Safe Speed Forums

We all start off life, from the age of learning to walk and being let out of the house by our parents, as pedestrians and until the age of at least 17 (a lot older in some cases) non of us really appreciates what vehicle drivers have to take on board when driving around where there might be pedestrians and animals to step out/ run out in front of you.
What I am wondering though is, what are the thoughts of others who now drive? Does driving make you a better pedestrian than you were before you learnt to drive?

What consideration and traits do you show to other drivers when you are a pedestrian than someone who doesn't drive might show. I know I do certain things when a pedestrian to make my life safer and to give consideration to drivers, whether it is on the street, in a busy carpark or a busy transport bay, but do others?
These actions have come about from being a driver and thinking like a driver, so appreciating what "might go wrong".
I'm interested in what others may do that the "non driving pedestrian" may not do, to make life safer for both pedestrian and driver. I'll divulge some of my traits later.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

I think there is one big thing about being a driver that makes you a better pedestrian. You have a better understanding of vehicle dynamics.

Translation: You realise that cars can't stop instantly.

The biggest group of non-driving pedestrians are children and their accident rate is much higher than for adults, a high proportion of whom will be drivers.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

When it comes to giving drivers directions it does!

Have you ever been in a car with someone who knows the area, tries to direct you, then realises they have no idea which streets are one way, which junctions are no right turn etc.?

Joking apart, it can't make you a worse pedestrian. I think everyone would benefit from using as many types of transport as possible.

Couple or three things that I've noticed:

1) As a pedestrian, I'll certainly give any vehicle the right of way when I have only a reasonable chance to cross the road. I try to engage the driver by getting eye/ response contact. Even providing a running commentary to my Grandkids while I'm guiding them across. One excellent tip that I was given, and use, is to watch for movement in the wheels of any stationary car which is trying to enter traffic.
2)I try to 'load' my Grandkids through the kerbside door, and not the door on the roadside.
3) I agree about understanding vehicle-dynamics, but got that understanding in an unusual way.......I spent 2 weeks doing roadside traffic-census work. Guiding cars into a lay-by, even from speeds of 30 mph, was scary. As was the surprise I got about, from the roadside how quickly and powerfully cars moved back onto the busy road. The heightened awareness given by the road noise made such a difference to our safety.

absolutely! i echo all comments made on this. I watch out for cars indicating if i'm crossing a junction, I NEVER WALK BEHIND REVERSING CARS, I take more time if I'm crossing the road near a bend.
My dad has a saying "you become a road user the moment you step into the road"

Definatly. I remember the horror to of trying to pass cyclists as a learner driver. All cyclists should at least attempt to drive a car. It would increase thier awareness.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

And vice versa. In fact I would make 100 hours cycling a prerequisite to taking a driving test.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

At one time I would have agreed with this. Then I realised experience without education is almost pointless.

Most people have over 100 hours of road experience on a bicycle. They usually start at about 5 years old then continue to ride, of and on, for the next 12 years. Unless they have done a proficiency course, or whatever they are now, they will not understand the reasons they sometimes get into bad situations. Even then they will, like most people, develop some bad habits.

I can see big problems with this suggestion. Although it is not a 100% bad one.

Strongly disagree with that. There are self taught people in many fields who are the equal of people with formal qualifications.



I meant 100 hours recent experience and in traffic. I have taught a few people to drive and have noticed that those who were experienced cyclists had much better road sense - observational skills and assessment of danger - than non cyclists. And -the real point of my suggestion - much more tolerance of and consideration for cyclists.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

That's all very well but as this is a post on pedestrians, what have you learnt as a driver that you could pass on as a safety tip(s) to a ped who hasn't had the benefits from driving a car yet?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

At the time of learning to drive I was cycling 200 miles a week, 100 miles to and from work and 100 miles on a sunday. It is not the amount of cycling that counted . it was the seeing the drivers view of a cyclists that is the lesson. the pedestrians would get the same lesson by learning to drive.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Good one, G, important to get back to the original question. Although, "down yer in Debbon, wirr they roads them be crooded", cycling receives much better reception. But then, drivers will actually stop, holding up traffic, to allow you out of side-roads!!!
Excepppppt.......there's one, mile-&-a-half stretch of A road alongside which a national cycleway runs parallel. Racing-cyclists use the road in rush hour (to respect the pedestriaans and speed limit on the cycleway!).........they really do take their lives into their hands as some of the cardrivers' impatience has to be seen to be believed. After all, it IS rush-hour and I'VE got right of way.
Paradox, innit, that pedestrians have their own space on the cycleway, and that this endangers those trying to uphold that respect!

I know I am one of them and as I said "almost". There are gaps in my knowledge base that do not become apparent until the need arises.


I am not disagreeing with the idea. I just think that there are so many problems with it that make it almost impossible to develop.

How do you verify that 100 hours have been done? How do you verify that the person claiming the time has done them? How do you verify that they have been done to a sufficient standard that it will translate to a car? How long before the requirement for driving becomes a requirement for cycling? With many more to come.

This is part of a bigger problem that we are currently in. The "blame the driver" culture. We need to have a "take the responsibility" culture. That is all road users drivers, cyclists and peds. We need to stop people passing off their safety to a third party without due consideration of the risks and making it clear when they do.

It wasn't a serious proposal but I do think that the more modes of transport that you regularly use the more tolerant you become. Though i am not sure that any amount of tractor driving would remove my hatred of them

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

This is s slight deviation, but when I and my year group were all learning to drive (way back when) I always assumed that previous knowledge of cars (e.g. from driving on father's farm) or experience of driving mopeds/tractors etc. that can be driven before sixteen, would make it easier to pass the driving test.

However I could see no quicker/higher pass rate in those groups, which made me believe that in order to pass the test in a car on the road, you had to learn to drive a car on the road.

I think this is analagous (ish) to the topic being discussed; you can't really appreciate what it's like to be another kind of road user until you've done it yourself.

But it generated a good discussion

Agreed. As a driver, rider (PTW) and a ped I have a fairly good sense of what is going on. I am even looking at getting my bike out a an aid to weight loss

Most tractor drivers need loving too or where would the food come from.

The supermarket, of course

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Before I read the replies so far, my first response was going to be "..only if you learn from your mistakes!"

I regularly see a small minority of road users of ALL types making errors of judgement including pedestrians.

I try and put myself in the position of other road users, and drive accordingly - more room for cyclists and horse riders, don't follow scooter riders or motorcyclists too closely in snow and ice, and judge speed and positioning to allow pedestrians to cross in front or behind you safely, OR prevent them from crossing and placing themselves in danger.

Cyclists on roundabouts probably warrant more consideration than a lot of drivers give them - but a minority of cyclists do nothing to help themselves by poor positioning, signals, or indecision.

Having witnessed many near misses between drivers and pedestrians in my town, I would say that many pedestrians lack common sense, which prevents them from learning from other experiences - or perhaps it is because a lot of them are on holiday here from Wales or Lancashire!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Yes and part of my point of this thread, is that as a driver you learn from other peoples mistakes too. One of the first things that I learnt, as a driver, that you have to take on board as a pedestrian, is the stopping distances for cars BUT especially so on snow and ice.

When I was about 18 I remember one particularly snowy spell where the roads had compacted snow on them. I was turning off a 30MPH busy road into a quiet side road that had pavements either side but the entrance to the side road, off the main, had a 30degree downward incline. Just as I turned off the main road onto the incline some "person" decided to cross the road in front of me and although he would have left enough room for me to stop in the dry, applying my brakes on the compacted snow with the slope meant that I had no chance of stopping, even though I was probably going no faster than about 10-15MPH. I managed to steer for the kerb which stopped me and avoided him. Luckily I had steel wheels and probably 80 profile tyres then, so no damage except probably knocked my tracking out a touch.
However one thing it did teach me was that when you cross roads and the conditions are slippery, is to give all motorists that extra space so that a) they don't "panic" brake and go into a slide and b) if I was to slip over on the ice then I wouldn't become "road kill"...

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Cor blimey, loadsa stuff to even try to assimilate, utilise and refresh our memories; and that's before we consider the increasing encounters of vehicles with pedestrians due to more traffic on the roads.

Then there's the extra-busy, tired minds of today's population.

Just fantastic to live in a location and in a County where traffic on the main road stops at around 6 pm.