Passing through our small town is a 30 mph dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction. I was approaching a light-controlled pedestrian crossing on this road, in my nearside lane. As I neared the crossing, with the light at red, a woman on my left stepped up to it, but stayed on the kerb.
As I slowed to a stop the light changed to red-amber and then green. Just as I was about to move off, the woman suddenly decided to cross (her light must have been at red), and I remained stationary as she passed in front of me. But, a fraction behind me and in the outside lane, a car came up alongside me. I think he intended to go straight through, but saw the woman at the last second and he braked before actually entering the crossing. A friend of my wife did almost exactly the thing - crossed in front of the first car and was knocked down by another one overtaking it, and received serious injuries.
I have drilled it into my wife that, if she is using a crossing with two lanes and cars are approaching in both, she must not start to cross until the vehicles in both lanes have stopped. Likewise, at a crossing on a two-way road (light-controlled or not) with a single lane in each direction, if cars are coming from both directions not to step onto the crossing until cars from both directions have stopped. If there is a central reservation she can cross in front of a stopped car in the lane on her side of the road.
As I slowed to a stop the light changed to red-amber and then green. Just as I was about to move off, the woman suddenly decided to cross (her light must have been at red), and I remained stationary as she passed in front of me. But, a fraction behind me and in the outside lane, a car came up alongside me. I think he intended to go straight through, but saw the woman at the last second and he braked before actually entering the crossing. A friend of my wife did almost exactly the thing - crossed in front of the first car and was knocked down by another one overtaking it, and received serious injuries.
I have drilled it into my wife that, if she is using a crossing with two lanes and cars are approaching in both, she must not start to cross until the vehicles in both lanes have stopped. Likewise, at a crossing on a two-way road (light-controlled or not) with a single lane in each direction, if cars are coming from both directions not to step onto the crossing until cars from both directions have stopped. If there is a central reservation she can cross in front of a stopped car in the lane on her side of the road.