stopping here?". Then he just slows down a little to ensure no cops are there and floors it right after, causing you to run to the sidewalk, unless you wanna get hit. Not that regular occasion in my country really, but I've seen it happen(at least the people that were crossing were never in a situation in which they would have had to run to the sidewalk... as much as I've seen).

That seems to be different from country to country. People would stop here for a red light even at 3 in the morning in a deserted commercial district. I only once witnessed a intentional running of a red light, when I was nine on my way to school. There was an article on it in the newspaper the next day (main street and lots of parents with kids, in front of my school)

Only people that stop on walkways are some of the real Croats that are normal, and guys from other countries like Germany, Switzerland, Austria, because they learned that in their countries.
P.S. Even a police car wouldn't stop on walkway, so you know how bad it is...

I haven't seen it happen here more than two times I guess, though walkways are not very common, traffic lights are.

Down here in West Sussex (England) everything is very calm. The drivers usually stop and allow you to cross. Even the odd 17 year old learner in his 106 PUG or Corsa does that. (Which really surprised me I have to say. )

Quote from morpha :

You are required by law to allow people to cross the street. Now you've got insecure pedestrians waiting for the cars to stop; this is wrong! Pedestrians should FORCE drivers to stop. If everyone would follow this simple rule, traffic would be significantly smoother, the "movement-order-negotiation" that's happening so often is completely unnecessary.

I think that pedestrians having total right of way is just stupid, to be honest. When we've been driving around Amsterdam before, you have to stop at the pedestrian / bicycle crossings on the junctions into side roads. All this seems to do is clog up the main road and increase the risk of being rear ended by some idiot.

In the UK as far as I know, you don't HAVE to give way to the pedestrian unless they are already on the crossing. Although it is the done thing to stop if possible.

In some situations it just isn't appropriate to stop at a crossing, like if some fool just walks out from behind a building or something and decides they want to cross the road immediately.. or if you have an Audi following you

I stop if I can and if I'm feeling a good person... or if theres a hot girl wanting to cross... Otherwise I just try to pass as fast as possible and leave the road free!! 'cause whats the problem if it's only your car on the street, they can wait or a bit.

Hmm, I've always stopped and I see most other drivers stop. I don't see the big deal, stopping is good, means I can put my foot down again.

Not usually an issue here afaik. I always stop, I'm not even sure if I've seen someone not stop before. What pisses me off is when j-walkers expect you to stop, that bugs me. Walk another 50 feet! We're so bloody polite here, that last night on a fairly busy 2 lane road, some old lady (not from Canada...) jay walked right freaking across all four lanes of traffic, nowhere near a cross-walk - when there's a light 100 feet in either direction (Ok maybe 200... but still, this isn't a casual road - it was packed at rush hour).

10 points for a pedestrian.
20 points for a biker.

fun fun fun.

It varies, most people do stop for me when I walk my dog, but some don't. It isn't a law to stop here, it's just polite. (It depends on the road, some have this 'shark teeth' (those white triangles), and then you DO have to stop).

Quote from JO53PHS :

I think that pedestrians having total right of way is just stupid, to be honest. When we've been driving around Amsterdam before, you have to stop at the pedestrian / bicycle crossings on the junctions into side roads. All this seems to do is clog up the main road and increase the risk of being rear ended by some idiot.

Mind you, pedestrians do have to cross in a timely manner, explicitly stated in the Austrian StVO:

Quote :

§76
(5) Fußgänger haben die Fahrbahn in angemessener Eile zu überqueren. Außerhalb von Schutzwegen haben sie den kürzesten Weg zu wählen; hiebei dürfen sie den Fahrzeugverkehr nicht behindern.

which roughly translates to: When crossing via pedestrian crossing, make it quick. When crossing without a zebra, you must take the shortest path and not obstruct vehicular traffic.

I have to walk home from school every day and most of the people are not willing to stop. Quite honestly, it happens so much that when people stop I'm sort of like "You're going to regret this" because there's usually a stream of cars from the other direction for a good 20-30 seconds and 10 cars could have gone instead of waiting.

It was bad in Serbia before, but i gotta say the drivers got more polite, they let me pass almost always now, in any part of the city, and i try to be the same when i'm behind the wheel.. I guess you gotta look in your own back yard, and then judge others..

Here in Italy, that happens lots of times... Not only because 80% of the drivers are idiots, but also because even the pedestrians are mindless.

For example, my mother was going to the shops in her little Fiesta (she's not a fast, neither an unsafe driver). To go to the nearest supermarket, she has to cross a small town with lots of zebra crossings. A girl was running on the pavement, arrived near the zebras, and run straight onto the road without looking. My mum stopped as fast as she could, arriving at less than half a feet from the girl's legs. The girl said "politely" to my mum to go f**k herself. And kept running.
So, here they think that zebra crossings = invincibility.
There's also the popular belief that "If they run me over, they have to pay me back like I was new!", not thinking that a 30mph, 1,5ton, metal, glass and plastic thing has more chances to survive than a person.

Another thing that I can't stand, is that people usually stand still (speaking, chatting, saying hello to someone etc.) on the pavement near the zebras. It has happened that I stopped to let them cross the street, but they looked at me like I was an alien, and kept chatting. To be honest after that this happened to me, when I saw people standing up there, I didn't stop. But they wanted to cross. So I had to pray St. ABS to let me stop in time.