Right of Way concerning pedestrians.

**Timbuk2**

Imagine a situation where you have a junction with a major road and a minor road. If you wish to turn from the major road onto the minor road, and there happens to be a pedestrian walking on the footpath of the major road, who wishes to cross the minor road with the intention of continuing on the major road - who has right of way (who goes first)? See the following diagrams (courtesy of rotr.ie, skillfully (:P) edited in MSPaint, imagine there are footpaths).

Case A:


Who has right of way in the following example?
Case B:


I think that the pedestrian has right of way in Case A, but I'm not sure about Case B, but I'd hazard a guess and say that the pedestrian also has right of way - because they are going straight on the major road.

smellslikeshoes

Pedestrian always has right of way.


Bit more info here (from rotr.ie)

You must always yield to:

* pedestrians already crossing at a junction,
* pedestrians on a zebra crossing,
* pedestrians on a pelican crossing when the amber light is flashing, and
* pedestrians and traffic when you are moving off from a stationary position (for example from your position at a stop sign or a parking space).

To avoid doubt and in the interest of road safety a vehicle should always yield to pedestrians.

ADIDriving

The answer is in the question, 'Who goes first?'. The rules are (over)simplified. The pedestrian should not start crossing the road if a car is turning on or off it. The pedestrian cannot continue along they road because they are not on the road, they are on the path. The car however, should not turn if the pedestrian has begun to cross the road.
That said if the car is turning and the pedestrian begin to cross, they then take priority. Simply put, drivers are not allowed to knock down pedestrians (just in case anyone is confused).
PS Love the artwork. Very PC to draw the first person with no arms.

challengemaster

ADIDriving wrote: »

Simply put, drivers are not allowed to knock down pedestrians (just in case anyone is confused).

Unfortunately....

There are some cases where I believe you should be :pac: Seriously, it's SOMEWHAT silly, roads are for cars/vehicles, not people, if they're stupid enough to walk in front of a car and get knocked down, I don't think all responsibility should fall on the driver just because they're in a car.

randylonghorn

challengemaster wrote: »

Seriously, it's SOMEWHAT silly, roads are for cars/vehicles, not people ...

And when there's pedestrian flyovers everywhere for pedestrians, we'll leave the roads entirely to ye lot in your shiny cars!

In the meantime, though, you're just going to have to put up with us!

That said, I would wholly agree that pedestrians should follow the rules themselves and generally use a bit of cop-on ... some people badly need a kick up the hole.

LDC ADI 34490

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Pedestrian always has right of way.


Bit more info here (from rotr.ie)

This is the correct answer, ALWAYS yield right of way to the pedestrian once they have started to cross.

ADIDriving

LDC ADI 34490 wrote: »

This is the correct answer, ALWAYS yield right of way to the pedestrian once they have started to cross.

This answer is too simplistic! Read the question carefully.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

...there happens to be a pedestrian walking on the footpath...

There are 'rules' for pedestrians also.

http://www.rotr.ie/rules-for-pedestrians-cyclists-motorcyclists/pedestrians/pedestrians_crossing-the-road.html

Technically either party should yield priority to whoever is going to begin turning or crossing first. Not as simple an answer as would be ideal, but accurate.

Reloc8

Isn't it one of those situations where all parties have to first rely on common sense.

As a pedestrian concerned for my own safety I should not start crossing a road at a junction onto which a car has started to turn.

As a motorist I know I must yield to all pedestrians. This is largely because if I don't yield I will injure or kill them, i.e. a matter of commons sense, even if the ROTR didn't say so.

From a liability perpsective (i.e. leaving aside all manner of common sense), the pedestrian who walks onto the road because they did not see the car coming or realise its intentions will invariably do far better than the driver who says either

a) I didn't see the pedestrian - gross negligence for a driver

b) I thought I had the right of way so proceeded - grossly stupid for a driver or

c) If I'd stopped I would have caused a relatively low speed impact with another vehicle so I opted to hit the pedestrian - fairly poor prioritisation for a driver.

Plan for the other fella to do something stupid I always say.

bop1977

i would say the following:

case A: the pedestrian has right of way as he has started to cross the road and you must yeild to traffic already on the road.

case B: the driver has right of way. the pedestrian must wait until the road is clear before crossing.

DrivingTestTips: Brian

bop1977 wrote: »

i would say the following:

case A: the pedestrian has right of way as he has started to cross the road and you must yeild to traffic already on the road.

case B: the driver has right of way. the pedestrian must wait until the road is clear before crossing.

+1

Observe what the person is doing or going to do.....
For the drivers; Try not to end up with the back of you car on the main road.
This is one of the observation grade 3 faults on the driving test.

ADIDriving

bop1977 wrote: »

i would say the following:

case A: the pedestrian has right of way as he has started to cross the road and you must yeild to traffic already on the road.

case B: the driver has right of way. the pedestrian must wait until the road is clear before crossing.

Just for clarity to others reading this you may want to edit your post. As I see it in 'Case B' the pedestrian is already on the road. Therefor is taking right of way from the driver. If the car got to the junction first they had priority. If the pedestrian begins crossing in front of them they are taking priority.

Yawns

My take on it.

In case A:

If the pedestrian is already crossing, then the driver waits. If the pedestrian is on the footpath then he should wait for the driver to complete the turn.



In Case B:
The driver should wait and allow the pedestrian to finish crossing because they are stopped at the line and wish to join on to the main road. If they proceed before the pedestrian, they will not have a 100% clear line of sight of traffic approaching from the right as the person would be in the way.

DrivingTestTips: Brian

Two good point made above!

DrivingTestTips: Brian wrote: »

+1

Observe what the person is doing or going to do.....
For the drivers; Try not to end up with the back of you car on the main road.
This is one of the observation grade 3 faults on the driving test.

This is why i made this point of observation.
because in case B the pedestrian may go to walk behind the car and not continue in front of the car.

In all these situations you must know if it is safe to move forward before you move.