An Unnecessary Hold Back

If you follow the rules, people generally have an idea of what should be happening.

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[pirateadam]

Good bit of advice I got from my old instructor, "Don't be polite - be predictable"

[smilerbob]

Even if this was a junction and I had slowed to give way, that initial arm gesture from the pedestrian should be taken as “Please continue, I am not crossing”

[kdmq]

My philosophy towards giving up right-of-way to be nice:
1) if someone's behind you, you shouldn't do it because you will cause a holdup.
2) If no one's behind you, you shouldn't do it because the gap behind you will
let them out automatically.

[MBaileyuk]

This is why people are also hesitant to let people cross at junctions. People behind don't like to stop and may overtake, and pedestrians often just want to cross when it's clear rather than being the reason traffic is held up.

[smilerbob]

This is why, as a pedestrian, I will step back from any crossing point where I have no priority to prevent any confusion like this. I will even hold back from junctions and zebra crossings if it is better flow for all if I wait to cross

[CraigNiel]

If I was the pedestrian I still wouldn't have crossed. One car had already overtaken the idiot and another was looking too also. No way in the world would I be stepping onto the road especially with a child to look after.

[id]

Similar thing happened to me the other day except it was a Scirocco letting me out of a parking lot onto the main road even though they were the last car in the platoon and could have just gone past me. They slowed down pretty late, flashed their lights and just as I start to get moving they're moving too. I stop. I let them proceed, but no. They're insistent on inverting the rules of the road and just sit there on the main road waving for me to go... They didn't help out. They only slowed things down.
Please drive in a predictable way and don't give way to just about anyone anytime. Letting people out makes sense if there's slow moving queuing traffic, or traffic is moving in such a way that side road exits would never get to go out. If it's clear behind you, don't bother slowing down. Just go past.

[walterxplinge]

This is why your videos are so important. You give an explanation of what the Highway Code rules actually mean. I must admit I still don't always get the "pedestrians at junction" rule correct. But once when I did, exiting a roundabout, I nearly got rear-ended by someone who either hadn't seen the pedestrians or felt the rule didn't apply to them.

[Jimmyb]

It's about predictable driving. If there's nothing in front of you and no reason for you to stop, if you do stop you cause confusion and potentially an accident.

I've had similar things happen to me when a car in front stops to let vehicles out of a junction when there is no obvious reason for them to stop and similar to the pedestrians in this video the vehicle at the junction is confused.

Worse still I've had cars do this when the oncoming lane is busy so the vehicle can't emerge from the junction anyway.

Unless there is an obstruction (junction, vehicle, traffic light, crossing etc) please don't just stop on a road!

[sgkingly]

I was behind someone the other day doing something similar. Some pedestrians waiting to cross somewhat close to a junction but not on it and the driver infront of me decided to stop and repeatedly flash their lights at the pedestrians (at least 10-20 flashes) WHILE CARS WERE FLOWING THE OTHER DIRECTION. Needless to say the pedestrians were not stupid and didn't move but this guy just kept at it

[davidbrinnen]

I live in a rural area with an elderly population that follow the old rules. In the summer, when visitors arrive from urban areas following the new rules, there is confusion. The reality of the situation is that if you are a pedestrian, irrespective of who has priority, you will be squashed if you get in the way of a car driven by someone who neither knows nor cares about the rules. What you learn living among the elderly is that they are possibly the most belligerent generation, and they will run you over out of ignorance or lack of attention.

[robg]

You had one a few months ago back where a car on a dual carriage way braked to let a car pull form a side road, and nearly caused a pile up with all of the other traffic coming up behind and going past. Exactly the same issue,
being nice can sometimes get someone killed,

[Enjay]

It's also worth pointing out that if the cammer hadn't stopped, they, and the cars immediately behind them would have been past the pedestrians and no longer of concern to them. That would have been a much better way to make this a non-issue. There might have even been enough time for the pedestrians to cross (though another car appears from the opposite direction, and a further one from the same direction as the cammer shortly afterwards, so maybe not).

I often see people being "nice" and slowing to let someone out of a side junction, or allowing someone to cross even when there is no one behind. In circumstances like that, just be predictable; drive past and get out of the way. It takes less time, is less confusing and all of the road users are safer.

It's different in heavy, slow moving traffic where holding back and allowing the other road user/pedestrian the space and time to decide for themselves whether to go or not can make sense but, otherwise, just move past and don't create an issue.

The other one that can make actions like those in the video dangerous is when the driver who is trying to be nice feels ignored. I've seen plenty of drivers slow in a situation similar to that in the video, then maybe even gesture to the pedestrian (or other road user) to walk/emerge from their junction (they should not be gesturing like that of course). Then, if the other person does not move off, the "nice" driver seems to feel as if their courtesy has been rejected and they slam the car in first and race off, probably muttering "suit yourself then" - effecting giving the other road user a telling-off for not responding and thereby, decreasing everyone's safety. In the video, the cammer may even have been getting to that point themself. At 1:27 they decide they've had enough and start to move off just as the pedestrians decide to cross (no doubt feeling the pressure of all the cars sitting waiting for them).

In short, bad driving from the cammer. They created an issue by stopping, confused all the other road users (including the pedestrians), left people trying to figure out what was going on and making poor and rushed decisions and decreased the safety of the situation considerably. Alternatively, they could (and should) have just driven by and it would have been such a non-issue that no one would even have noticed it as being anything out of the ordinary.

[PedroConejo]

An expression I've picked up from here is 'Don't try to change priorities'. This is the perfect example of that. Now, there's slowing to let a vehicle or person cross when they are faced with a continuous line of traffic and it doesn't put anyone at risk; and then there's stopping for absolutely no good reason. That could have gone wrong very badly, especially inviting, nay, _demanding_ vulnerable road users give up their own judgement and sense of road safety for your own feeling of satisfaction.

[Alfthecyclist]

I've experienced this several times when trying to cross a busy road with my bike after work. Some kind soul to my right stops on a 40mph road to let me cross. Every single time they've been completely oblivious to the long line of traffic in the opposite lane that's flowing at 40mph.

Also if any drivers are here that do allow cyclists/pedestrians to cross at junctions (it should be all of you) please remember that when it is daylight and you're sat in a dark car quite often all we can see through your windscreen is a reflection of the sky! No amount of hand and arm waving will change that!

[picanto]

One of my driving school pupils was making a left turn off of a major road, an elderly gent stepped off the pavement and then stopped and waved my pupil to proceed. This happened whilst he was on his driving test, after a bit of "Mexican stand off" the examiner told him to get a move on and he was failed for not making progress when safe to do so. When I asked the examiner for clarification of the incident, all he said was, he thought my pupil was going to sit there all day.

[davemar]

If the cammer had just carried on it would have probably been quicker for the pedestrins too. They would have only needed to wait for a few seconds for the cars to pass before crossing a clear road. It probably look longer for the cammer to slow down to a stop and wave the pedestrians across.

[Jeffron]

Priority does not equal safer. Better for the more vulnerable road users (pedestrians) to wait until cars are clear of a crossing, as always used to be the case. The new rules are ludicrous.

[nigelcox]

Trying to be courteous to two people, while being discourteous to at least 6 others. Genius needs a slap.

[Malignant]

I had this thing happening yesterday on a three lane road with pedestrians and bikes crossing. It's really dangerous actually.