[Travel] #TeamAntiCar - This time, rat runs

Wardy's twin said:

I agree with most of this, the bit I disagree with I have made bold. If I hit a cyclist and even if it were 100% their fault it would still have a massive impact on me which would be impossible to stop.

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Of course there's the psychological impact - near misses have an impact as well, providing the driver isn't a sociopath! But it's the cyclist getting physically hurt, was my point. A driver's confidence can be rebuilt far quicker than broken bones would take to heal, etc. You're right though, any sort of crash is going to impact all involved and not least any witnesses.

pasty said:

The situation I got told off for was I was stationary in traffic on a busy main road, and a pedestrian had crossed half-way (not on a proper crossing or anything) and was trying to cross my side of the road. I could see 50 yards ahead there was a traffic light at red so I couldn't continue anyway so waved him across. But as my instructor pointed out, a motorbike could easily have come up the inside of me and wiped the pedestrian out.

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Instructors are right to make the point about not waving people on and making them rush without thinking, but knowing this, and why, also includes being aware of how you let people go and when it is safe or not to do so or not.

Probably in your instance, if I can picture it, I would have just held the car back when seeing them stuck in the road, made eye contact and made them understand that I was stopping for them by showing my palm. That said a driving instructor may not even like learner drivers doing this tbh.

I cycle along lewes road, and there is a tendency in a lot of drivers when they're stuck in a queue because of the road/building works to wave cars across at the avenue or onto barcombe road, ignoring that there is a bus lane beside them, and then a cycle lane the other side of that. This means contending with cars pulling out thinking it's clear because another car has waved them across. I've gotten accustomed to it, and usually slow down and keep an eye out at these points, just in case.

But it's a little difficult to put it all on the driver letting someone out - it's surely also incumbent on the crossing driver/pedestrian to check the way is clear, not just assume the driver giving way has checked every direction?