Why do pedestrians

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 01:20:16 +0100, JNugent wrote:

On 04/07/2016 20:28, James Wilkinson wrote:

JNugent wrote:
On 04/07/2016 17:46, soup wrote:
On 04/07/2016 17:37, Simon Jester wrote:

Why do pedestrians thank drivers with a wave for stopping at zebra
crossings?

Probably for the same reasons as drivers thank each other with waves
when one stops as the other has right of way.
I frequently wave at cars that give me plenty room overtaking me,
cars that wait at side roads etc etc.
You may say they are just not 'breaking the law' but to me
politeness costs nothing and any situation where drivers do that extra
little bit of actually acknowledging you exist and treat you as other
traffic deserves my thanks/acknowledgment

It really IS amazing that some people are so consumed with bitterness
and spite that they simply cannot comprehend unforced politeness,
isn't it?

Actually, I can't remember ever seeing a cyclist wave.

I have seen it happen.

If he's got his fingers curled round and his hand is moving up and down, that doesn't count. It means you didn't give him 43 miles room when overtaking.

--
Death is the number 1 killer in the world.

On 05/07/2016 02:32, Phil W Lee wrote:

[ ... ]

Any motor vehicle can be barred from any road at the stroke of a civil
servants pen.

Nonsense on XL-size stilts.

A right of way, on the other hand, has a set means of diverting or
extinguishing it which is so expensive, if contested, that it is very
rarely used.
And cyclists DO have a right of way on all public highways other than
public footpaths.

More nonsense.

If you can't understand that, you don't meet the conditions under
which your permit (licence) is issued, and should return it.

You ought to return *your* driving licence if you really think that
cycling is permiotted on motoways or on non-motorway expressways and
river and estuary crossings with specific cycling prohibitions in place.

On Tuesday, 5 July 2016 01:08:59 UTC+1, James Wilkinson wrote:
The only thing the zigzags mean is no parking, because apparently pedestrians are too dumb to be able to look round a parked car.

Motor vehicles are not permitted to overtake the lead motor vehicle within the lines either.

On 04/07/2016 20:35, Tony Dragon wrote:
On 04-Jul-16 6:08 PM, Simon Jester wrote:
On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 5:46:49 PM UTC+1, soup wrote:
On 04/07/2016 17:37, Simon Jester wrote:

Why do pedestrians thank drivers with a wave for stopping at zebra
crossings?

Probably for the same reasons as drivers thank each other with waves
when one stops as the other has right of way.

I frequently wave at cars that give me plenty room overtaking me,
cars that wait at side roads etc etc.
You may say they are just not 'breaking the law' but to me
politeness costs nothing and any situation where drivers do that extra
little bit of actually acknowledging you exist and treat you as other
traffic deserves my thanks/acknowledgment

By doing so you are implying the driver has done you a favour, that is
my point.

No he isn't.


Why do you thank people then? To my mind it does give the impression
that someone has done more than the minimum required by law.

On 05/07/2016 01:08, James Wilkinson wrote:
On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 00:58:34 +0100, TMS320 wrote:

On 04/07/2016 21:28, James Wilkinson wrote:
On Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:12:32 +0100, Alycidon
wrote:

On Monday, 4 July 2016 20:30:15 UTC+1, James Wilkinson wrote:
On Mon, 04 Jul 2016 19:44:09 +0100, Alycidon
wrote:

On Monday, 4 July 2016 18:31:20 UTC+1, Simon Jester
wrote:

The point is you are stood at a zebra crossing waiting
for
permission from a motorist to cross.
You have priority and should not be in fear for your
life for
exercising that priority.

Indeed - if I am at a zebra and a car is approaching, but
has
plenty of time to stop if I walk out, then I will simply
walk across there and then.

This saves time in the same way as when I drive on when
three cars
turn up at a mini roundabout - I make the other parties' mind
up for them which then negates any "after you" dithering.

If you did that in front of me you'd get hooted at. You
should at least wait to see if the car is slowing. One day
you're going to get run over.

Been doing it for 40 years now - not so much as a feeble parp
parp yet. Better for a driver than in out in out shake it all
about.

There's a very simple way to cross a zebra. You turn to face
across the road so drivers know you want to cross. You watch the
car approaching you [1], and when you see it slowing down for
you, you cross.

It is possible to plan for eventualities and adapt to situations as
they arise. It only takes two seconds to cross the footprint of a
car, after all. But people mind less if you get on with it and
don't stand there dithering.

Crossing in front of a car which wasn't going to stop either means
you have to run for your life, or the car has to stop more rapidly
than it should be doing and possibly lose control.

I have spatial awareness to look after myself. If you don't what on
earth are doing trying to be in charge of a car?

I've got to part [1] before, and the car made no attempt to
stop. Doing what you do could cause an accident.

Depends on whether they were within the zig zags as you started to
cross.

Like either of us would check something like that, instead of
concentrating on the more important thing of avoiding being in the
same place as someone else at the same time.

And I've never heard of zigzags meaning anything of the sort. You're
supposed to "stop if safe to do so" - that's not an emergency stop.
The only thing the zigzags mean is no parking, because apparently
pedestrians are too dumb to be able to look round a parked car.

The requirement is that zigzags are comprised of 8 to 18 lines of 2m
long. This makes a minimum total length of 18m, which is more than the
Highway Code stopping distance at 30mph. And people keep claiming that
modern cars are so amazing that the HC is way out of date.

On a crossing near me, on a road with a 20mph limit, they put in 14
lines giving a total of 32m. Even if a driver does not realise (despite
signs and many other other visual clues that the road is not a
motorway), if you start to cross when the vehicle is outside the
zigzags, the driver hardly even needs to summon up the effort to lift.

On 05/07/2016 08:52, Nick wrote:
On 04/07/2016 20:35, Tony Dragon wrote:
On 04-Jul-16 6:08 PM, Simon Jester wrote:
On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 5:46:49 PM UTC+1, soup wrote:
On 04/07/2016 17:37, Simon Jester wrote:

Why do pedestrians thank drivers with a wave for stopping at zebra
crossings?

Probably for the same reasons as drivers thank each other with waves
when one stops as the other has right of way.

I frequently wave at cars that give me plenty room overtaking me,
cars that wait at side roads etc etc.
You may say they are just not 'breaking the law' but to me
politeness costs nothing and any situation where drivers do that extra
little bit of actually acknowledging you exist and treat you as other
traffic deserves my thanks/acknowledgment

By doing so you are implying the driver has done you a favour, that is
my point.

No he isn't.


Why do you thank people then? To my mind it does give the impression
that someone has done more than the minimum required by law.




By thanking/acknowledging the acts of others, you improve everyone's
day, and increase the chances of similar things happening on other
occasions, the cost is nil, which improves things even more.

On 04/07/2016 18:08, Simon Jester wrote:


By doing so you are implying the driver has done you a favour,

So that "cheers chief" as I get of the bus means the bus driver has
done me a favour ?

It may be a fault but I don't go through life only thanking people
who have really gone out of there way to help me.

My wave, or calling "cheers" or " ta for that" to dog walkers
who restrain their dogs is more an acknowledgement than thanks
but it does help mark me out as a human with family etc not just a
bicycle with some two legged thing on it.

On 05/07/2016 10:51, soup wrote:
On 04/07/2016 18:08, Simon Jester wrote:


By doing so you are implying the driver has done you a favour,

So that "cheers chief" as I get of the bus means the bus driver has
done me a favour ?

It may be a fault but I don't go through life only thanking people
who have really gone out of there way to help me.

My wave, or calling "cheers" or " ta for that" to dog walkers
who restrain their dogs is more an acknowledgement than thanks
but it does help mark me out as a human with family etc not just a
bicycle with some two legged thing on it.


Good to hear it, I find it hard to believe some of the comments from
others on here, it is a sad reflection upon them.

On 05.07.2016 04:46, soup wrote:
On 04/07/2016 17:37, Simon Jester wrote:

Why do pedestrians thank drivers with a wave for stopping at zebra
crossings?

Probably for the same reasons as drivers thank each other with waves
when one stops as the other has right of way.

I frequently wave at cars that give me plenty room overtaking me,
cars that wait at side roads etc etc.
You may say they are just not 'breaking the law' but to me
politeness costs nothing and any situation where drivers do that extra
little bit of actually acknowledging you exist and treat you as other
traffic deserves my thanks/acknowledgment

+1

On 05.07.2016 20:41, MrCheerful wrote:
On 05/07/2016 08:52, Nick wrote:
On 04/07/2016 20:35, Tony Dragon wrote:
On 04-Jul-16 6:08 PM, Simon Jester wrote:
On Monday, July 4, 2016 at 5:46:49 PM UTC+1, soup wrote:
On 04/07/2016 17:37, Simon Jester wrote:

Why do pedestrians thank drivers with a wave for stopping at zebra
crossings?

Probably for the same reasons as drivers thank each other with waves
when one stops as the other has right of way.

I frequently wave at cars that give me plenty room overtaking me,
cars that wait at side roads etc etc.
You may say they are just not 'breaking the law' but to me
politeness costs nothing and any situation where drivers do that extra
little bit of actually acknowledging you exist and treat you as other
traffic deserves my thanks/acknowledgment

By doing so you are implying the driver has done you a favour, that is
my point.

No he isn't.


Why do you thank people then? To my mind it does give the impression
that someone has done more than the minimum required by law.




By thanking/acknowledging the acts of others, you improve everyone's
day, and increase the chances of similar things happening on other
occasions, the cost is nil, which improves things even more.

Agreed.
I like to be visible and predictable, signal intentions well in time,
and wave thanks and smile when everyone understands each other and acts
appropriately.