On the other hand, I agree that a" white marking" on the street or islands do not create invisible barrier against the vehicle and one should stay alert all the time!
Often times it used to puzzle me how the cars start slowing down as soon as they see a pedestrian approaching the zebra. But again it is Europe and the courtesy of the drivers is fabulous. Soon one develops an instinct (or lack of it) which might proof fatal in a long run. If I had tried to do it back in SA, probably I would have been run down by the local minibus taxi.
It has become somewhat a bit of a bad habit I think, to cross the streets on zebra crossings without looking to the left nor to the right first.
That is because pedestrians know they have the right to cross and cars, motorcycles and what have you, are meant to stop for them.
There are road signs up indicating a zebra crossing is ahead, so in fact a driver should be aware of that and automatically slow down ...
I even saw dogs and cats crossing the street on zebra crossings, as if they had been trained to do so, quite amusing to watch
That's true - 3 on one corner near me, near a school. It can hold up the trafic for ages. But it's not the fault of the pedestrians is it?
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I never have this problem - I can tell from the body language, eye contact, pace, attention of the pedestrians if they are going to try and kill me or themselves and I react to it in good time. Same goes for car drivers who think pulling out of junctions 50m in front of a bike doing 60 is good sport. Same goes for sheep but that's another story.
If I am approaching a crossing and there are pedestrians in the immediate vicinity, no matter that the two old dears are having a chat and don't look like they will make a mad dash for it, like you say, reducing speed to about 20kph is about right.
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Couldn't agree with you more..!!
Not a great fan but I dont mind one. Last time around in SA Nov/Dec 2008, I drove to the wild coast Sant Lucia something like below (Jeep CRD2.7):
Last time when I was cycling nearby my area , I saw two guys on quads as they went past me
Don't try walking in front of a car in Italy or France. I found myself sometimes being trained in the Swiss way of walking rather careless in non Swiss locations which often lead to me being honked at.
No, that is not the rule: The pedestrian has the right of way, period. The reason to teach kids to wait is because they are a bit smaller and move faster than the average grandma. They are therefore unfortunately at a higher risk.
I am German and I believe we are quite well known for not being the slowest or least aggressive drivers around. However, I never had a problem crossing a zebra line in Germany, each car would stop. No, I am not waiting till the driver has stopped entirely, as soon as I am sure they see me, I cross. Saves time for both of us and works well in Germany.
Here in Switzerland I got nearly driven into several times. At Badener Strasse there were several near-misses where I am 100% sure that the driver has seen me but simply did not give a thing. On the other hand it is terrible to drive around as pedestrians are never sure what to do either: Some simply cross as I would do, others wait till you brake and worst are the many old people around my area who let you brake down totally, then smile at you, wait for another second and then indicate you to got first.... or the ones who simply have to stand in front of the crossing to chat and look completely puzzled at you when you stop.
Please keep it to English, guys
Probably a bit late to join in on this one, but it amused me when I read it a while ago in a Terry Pratchett book - can't remember which one though, might have to read them again to find out... He reckons (probably been said before as well...) that the shortest measurable interval of time is the New York Taxi Driver Second which is defined as the interval of time between the traffic light turning green and the taxi driver behind you honking his horn.
Now I've joined in, can I raise a new candidate for people to watch out for on the road? I was cycling this evening, was stopping to allow a car to pull out for my right, when whoosh! a lunatic on a motor scooter came tearing past my right hand side and chopped across, turning right across the front of me. It was another case of the first I knew of it was the wind as he shot past me, only just missing me! Is it a universal rule that 'kids' on scooters drive like lunatics, or is that just my experience?
oops, I meant tearing past my left hand side - sorry, no edit button for us newbies
No, swissbob is right.
http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/741_11/a47.html
Art. 47.2
"At pedestrian crossings without traffic regulation, pedestrians have the right of way except for trams. However they must not make use of the right of way if a vehicle has approached too close to be able to stop in time."
I do not agree that Swissbob is right: Pedestrians have the right of way, but should not force drivers to do an emergency brake. That makes sense but does not mean you have to wait till it stops in front of you: If the vehicle comes towards you and has enough space to break normally, you as the pedestrian have the right of way.
This is exactly describing the situation in Germany and most parts of the EU. But here it is either people forcing cars to brake hard or waiting till you are standing.
Or am I missing something?
No, I misread swissbob's post. Children are tought to wait for the car to stop. For adults when they cross the road depends on their survival instinct and not the law except when stopping is impossible for the car.
Admittedly I was basing that on the words of a St Gallen copper and not the letter of the law .
The latest retarded trend among swiss drivers is when changing lanes... doing it vvvvveeeeeerrrrryyyyyy slowly and end up straddling two lanes as they decide if they dare change.
Nah, have seen this a lot on Italian motorways, too. It's a kind of "hedging bets" technique so they can either easily pop back into the lane they were in or use that heavy right foot to burst past their quarry. Either way, no-one is going to get past them from behind so it keeps the ego intact.
I've heard the slightly inebriated use this technique, too, following the road markings to keep them on the straight and narrow...
While out driving yesterday a guy just pulled out straight in front of me making me slam on my brakes grrrrrr, and another time a lorry just didn`t bother stopping even when it was my right to go, then had the nerve to put his hand up to thank me
And why is it that when they change lanes to pull in front of you, they immediately slow down?
As an aside, I think it may be a council sponsored thing, but the winding road from Rüti to Wald in Zurich Oberland has 14 crucifixes along it, each with a sad little wreath and candle, over a distance of about 6 km, as a testimony to the quality of Swiss drivers.
Cheers
Jim
Very true Jim, But one Polish driver can do the almost same number of wreaths in minutes, back in the UK.
Actually, this raises a point that has been niggling at me for a while - imho this thread should be renamed "Drivers in Switzerland... most impatient crowd in the world?" because in all the near misses and verbal followups in my experience, it has never been a Swiss driver .