Nearly run down
Discussion
So there I am, walking back along from the village. The road is a nice, wide, country road, with a series of flowing bends for about 1/2 mile from when you leave the 30 zone to when you get to my house. On one side is river dyke bank (steep upwards). On the other is rough verge with drainage ditches. The road obviously lacks lights.
I see lights behind me - no problem, thinks I, as I'm in light coloured clothing, shining a torch on the ground and I'm walking 'facing traffic', so he's on the other side of the road. I happen to glance over my shoulder and realise that he's taking a 'sporting line', and is doing well over 60mph. Well over - probably around 90 odd. I chuck myself up the bank and he howls past, on the wrong side of the road, taking the racing line through that RH bend and diving into the LH bend. Had I not jumped, he would've hit me.
Discuss.
I see lights behind me - no problem, thinks I, as I'm in light coloured clothing, shining a torch on the ground and I'm walking 'facing traffic', so he's on the other side of the road. I happen to glance over my shoulder and realise that he's taking a 'sporting line', and is doing well over 60mph. Well over - probably around 90 odd. I chuck myself up the bank and he howls past, on the wrong side of the road, taking the racing line through that RH bend and diving into the LH bend. Had I not jumped, he would've hit me.
Discuss.
I would firstly say it has been shown in the past that in an incident like that it is very difficult to accurately judge the actual speed of a car close to you.
There was a tragic incident near Wigan where a guy ran over a child crossing a road. He was driving a Porsche in a reasonably wide and open 30 zone. Eyewitness reports put him at anything up to and over 70mph. The forensic report returned that the maximum he could have been driving at was something like 40.
That said, if you are approximating speed, giving yourself a 30mph margin as you have done, does aid the possibility of being on the mark!
Whether he was doing 30 or 90 though it seemed obvious that he discounted the fact that there might be pedestrians on the road and was doing that speed as he was seemingly confident that he would see headlights coming. Bad driving.
What I would say though whilst you technically have done nothing wrong, walking at night on country roads is a risk, just because there are people like that around. Is it a risk you are happy taking after this experience?
There was a tragic incident near Wigan where a guy ran over a child crossing a road. He was driving a Porsche in a reasonably wide and open 30 zone. Eyewitness reports put him at anything up to and over 70mph. The forensic report returned that the maximum he could have been driving at was something like 40.
That said, if you are approximating speed, giving yourself a 30mph margin as you have done, does aid the possibility of being on the mark!
Whether he was doing 30 or 90 though it seemed obvious that he discounted the fact that there might be pedestrians on the road and was doing that speed as he was seemingly confident that he would see headlights coming. Bad driving.
What I would say though whilst you technically have done nothing wrong, walking at night on country roads is a risk, just because there are people like that around. Is it a risk you are happy taking after this experience?
mark69sheer said:
NO NO NO to racing lines on public highways.
If you cant drive within your own lane YOU ARE TOO FAST!!!
Not necessarily the racing line but using the whole of the road can help determine the severity of a corner and give a bit of a clue what's round it!If you cant drive within your own lane YOU ARE TOO FAST!!!
Of course this does only apply in the day time.... Driving like that at night with only your beam as vision is not good.
mark69sheer said:
NO NO NO to racing lines on public highways.
If you cant drive within your own lane YOU ARE TOO FAST!!!
wrong wrong wrong - if you cant tell its safe to cut the corner then dont do it. not seeing a predestian is poor driving but not due to cutting corners.If you cant drive within your own lane YOU ARE TOO FAST!!!
it could have been on a lefthander - same result but correct side of the road.
Kevin 996C4 said:
The motorist was certainly not in the right, but, was the op wearing reflective material of any sort? 'light-coloured' clothes on an unlit road are not really sufficient.
he was carrying a torch - most torches nowdays are as good as say a moped hedlight. does that mean its ok to runover mopeds because they didnt have a reflective band around them?Kevin 996C4 said:
The motorist was certainly not in the right, but, was the op wearing reflective material of any sort? 'light-coloured' clothes on an unlit road are not really sufficient.
Half a mile, in light coloured clothing, waving a torch (big sodding maglite)? So the driver was blameless?
RtdRacer said:
Kevin 996C4 said:
The motorist was certainly not in the right, but, was the op wearing reflective material of any sort? 'light-coloured' clothes on an unlit road are not really sufficient.
Half a mile, in light coloured clothing, waving a torch (big sodding maglite)? So the driver was blameless?
All I was saying was that you could have been more visible if you wore reflective clothing.
Hooli said:
Kevin 996C4 said:
The motorist was certainly not in the right, but, was the op wearing reflective material of any sort? 'light-coloured' clothes on an unlit road are not really sufficient.
he was carrying a torch - most torches nowdays are as good as say a moped hedlight. does that mean its ok to runover mopeds because they didnt have a reflective band around them?PS - but, anyway, why would the Wolf Brederode Quartet be gathered round a moped? - S
This seems a simple case of inappropriate speed.
If a well-lit up cyclist was cycling legally on the same road then a fatality could well have occurred. To drive in such a manner at night is taking an unacceptable risk in my view - just because the road is not light up by the lights of an oncoming car does not mean it is deserted.
If a well-lit up cyclist was cycling legally on the same road then a fatality could well have occurred. To drive in such a manner at night is taking an unacceptable risk in my view - just because the road is not light up by the lights of an oncoming car does not mean it is deserted.
hornetrider said:
This seems a simple case of inappropriate speed.
I agree completely. But I'm wondering why the speed apologists ("I should be able to drive as fast as I want, whenever I want, especially on deserted country roads in the middle of the night"
are being so quiet. Isn't a different perspective an amazing thing?
RtdRacer said:
hornetrider said:
This seems a simple case of inappropriate speed.
I agree completely. But I'm wondering why the speed apologists ("I should be able to drive as fast as I want, whenever I want, especially on deserted country roads in the middle of the night" are being so quiet. Isn't a different perspective an amazing thing?
I do think though, you may have tarred some posters on here with the same brush. I have a clean licence, and drive to an appropriate speed for the conditions.
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