Cyclist & Pedestrian

Cycling along yesterday, big wide open two lane road, no traffic around.
Pedestrian starts to cross the road. Lad on mountain bike passes me
and a wonderful dance ensued in which given the entire width of two
lanes to play with, the two managed to collide with each other in the
middle of the road. My only thought was how on earth could they _not_
manage to avoid each other given all that space?

Tony

"Tony Raven" wrote in message
...
Cycling along yesterday, big wide open two lane road, no traffic around.
Pedestrian starts to cross the road. Lad on mountain bike passes me
and a wonderful dance ensued in which given the entire width of two
lanes to play with, the two managed to collide with each other in the
middle of the road. My only thought was how on earth could they _not_
manage to avoid each other given all that space?

Tony

Not a direct answer, but one reason I am a great fan of the Zounds air horn
is that pedestrians listen and don't look.
They will step off the pavement without a care in the world when you are
gliding towards them at 15-20 mph. under the assumption that because they
can't hear a car there is nothing coming.
You can normally anticipate this and brake sharply, but in the interest of
smooth riding it is much easier to 'toot' them before they get too far off
the pavement.

In answer to your question - the bike should have stopped, the pedestrian
should have stood still to give the bike a chance to avoid him/her. However
people don't always make rational decisions when under stress.

Cheers

Dave R

"Tony Raven" wrote in message
...

Cycling along yesterday, big wide open two lane road, no traffic around.
Pedestrian starts to cross the road. Lad on mountain bike passes me
and a wonderful dance ensued in which given the entire width of two
lanes to play with, the two managed to collide with each other in the
middle of the road. My only thought was how on earth could they _not_
manage to avoid each other given all that space?

The cyclist made the mistake of trying to cycle *round* the ped. Best to head
straight towards the ped and watch them jump out of the way! ;-)

"Tony Raven" wrote:

My only thought was how on earth could they _not_ manage to avoid each
other given all that space?

This is an example of a well known effect of our brains...

If we see an obstacle and look at it, something our brain overrides us and
we actually steer toward it - it's a subconscious thing whose effect is
subtle, but very real (and scientifically measured).

The next time you see a hazard, look just to its left/right and magically
you'll stand a better chance of avoiding it.

--
Kev

Adrian Boliston wrote:
The cyclist made the mistake of trying to cycle *round* the ped. Best to head
straight towards the ped and watch them jump out of the way! ;-)

This works with suicide squirrels! In the spring there were loads of
them on the cycle path I take to work. As you bear down on them, rather
than just leave the cycle path, evolution has apparently taught them to
stay put until the last second and then jump a small distance to the
side. Unfortunately, whichever side I try to pass them, thats always the
way they jump. I soon learned that the best way to avoid them is to head
straight for them, then whichever way they jump it can't be wrong.

Kevin Stone wrote:

"Tony Raven" wrote:

My only thought was how on earth could they _not_ manage to avoid each
other given all that space?

This is an example of a well known effect of our brains...

If we see an obstacle and look at it, something our brain overrides us and
we actually steer toward it - it's a subconscious thing

Nothing subconscious about it when i'm on the Trice ;-)

And they've always managed to jump out of the way .....so far :-(

John B

Adrian Boliston wrote:
The cyclist made the mistake of trying to cycle *round* the ped. Best to head
straight towards the ped and watch them jump out of the way! ;-)

I could easily have run down a blind kid this evening!

I could see two teenagers walking towards me, far enough apart that I
couldn't tell whether they were together (it later turned out that they
were). The one in front just looked like an average 16-year-old walking
along without looking where he was going. He also seemed to be prodding
the bushes at the side of the path with a stick.

He was on my left, so I moved across to the right to go past him. He
was walking towards me, so I figured he must have seen me and didn't
think about ringing my bell. I'm always wary of kids with sticks, so I
watched him very closely as I approached.

Just as I was about to pass him, the stick swept across the path and he
stepped in front of me. I was already covering the brakes anyway, and
didn't have to slam them on to stop in time. As I was sitting
stationary a foot from him, it became apparent that he had absolutely no
idea I was there. Then I realised that the stick he was carrying looked
as though it was once white, before the paint cracked and peeled.

Then his sister or girlfriend told him there was a bike in front of him.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

Adrian Boliston wrote:


The cyclist made the mistake of trying to cycle *round* the ped. Best to head
straight towards the ped and watch them jump out of the way! ;-)



I think they both made the mistake of trying to avoid each other. It
wasn't that either had not seen the other, it was just the fateful dance
as each move one made was countered by a move the other made.

Tony

Adrian Boliston wrote:
The cyclist made the mistake of trying to cycle *round* the ped. Best
to head
straight towards the ped and watch them jump out of the way! ;-)

and Ben responded:
This works with suicide squirrels! In the spring there were loads of
them on the cycle path I take to work. As you bear down on them, rather
than just leave the cycle path, evolution has apparently taught them to
stay put until the last second and then jump a small distance to the
side. Unfortunately, whichever side I try to pass them, thats always the
way they jump. I soon learned that the best way to avoid them is to head
straight for them, then whichever way they jump it can't be wrong.

Squirrels seem - not unreasonably - to see a large object moving towards
them as a possible predator. Their usual predator evasion technique
(IME) is to dash back and forth in front of the predator so that the
predator has no idea which way the squirrel will eventually go.

I still find it difficult to aim straight at them, but it seems to be
the safest thing to do. I've only ever hit a couple of squirrels - one
of those successfully crossed in front of my front wheel, then doubled
back to be run over by the back wheel!

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

I wrote:
I still find it difficult to aim straight at them, but it seems to be
the safest thing to do. I've only ever hit a couple of squirrels - one
of those successfully crossed in front of my front wheel, then doubled
back to be run over by the back wheel!

I meant to add that I read somewhere about a family of cyclists who,
after one of them commented that squirrels were "assholes" (sic, they
were American), took to using the word "squirrel" as a euphemism for a
certain type of person.

I liked that, and I too now derive a certain amount of satisfaction from
describing someone as a squirrel.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine