Trivial things that make you annoyed beyond expectations?

[CanucksTraveller]

I can't say stopping at a crossing has ever come close to putting a crimp in my day... light goes red, I come to a gentle stop... light goes flashy orange, bod is across, check my mirrors, and off I pootle. I literally don't put a single thought into the pedestrian's timing, I certainly have never thought a pedestrian is a twat for wanting to cross a road I'm driving along. Hell, I don't even care when it goes red and the pedestrian has already long gone. What would I even do with that 8 seconds of my life were I to "get it back"?

 

[DaveReading]

I'm always amused when the following scenario arises: Waiting to cross the road as a stream of traffic passes, with nothing behind them. So the driver of the last car stops to let you across in front of them, ignoring the fact that both you and they would have got past quicker had they not stopped at all.

The fact that they drive around without ever knowing what is (or isn't) behind them is no reason not to give them a smile and a wave, of course.

 

[swee'pea99]

Including pedestrians. The expectation is already there that pedestrians should wait at pedestrian lights after pressing the button, and when crossing the road anywhere that isn't a pedestrian crossing. That's at least 99% of roads. Why shouldn't pedestrians have right of way for 1%?



And driving a car involves greater environmental impact than not driving one: it's unfair to blame a pedestrian for this when the driver has already made the decision to use an environmentally damaging form of transport,



I would ask the driver the same question. Why can't we expect a driver to be courteous in the same way by waiting for a fellow human being? And if they get that upset about it, they really shouldn't be in charge of a tone of fast moving metal in a place where people are.

Again, if you want to drive fast, use a motorway. If you drive in a town, you need to accept it is a different environment.



I remember reading a study that showed as pedestrians stopped using crossings because they felt unsafe, drivers drove faster on those roads; the same happened as people stopped cycling on roads and children stopped walking to school: as the squishy things were not present drivers drove even faster causing a vicious cycle.



Well, quite: live and let live. Cars cause pollution which kills people, and in Germany 12 people die every day due to motor vehicles.



I've already had to rush one child to hospital by ambulance with breathing difficulties and I'd rather that I and others don't have to experience the same again. Live and let live, and all that.



No. I may have to in my new job, but I haven't driven in many years, largely since the aforementioned rush to take one of my kids to hospital. He was six months old and had breathing difficulties, made worse by pollution from a busy road passing the apartment. As I didn't want to do that to other people, I decided to "do as I would be done by" and not drive.

As far as I can see all of this comes down to 'driving is bad, so pissing off drivers is good'. Can't see that helping the environment much, but if it works for you...

 

[Andy in Germany]

As far as I can see all of this comes down to 'driving is bad, so pissing off drivers is good'. Can't see that helping the environment much, but if it works for you...

How did you work that out?

It occurs to me that part of this may be cultural. Stopping at pedestrian crossings is hammered into learner drivers here, and it's generally the norm to stop for pedestrians. There are also a lot more places where only bikes and pedestrians can go, and a cyclist on a cycleway crossing a road has right of way, and in residential areas priority is always given to vehicles (including bicycles) coming from the right at a road junction unless clearly signed otherwise.

I wonder if the expectation on the part of drivers that they should just be able to drive through anywhere is less than in the UK.

Also, I do try not to inconvenience drivers if I don't have to. For example, there are two points near here where the cycleway crosses a road. Drivers generally slow and are ready to stop at both, so I signal clearly that I'm not crossing the road so they can concentrate on the next junction.

My point is that a pedestrian has every right to stop traffic on the 1% of the roads that have crossings, and if drivers get annoyed about that, it's not the pedestrians problem.

 

[LCpl Boiled Egg]

I try never to cross in front of cars and it annoys me when a motorist stops and waves me across. I almost always refuse and cross when I want, not at the insistence of others.

 

[Chris S]

I'm always amused when the following scenario arises: Waiting to cross the road as a stream of traffic passes, with nothing behind them. So the driver of the last car stops to let you across in front of them

That happens to me all the time!

 

[ColinJ]

I try never to cross in front of cars and it annoys me when a motorist stops and waves me across. I almost always refuse and cross when I want, not at the insistence of others.

There are some roads that you would end up spending hours trying to cross then!

An amusing variation on this from Germany... A crossing on a street in a big German city. My stepdaughter wanted to cross. There was no traffic for hundreds of metres in either direction. One German pressed the button on the lights. A group of Germans stood patiently waiting for permission to cross. She saw that the road was clear and set off before permission was granted. All hell broke loose! The locals got in a complete tizzy that she had broken the regulations and explained how important it was to obey the rules. They ended up standing together at the kerbside on an empty street for 30 seconds or so...

 

[Andy in Germany]

There are some roads that you would end up spending hours trying to cross then!

An amusing variation on this from Germany... A crossing on a street in a big German city. My stepdaughter wanted to cross. There was no traffic for hundreds of metres in either direction. One German pressed the button on the lights. A group of Germans stood patiently waiting for permission to cross. She saw that the road was clear and set off before permission was granted. All hell broke loose! The locals got in a complete tizzy that she had broken the regulations and explained how important it was to obey the rules. They ended up standing together at the kerbside on an empty street for 30 seconds or so...

That of course never happens to me. Ahem...

PS: It's the same in Japan...

PPS: Or so I'm told.

 

[swee'pea99]

My point is that a pedestrian has every right to stop traffic on the 1% of the roads that have crossings

Mine is, just because you have a right doesn't mean you have to exercise it. Stopping cars in order to save yourself five seconds' delay is inflicting environmental damage for everyone, in order to prevent a minor inconvenience for yourself. The fact that that damage is only a slight add-on to the damage caused by the total journey is neither here nor there. It's additional damage, which could have been avoided if you hadn't been in such a hurry/keen to Make Your Point. Still, as I say, if it works for you...

 

[Andy in Germany]

Mine is, just because you have a right doesn't mean you have to exercise it. Stopping cars in order to save yourself five seconds' delay is inflicting environmental damage for everyone, in order to prevent a minor inconvenience for yourself. The fact that that damage is only a slight add-on to the damage caused by the total journey is neither here nor there. It's additional damage, which could have been avoided if you hadn't been in such a hurry/keen to Make Your Point. Still, as I say, if it works for you...

it's not that I disagree with the idea of "live and let live" et c; I'll happily wave cars through junctions where I have right of way, and as I said earlier, I'll make sure I signal to car drivers so they aren't delayed unnecessarily.

What I don't understand is why this need to be courteous and not delay (or possibly cause pollution) seems only to apply to pedestrians and cyclists and not car drivers?

Why isn't it rude to drive unnecessarily through someone's town, causing pollution and delaying their journeys?

 

[swee'pea99]

What I don't understand is why this need to be courteous and not delay (or possibly cause pollution) seems only to apply to pedestrians and cyclists and not car drivers?

Does it? Says who?

Why isn't it rude to drive unnecessarily through someone's town, causing pollution and delaying their journeys?

'unnecessarily'? Who drives unnecessarily? People drive because they need to get from a to b. I need to get the dog to the woods of a morning, for example. That causes pollution and may delay other people. Such is life. We cannot exist without polluting, and sometimes inconveniencing other people. The best we can do is minimise our impact as far as possible. By, eg, not pressing buttons 'unnecessarily'.

 

[ColinJ]

Who drives unnecessarily?

Lots of people...

For example... Someone I knew who lived in Leeds drove with his girlfriend to Bristol to have a meal and then drove back! That is over 650 km (400 miles).

 

[lazybloke]

Does it? Says who?

'unnecessarily'? Who drives unnecessarily? People drive because they need to get from a to b. I need to get the dog to the woods of a morning, for example. That causes pollution and may delay other people. Such is life. We cannot exist without polluting, and sometimes inconveniencing other people. The best we can do is minimise our impact as far as possible. By, eg, not pressing buttons 'unnecessarily'.

Or by not driving to take the dog for a walk?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Most of my drives are to Tesco
I could go on my bike (OK ebike) with a backpack and panniers

but I don;t because it is easier to use the car - especially if I need/want something big or heavy
but I could still use the ebike and some bungy cords

 

[swee'pea99]

Or by not driving to take the dog for a walk?

She likes to go to the woods but she can't walk there. So shoot me.