Flipping near miss... rant

[Imurg]

Personally I'd make the exclusion zone 800 yds which any child should be able to walk, and no parking/ stopping within the area if you cannot make it an exclusion zone but keep the speed limit at 5mph.

As commendable as your suggestions are you've effectively shut down many towns in the country, mine included.
Our schools are dotted around town and as a result virtually the whole town would be a 5mph limit.
And we're quite a small town, I can't imagine what it would be like in some of the bigger towns.
They would be bought to a standstill.
It just couldn't work..

 

[USER1999]

If kids walked to their local school, rather than be driven to one further away, traffic would be much lighter, and the cut and thrust of cars jostling for position around schools would be gone.

 

[Baldy Bouncer]

Phone Zombies.....don't you just love 'em.

 

[Mudball]

If kids walked to their local school, rather than be driven to one further away, traffic would be much lighter, and the cut and thrust of cars jostling for position around schools would be gone.

In a parallel universe..Life would be so simple...

 

[howbow88]

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint".
Hesiod

 

[Mudball]

Another near miss… there is a stretch of road which has no footpath and is a series of blind turns. The speed is 30 I think, but it is very very busy esp in the morning when the school runs are on.

This morning, I was going around one of the blind bend, only to see an OAP in high-vis in the middle of the road. I have seen her a few times, needs a walking stick and walks down that stretch every morning (not sure for what). Had to hit the brakes and swerve to miss her.

A big shout out to the driver on the other side of the road. He anticipated that any driver coming down that bend (like me) would have swerve to avoid the OAP and hit him. So while he got the ire of the drivers behind him, he stopped his car till she turned around the bend. his forward thinking avoided a big collision. Days like this, you feel good that sometimes people think of something other than themselves.

As I drove off the scene, I saw the next car do exactly the same to avoid hitting her. It’s only a matter of time before someone hits her.

Another 200m down the road, saw cars being held up behind a fit 30-40 yr old lady running on the road while angry parents trying to get past her.

There should be a law that stop people from jaywalking or running on roads with no footpath.

 

[RichA]

There is already a law that says drivers must be able to stop safely in the section of road that they can see to be clear, or half of it on narrow roads to allow for oncoming traffic in the same situation, regardless of the speed limit.
Pedestrians, cyclists and runners have a right to be there. Drivers are only permitted by licence.
Anybody hits her it's their fault, not hers.

 

[Mudball]

There is already a law that says drivers must be able to stop safely in the section of road that they can see to be clear, or half of it on narrow roads to allow for oncoming traffic in the same situation, regardless of the speed limit.
Pedestrians, cyclists and runners have a right to be there. Drivers are only permitted by licence.
Anybody hits her it's their fault, not hers.

Really? how do you expect a motorist driving on a 30mph road look around a bend. They will be looking for Cars & bikes and hence slow down. not expecting to see an OAP walking in the middle of a busy road. Is that the same concept of hitting an animal on the road?

 

[Deleted member 29109]

Really? how do you expect a motorist driving on a 30mph road look around a bend. They will be looking for Cars & bikes and hence slow down. not expecting to see an OAP walking in the middle of a busy road. Is that the same concept of hitting an animal on the road?

Exactly why you should drive at a speed that allows you to stop within the distance you can see. Speed limits at a maximum not a target.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Really? how do you expect a motorist driving on a 30mph road look around a bend. They will be looking for Cars & bikes and hence slow down. not expecting to see an OAP walking in the middle of a busy road. Is that the same concept of hitting an animal on the road?

Perhaps if they were driving at a safe speed for the road they would not have had to take such drastic evasive action.
What if it had been a combine harvester/horse rider/stray sheep/deer/cyclist/road repair crew/broken down car. etcetcetcetcetcetc.
Pedestrians have as much right to use a single track road as anyone else.

 

[RichA]

Really? how do you expect a motorist driving on a 30mph road look around a bend. They will be looking for Cars & bikes and hence slow down. not expecting to see an OAP walking in the middle of a busy road. Is that the same concept of hitting an animal on the road?

Try Googling "limit point" for an explanation.

 

[Blue in Munich]

My old driving school taught me that you should never drive so fast that you cannot stop in the distance you can see to be clear. The only exception to that is a single track road where you should never drive so fast that you cannot stop in half the distance you can see to be clear.

Just because you can negotiate a bend at 30mph doesn’t mean it is safe to do so, even if 30mph is the speed limit.

 

[Rooter]

There should be a law that stop people from jaywalking or running on roads with no footpath.

Oh dear, I'll bite...

Who made car drivers (read you) the owner of the roads? If you say anything about car tax, I will hunt you down and gut you like fish!!

People were here before cars, horses were there before cars, the roads are for everyone and we all pay our fair share (some pay a fairer share than others!!)

If you cant drive your 1.5 ton of metal without nearly killing someone, then maybe it's time you stopped driving your weapon disguised as a mode of transport and start walking or cycling....

 

[Jamesbrown]

Never in my life have I considered walking, cycling or horse riding on a road a safe or smart activity.

I see people walking their dogs on country roads with bends and dips and I can’t even bring myself to walk the dogs on a high street pavement!

 

[SaintHacker]

E scooters. Absolute spawn of the devil. The things are illegal to use except on private ground. However in their wisdom Southampton council are running a trial of the things all over the city, which idiots, sorry, people, can rent by the hour, quite legally. So this morning whilst happily toodling along in a 12 ton double decker an e scooter rider, complete with headphones for extra 'safety' decides to leave the pavement and ride on the road, without looking first, as if she had she would have seen my bus about to squash her. Luckily i saw what was happening and braked hard in time. When she realised just how close the massive unmissable blue box was she panicked, hit the kerb, and promptly fell off the damn thing. Luckily onto the pavement, or it could have been a different ending.??

 

[Doon frae Troon]

We dread 'tourist season' on our single track road network.
If you cannot reverse a car do not drive on single track roads.

Last year I had a stalemate with a woman who was 50 yards past a lay bye on a straight bit of road.
I got our of my car and pointed this out to her at the same time saying I would have to reverse 400 yards sharply downhill on a winding road.
'But I cannot reverse this car' was the response.
'Well start learning' I responded and within 20 yards she was basically sideways across the road
And yes it was a massive Chelsea tractor.
And Yes I ended up doing the reversing.
And by then she had a little convoy follow her down the hill.

 

[Voyager EMH]

I foresee a great future ahead for this thread - should run and run. Looking forward to it muchly.
Walked to school every day of my life from 5 to 18. Four very different towns, 5 different schools. I would say that for the vast majority of us it was walk or bus and no other choice.
In this respect, I have seen a worsening of safety conditions for all road users. More kids on foot or busses would be an improvement for everyone, I feel.
Mobile phones should be banned for all moving humans on the road or pavement.

 

[chrisd]

We have 2 primary schools in our village and it would appear the school run is only allowed in Range Rovers and bigger. Leaving the A20 and driving up to school one is a very short incline with a pronounced double bend and I've often met humungous tractors with big big trailers going either way on those bends. School run mum, or dad, clearly late, haven't yet met a monster farm vehicle - but they will one day! ??

 

[Reemul]

The speed limit is not a target to hit it the maximum speed allowed. Most of our schools locally have a 20mph limit but at the start and end of the school day even slower is better. They are kids they don't pay attention are easily distracted and we know that. Better safe than sorry

 

[Pathetic Shark]

Anybody hits her it's their fault, not hers.

I'm sure that will be great solace when she's lying in an ambulance with multiple injuries and the car has a small dent in its front.