Absurd pelican crossings

Azari

Exile_geordie wrote: »

He stated a 'good,safe gap' not that the road was empty. Did you read the post I replied too?

If the gap is safe, that's all that matters.

People do get hit by motorists jumping red lights so you are not automatically safer relying on them.

On a road that has a 60MPH limit I find it very hard to judge what would be a 'good,safe,gap' in the traffic flow.

OK, so you have a problem with estimating closing times. That's fair enough and easily explains why you might want to wait an excessive amount of time without actually being considered insane.

And if any of you think that is wrong then it is you who is not sane.

OK, so now you are acting a little nuttso.

Just because you have a defective ability to judge traffic conditions it's beyond normally obsessive to start calling people who don't 'insane'.

And, you are STILL missing the point, which is that the thread was about stupid settings on the pelicans, NOT about the advisability of crossing against a red light, either on foot or in a car.

Exile_geordie

Azari wrote: »

If the gap is safe, that's all that matters.

People do get hit by motorists jumping red lights so you are not automatically safer relying on them.



OK, so you have a problem with estimating closing times. That's fair enough and easily explains why you might want to wait an excessive amount of time without actually being considered insane.



OK, so now you are acting a little nuttso.

Just because you have a defective ability to judge traffic conditions it's beyond normally obsessive to start calling people who don't 'insane'.

And, you are STILL missing the point, which is that the thread was about stupid settings on the pelicans, NOT about the advisability of crossing against a red light, either on foot or in a car.

Ooh look at you trying to be all grown up and stuff :T:T

and extra :T:T for stating the point that someone could run a red light and still knock me over on a crossing. Amazing insight from you there, you will do well in your GCSE's next year.


I actually dont have a problem with trying to judge speed and distance but at best it will always be a rough estimate how fast a car is going unless you carry around a radar gun with you - which im guessing you dont - so why take the risk that you may get it wrong for the sake of a few seconds?

You say its a stupid and excessive amount of time - are you a professional who works in this line of business then and you have the qualifications to categorically state what is a non-excessive amount of time between pressing the button and it turning lights to red? Especially on a road that is rated for travel at 60MPH? If you do then I will take your word on it but if you dont then :T:T
I mean obviously you have taken into consideration the stopping distance for a car travelling at 60MPH with your considerations havent you?

For all we know - and neither of us have seen or used the crossing in mind - and this is not something that a pedestrian using the crossing would see either, is that you press the button, there is a pause and then, given the road is 60MPH rated, it then goes to the amber aspect to let drivers know from both directions to be prepared for it to turn to red, but it stays on this amber aspect for a small amount of time to slow down to prepare to stop safely when it does turn red so they dont throw on the anchors and possibly cause a crash due to the sharp nature of breaking that a normal green/amber/red sequence would bring.


Oh and it was others on this thread who questioned my sanity so why am I all of a sudden 'nuttso' as you call it to then state the same back to them.

And waiting till a crossing that is specifically designed for you to cross when there is a 'green man' showing is nothing bad for a person to do - and its far safer then just walking out into the middle of the road because you seem to think there is a safe gap.


Always thinking you're right Azari, but never looking at the bigger picture are you.. :T

vikingaero

We have an absurd Pelican Crossing near us on a 40mph road. The crossing seems to think that there needs to be a humongous period of zero traffic before it will even consider turning the lights to red which means that pedestrians are left waiting far longer than necessary and end up gambling with traffic.

Apart from a Crematorium and a garden centre there are no pesky kids to press the button at random so the lights should change far sooner.

vyle

The worst kind of pelican crossings are those new ones with the green man on the button console. Near me, there are some busy junctions where you can't see the traffic lights from the pavement, and to see if it's safe to cross.

If somebody is standing in front of the button, you can't see if it's safe, and even when you're watching for the green man, the post is situated so that you're looking away from the road. It's bizarre. What was wrong with keeping the green/red man where they used to be?

Cycrow

Sheldon_Cooper wrote: »

No, just excessively nervous. Unless you have some medical condition that means you can only walk slowly or cannot trust your eyesight. I've sometimes seen an old person waiting when the road was completely clear.

sometimes im just in no hurry and choose to wait.

i should point out, that i dont do it at every crossing just on the odd occasion.

besides, the crossing are there for a reason, might as well use them properly.
especially as some drivers tend to accelerate when they see a crossing, especially if it starts to change, so a safe gap could quickly disappear.

i also wait at traffic lights while on my bike, is that also bad?

fluffnutter

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Are you saying you would stand at the side of an empty road waiting for the crossing to change, rather than just crossing it?Surely no same person would do that.

Azari wrote: »

People do get hit by motorists jumping red lights so you are not automatically safer relying on them.

If I were pushing my pram across a crossing that was green and we were hit by a driver I'd feel awful, beyond awful. If we were hit whilst the lights were red, I'd feel equally devastated but at least I know there was little more I could have done. Otherwise I might forever be thinking that I'd made the wrong decision by deciding to 'chance it' and cross whilst the lights were green.

Sheldon_Cooper

Contacted one of my local councillors and she's going to look into it. She said that they've had this happen before and got it sorted out. It would be nice not to have to sit in a queue of traffic looking at lights that have turned red with no benefit to anyone.

Moglex

Sheldon_Cooper wrote: »

Contacted one of my local councillors and she's going to look into it. She said that they've had this happen before and got it sorted out. It would be nice not to have to sit in a queue of traffic looking at lights that have turned red with no benefit to anyone.

Please let us know what happens.