Pre-emptive strike

Sometimes when I’m driving home I feel like one of the vehicles involved unwittingly in a game of Frogger. I wonder if the cars in the classic arcade game were theoretically able to see the pedestrian frog?

There is one particular stretch of road just outside my office – at the bottom of Flinders Street – that is particularly bad. Flinders Street is dotted with gazetted pedestrian crossings – and yet they are widely ignored. Pedestrians cross without paying any heed to oncoming traffic.

What really gets me isn’t the jaywalking. It’s the pre-emptive pedestrians – the ones who start stepping onto the road as you approach in your car.

Defensive driving means assuming that every other road user is an idiot. I operate under that principle. Whenever I see a pedestrian start their perambulations I hesitate – like a rabbit in the headlights – only I’m driving. I’m the one posing the threat.

The thought of pedestrians blindly wandering in front of my pristine purple excel fills me with dread. A pedestrian would no doubt do more damage to my car than a kangaroo

So, next time you start crossing the road as a car approaches – even if you are completely aware the car is approaching – stop, and think of the children.

Comments

queenstuss says:

Is your office at that part of Flinders St with NO PEDESTRIAN CROSSING AT ALL, with most of the parking on the other side of the street?

Nathan says:

We’re on The Strand – right at the intersection onto Flinders Street (where the Museum and Reef HQ are) – but the people I’m annoyed at were crossing at the roundabout at the bottom of the nightclub part of Flinders Street.

queenstuss says:

Flinders Street East, not the Strand.

That’s where I thought your office was. I will even attempt a reverse parallel park when we go to the aquarium if I can get one.