Cyclist in life-threatening condition following collision with pedestrian in Reading

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

In my experience, pedestrians will (sometimes) look, weigh up the vehicle approaching, then decide to cross or not. If you're on a bike they seem to make the decision to cross in front of you more than when you're in a car. The assumption is you will just give way, which is annoying.

If I get a deliberate jaywalker I'll buzz them as close as possible.

Jaywalking isn't a thing here. I think it's more a case of perceived danger, they see a bike and think it's safe for them to put themselves in front of it, much like many drivers seem to do. They don't even think long enough about what speed you are travelling and that your stopping distance might be longer than a car.

That's assuming they've actually bothered to look, plenty seem to step into the road without looking based on the fact that they cannot hear an engine approaching

Oh, you really shouldn't deliberately "buzz" pedestrians... I'm sure you've heard the term "punishment pass"?

jh27 wrote:

LastBoyScout wrote:

Church Road doesn't actually have a pedestrian crossing - to cross it using proper crossings, you actually have to make 3 crossings - across Wokingham Road, across Winderness Road and back across Wokingham road.

You did miss count slightly, by my reckoning it would be a total of four crossings, as once side of Wokingham road is a split junction.

Nope, I meant you have to cross 3 roads. If you want to count actual crossing segments, then I agree it's 4 light-controlled crossings, or 6 sections if you half-ignore the lights and cross the bits where traffic isn't flowing.

jimmyd wrote:

and don't get me started on u turning double deckers!!

Or the vehicles heading NW along Wokingham Road that turn into the BP garage without any warning! For that reason alone, I generally approach that junction in the RH lane if I'm going straight on. The ones turning right are generally pretty good about indicating and don't slam on their brakes to avoid pedestrians crossing the forecourt entrance!

ChrisB200SX wrote:

Oh, you really shouldn't deliberately "buzz" pedestrians... I'm sure you've heard the term "punishment pass"?

100% agree with this.

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

In my experience, pedestrians will (sometimes) look, weigh up the vehicle approaching, then decide to cross or not. If you're on a bike they seem to make the decision to cross in front of you more than when you're in a car. The assumption is you will just give way, which is annoying.

If I get a deliberate jaywalker I'll buzz them as close as possible.

I really hope you never drive a motor vehicle. Please never do it near me.

Is it really a decent reaction to further endanger someone who has made an error of judgement around their own safety?

Sure, give them a glare or shout "careful!" if you must,  but I don't think punishment passing pedestrians makes things better for anyone. Later in the day they might just be driving their 4x4/bus/40t lorry past you.

We ought all really to be looking out for pedestrians who might walk out in front of us. Admittedly sometimes, though, you think there is absolutely no way someone is going to cross in front of you and then they do. I had this with a bin man who looked straight at me from fairly close range, then stepped out. I braked and swerved in time to not come close to hitting him, but it did make me think. Sounded like his colleagues gave him some verbal stick! I'm pretty sure he just misjudged my speed (probably about 17-20mph, passing the bin lorry, going downhill.)

DaveE128 wrote:

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

In my experience, pedestrians will (sometimes) look, weigh up the vehicle approaching, then decide to cross or not. If you're on a bike they seem to make the decision to cross in front of you more than when you're in a car. The assumption is you will just give way, which is annoying.

If I get a deliberate jaywalker I'll buzz them as close as possible.

I really hope you never drive a motor vehicle. Please never do it near me.

Is it really a decent reaction to further endanger someone who has made an error of judgement around their own safety?

Sure, give them a glare or shout "careful!" if you must,  but I don't think punishment passing pedestrians makes things better for anyone. Later in the day they might just be driving their 4x4/bus/40t lorry past you.

We ought all really to be looking out for pedestrians who might walk out in front of us. Admittedly sometimes, though, you think there is absolutely no way someone is going to cross in front of you and then they do. I had this with a bin man who looked straight at me from fairly close range, then stepped out. I braked and swerved in time to not come close to hitting him, but it did make me think. Sounded like his colleagues gave him some verbal stick! I'm pretty sure he just misjudged my speed (probably about 17-20mph, passing the bin lorry, going downhill.)

I'm talking about the surly teenager/trainee thug who sees you and walks out anyway placing the onus on you to take action because they have taken a deliberate option to walk into your path. I'm not talking about someone who never looked up from a phone, or wobbly granny. You know exactly what sort of person I'm on about, the 'do you want some?' types.

I know the sensible thing is to diffuse things by always backing down but from time to time why should you always back down? The video today of the old codger poking people in the chest proves people think cyclists are easy pickings, even fat old men are happy to try their hand.

DaveE128 wrote:

Sure, give them a glare or shout "careful!" if you must,  but I don't think punishment passing pedestrians makes things better for anyone. Later in the day they might just be driving their 4x4/bus/40t lorry past you.

We ought all really to be looking out for pedestrians who might walk out in front of us. Admittedly sometimes, though, you think there is absolutely no way someone is going to cross in front of you and then they do. I had this with a bin man who looked straight at me from fairly close range, then stepped out. I braked and swerved in time to not come close to hitting him, but it did make me think. Sounded like his colleagues gave him some verbal stick! I'm pretty sure he just misjudged my speed (probably about 17-20mph, passing the bin lorry, going downhill.)

I nearly ploughed through a whole family group once - clear road, good visibility, etc. About half of them crossed the road ahead of me, which was fine - the other half dozen, complete with pushchair, waited until I was practically on top of them before stepping off the kerb. Fortunately, there was enough of a gap between the 2 groups for me to swerve through. Yes, I was going at a reasonable lick, but it was a 40mph limit road.

I'm a big believer that people generally don't appreciate how fast some cyclists can go and expect them all to be tootling around like a granny on a shopper bike, despite the clue that you're on a road bike in Lycra. In contrast, despite rarely being anywhere near the speed limit of the road you're on, you're always "speeding" on a bike. You can't win.

To quote the witness in the article: "A cyclist with no helmet came around the corner at high speed and hit a pedestrian who was crossing the road." The cyclist was probably doing 10-15mph in a 30mph zone, yet, somehow, he was apparently speeding. Unlikely, but would be interesting to see if he had anything like Strava running at the time.

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

I'm talking about the surly teenager/trainee thug who sees you and walks out anyway placing the onus on you to take action because they have taken a deliberate option to walk into your path. I'm not talking about someone who never looked up from a phone, or wobbly granny. You know exactly what sort of person I'm on about, the 'do you want some?' types.

Respectfully suggest you stop digging.

MandaiMetric wrote:

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

I'm talking about the surly teenager/trainee thug who sees you and walks out anyway placing the onus on you to take action because they have taken a deliberate option to walk into your path. I'm not talking about someone who never looked up from a phone, or wobbly granny. You know exactly what sort of person I'm on about, the 'do you want some?' types.

Respectfully suggest you stop digging.

 

To be fair, I see Yorkshire Wallets argument. All I hear about on these forums is the need to turn the other cheek, be the better man / woman, show respect and act responsibly to promote a positive image of cycling.

With all due respect, this attitude gets us no where. "Don't say anything, don't do anything and people will be nicer to us.... " its not an argument that stacks up too well in my opinion. 

Not saying the answer is out and out aggression, but neither is being a subservient sub-species on our highways. 

Personally speaking, I don't think that many people walk out in front of cyclists as an act of aggression, i think its more that the general populous believe that cyclists are second rate citizens that don't belong on the roads, pavements, dedicated cycling paths.... 

We need to push back against the negative press somehow. 

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

 

We need to push back against the negative press somehow. 

I would suggest cyclists "buzzing" pedestrians, is unlikely to be the answer to this dilema.

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

I'm talking about the surly teenager/trainee thug who sees you and walks out anyway placing the onus on you to take action because they have taken a deliberate option to walk into your path. I'm not talking about someone who never looked up from a phone, or wobbly granny. You know exactly what sort of person I'm on about, the 'do you want some?' types.

I know the sensible thing is to diffuse things by always backing down but from time to time why should you always back down? The video today of the old codger poking people in the chest proves people think cyclists are easy pickings, even fat old men are happy to try their hand.

I kind-of get what you mean, but, as this case illustrates, its quite likely you'd come off worst if there was a collision, and I'm not confident of your (or my) ability to instantly judge the character and nature of any given careless pedestrian in the heat of the moment.

Personally I'd just play safe. Though shouting at them as you escape into the distance is always an option, I guess.

jimmyd wrote:

Update - Sadly get reading reported that the cyclist died earlier today.

Clearly, based on that fact, something needs to be done about pedestrians. They're dangerous, they don't wear hi-viz, just step out - they think they own the roads or something.

/sarcasm -off

Can someone point me at the stats again for cyclists killing pedestrians, that are apparently so awful that Something Must Be Done (tm).