Old 35 mm movie of San Francisco

One very big (i.e. noticeable) difference between the UK and Australia
is what happens on pedestrian crossings. I thought you were supposed
to "Stop, Look, Listen, Think" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Green_Cross_Code] i.e. stand at the crossing, see if cars are coming,
wait until the traffic has stopped or passed before carefully crossing
the road, (ie. cross defensively). Not march out into the street
without breaking your stride or even looking. If you did that in the
UK, people would tell you you were a complete idiot.

I asked a true blue Aussie mate of mine if many Australians die on
crossings and he seemed to think they did, but I don't have any
numbers. Australian drivers seem to behave differently because, I
assume, they know the pedestrian won't stop look, listen or think.


**********************************

I seem to recall not very long ago, well, maybe a couple of years ago, but
too long ago for me to remember the names
there was someone who got hit on a pededstrian crossing,
she was in a wheelchair affair because she had been burned in a fire
no fault of hers
neither was it her fault that the car hit her
it was the fault of the wheelchair pusher behind her who pushed the
wheelchair out into the street against the flow of traffic, assuming that
she had right of way over the traffic.
Didn't even allow time for traffic to slow down or even stop,
just barged out into the street with the wheelchair in front of her
assuming again, that the car drivers would not want to scratch their car
with the wheelchair.
Her attitude was apparently, don't care about the girl in the wheelchair,
just get across the street in as short as possible time

 

No good for a civil litigation system when it came to me tripping over a
bicycle that some idiot kid dropped right outside the milk bar door.
Me, of coarse, was looking at the morning paper news, not expecting a
fucking bicycle to be in the middle of the footpath, tripped over the
fucking thing.
I went back inside the shop and started cursing the kid, telling him he
shouldn't leave the bike in the middle of the footpath, then the shopkeeper
and his wife, both castigated me for berating the kid.
I could see I was outnumbered, so I left the shop, never to return, but on
my way past the kid, who had his helmet on, I gave it a swift hard enough
hit on top of his helmet to make him remember the day.
With this, the shopkeeper and his wife, started screaming out again about
bullying a kid, so I walked out, went out to where the bike was, picked it
up and swung it around, then let it go out into the middle of the street,
where it landed with a crash, in front of traffic which couldn't stop
anyway.
Never saw the kid or the bike again

 

You never know who you are talking to Moike
but, someone said you were competing with Betty for the Duck's Disease Award

 

Moike is of average height (although that's an imprecise sort of term).


G-S

 

Along these lines, I had to go down to Kent St in Sydney CBD the other
day to pick up a security pass for another one of our buildings.
Coming back I crossed Kent St after checking for traffic and saw none
so wandered over the road. It is a quiet little street and there are
road works going on so cars are avoiding it as it is bottlenecked. As
I nearly got to the other side of the street a bicycle screamed past
me and abused me for not looking. He was flying. Way faster than I'd
drive any car or motorcycle through there. Estimate he may have been
doing 60 kph. He nearly hit me. I felt the wind from him as he went
past. He then turned right at the next intersection and collided with
2 people crossing at the pedestrian lights, bringing all 3 of them
down. No-one seemed badly hurt, but for fucks sake dude, slow down in
environments like that. I hope he has bruises and gravel rash to
remind him.

Kev

 

I think Sir is mucho confused! 5'10" vs 5'3" isn't much of a contest....
methinks GWF has been sniffing the fumes in his shed again, and yes,
listening to the Voices...

betty

 

I always listen to the voices Betty,
most of the time,
it is the only company I have.

 

I almost did killed a schoolkid doing this the other day.
The little takker was sprinting along the footpath and looking like
crossing at the crossing but he propped and halted at the gutter.
I then stopped and waved him through but he sprinted across the road
without checking the *other* way (and blind, from behind a parked van)!

Luckily no-one was coming and I don't have a dead kid on my conscience.

 

A neat summation of "Sir's" life methinks.

 

So you admit you were 100% in the wrong and you probably caused the
subsequent crash (after the *law abiding* cyclist had to avoid the
jaywalking non-attention-paying obstacle) yet you still try and put the
blame on *him*!!

You belong in aus.cars Kev!

 

I was not in the wrong. I was crossing a clear street. This guy was
traveling way too fast for the conditions. There were bollards around
the road, I had checked the road (I've managed to cross roads for
nearly 50 years now and survive so think I have got an idea how to do
it without accident). HE was totally out of an appropriate zone. He
went on the inside of me and the footpath on the other side of the
road just as I was about to reach the other side. Why the **** he
chose to go that side of me when there was no other traffic on the
street is beyond me and why the hell he didn't just slow down when he
saw me or slow down after he nearly hit me is also beyond me. He just
kept pedaling like mad then turned flat out into a green pedestrian
light . . .

Kev

 

If the guy was travelling on it, it wasn't clear was it?

He was on the road obeying the rules (including the speed-limit), you
were crossing illegally.
He saw you, you didn't see him.
He swerved and avoided you (while on the roadway) yet you maintain HE
was in the wrong!!

It's A U S . C A R S Kev. It's just over there <--.

 

I was not crossing the road illegally. And to be quite honest I reckon
he was traveling above the 50km/h speed limit in the CBD but I have no
way of proving that.

And I don't know why I keep biting at your trolls, I must be bored or
something . . .

Kev

 

Since when is it legal to stroll out onto a road in front of a moving
vehicle?

 

Got a history of setting out unthinkingly and then blaming others when
it goes bad have you Kev?

 

Before the jaywalking laws were introduced it was legal


G-S

 

+1


BTH

 

Stop predicting correctly. I need to get out more.

Kev

 

Logic failure. Regardless of any illegality Kev may or may not have
made, the requirement to give way to pedestrians who have a green walk
signal is absolute, and not relieved by any other negligence.

JL

 

Fact failure. No green walk signal in original story.