Just had a healthy debate with someone who shot out of a drive over a footpath missing the person in front of me by inches. The drive has high walls and leaves a large hospital.
Now if you cross a footpath at speed and hit someone, are you at fault or should the pedestrian be aware and looking, if it’s an open drive?

Cars fault – same as side roads – the person walking along the pavement has priority

The clue is in the name ‘footway’.

Side roads: if a pedestrian is already crossing, they have priority, but only then

For the pedestrian:

At a junction. When crossing the road, look out for traffic turning into the road, especially from behind you. If you have started crossing and traffic wants to turn into the road, you have priority and they should give way (see Rule 170).

As for a car crossing a pavement (dropped kerb), yes pedestrian has right of way.

For the driver:

needing to cross a pavement or cycle track; for example, to reach or leave a driveway. Give way to pedestrians and cyclists on the pavement

Lost count of the amount of near misses I’ve had on early morning runs with folk coming out of their drives in ****mode.

How about being hit by a cyclist riding at speed on a footpath as you leave your driveway? It hasn’t happened to me, yet, but I’ve come very close. I have hedges either side of my frontage, so I can’t see up or down the road, and next door has a caravan parked the other side of the hedge, which would block the view anyway.

Person on the bike would be in the wrong. Simple. Pedestrians have right of way on a footway.

I got hit by a car late last year whilst cycling on a shared usage pathway, she came out of her drive at quite a ferocious pace and drove straight into the back of my bike.

I have hedges either side of my frontage

Fnarrrrr

The police take a very dim view of drivers not crossing footpaths carefully. My son was riding along a pavement on his bike when a car came out of a drive to fast, didn’t stop and hi him. This pushed him into the road, into what would have been oncoming traffic. Thankfully he was not hit a second time.

The upside was he was riding fixed and the pedal took off a huge chunk of the merc’s bumper. The driver was apoplectic with rage. He was a lot more apologetic when the police threw the book at him.

Is the pedestrian wearing bright clothing and was the sun in the eyes of the driver?

Cars fault

Driver’s fault (until we have full autonomous driverless driving that is)

How about being hit by a cyclist riding at speed on a footpath as you leave your driveway? It hasn’t happened to me, yet, but I’ve come very close. I have hedges either side of my frontage, so I can’t see up or down the road,

Walking from your drive the cyclist should yield, driving from it then its down to you. Either way I’d look to trim the hedge or find some way of improving the visibility.

I have hedges either side of my frontage, so I can’t see up or down the road,

Cut your hedge? If you can’t safely use your drive, park somewhere else?

Reverse in. Peep and creep out.

exactly, REVERSE IN! fairly sure the highway code tells you to do that….but I admit to not having read it since my test a long time ago so… It’s my pet hate though, with 2 very young kids often being walked or pushed about it really gets my goat that 99% of drivers here drive into their drive and reverse out, often at speed and without looking. Wife has had to slap on cars or shout a few times to prevent the buggy being taken out. when you reverse in you have full view of the road, pavement and the driveway so going in backwards is an easy and safe manoeuvre, and coming out forwards is easy to do slowly and safely. its easier than reversing out and far far far safer!!!!

as a ped’ i find the best warning that a car is about to exit a drive is the sound of the drivers phone ring tone amplified thru blue tooth connection – i assume people jump in the car and hit dial easier to hear than quiet modern engines

2 oddities beyond the normal mouthing of an insincere sorry [coolstoriesbro]

car reverses out and then just stops, nothing coming, bend down and look in, driver is doing makeup in mirror…tap on window, driver winds down window to tell me “you must have been running”

car reverses out, i bang on roof, reverses back in, a few seconds later I hear shouting and banging…this time has reversed into a cyclist on the road…cyclist in full fluro jacket and helmet

[/coolstoriesbro]

It’s the vice versa bit that’s puzzling me.
I’ve never seen a footpath cross a car.

This is one of the reasons I didn’t use the “cycle path” which is part of the “National Cycle Network” on my commute.

In reality, it was a few signs placed on the pavement, which allowed you to ride on it. It’s not a cycle path and and’s its not a cycle network. It is a few signs scattered on the pavement and a bit of paint on the road.

(Sorry, I just felt in need of a rant :-))

If you can’t see what’s on the pavement from your car seat, how about getting out and having a look to see if there are any pedestrians or cyclists nearby and then creeping out with a pip of the horn.

Unless credit cards were involved then it would be ‘Vice versa’. Just sayin’. </pedant>