General consensus at traffic lights vs pedestrians

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Batman

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#214244 3-May-2017 12:55

Hi a long time ago, driving in NZ when you turn left at the traffic lights you always gave way to the pedestrians who had the green man light.

When I was in urban Australia, you never give way to pedestrians who had the green man light, you just go if there's a gap.

Back in NZ nowadays, pedestrians take up all the green traffic light time to cross, so that generally you can't turn unless you turn after the light is red (even then sometimes the pedestrians are STILL crossing!!!)

So - is it acceptable to just drive and turn left when pedestrians are still far away on the other side?

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#1774919 3-May-2017 13:01

That's what giving way means. Stop if they are in the way. If they want you to stop and wait till the green man goes out, there will be a red arrow on the turn. No red arrow and not going to hit someone, then you can go.

Richard rich.ms

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#1774920 3-May-2017 13:02

When the man is flashing red the pedestrians have to stop, You then have the right of way once the crossing is clear. Anyone that bolts out last second deserves to be hit.

timmmay

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#1774921 3-May-2017 13:06

Driving isn't a race. Be patient. If the person in front goes the people behind may go without looking.

Let people cross the road without stress of wondering if cars will stop for them.

New Zealand drivers are generally impatient, aggressive, and just all round awful.

RunningMan

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#1774923 3-May-2017 13:08

A green signal means you can go, provided it is safe and:

if you are turning right, you give way to vehicles coming towards you that are going straight through,or vehicles turning left.
you give way to pedestrians crossing. This includes riders of mobility devices and wheeled recreational devices.

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadcode/about-driving/the-give-way-rules/

gsr

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#1774925 3-May-2017 13:10

I think you should be following the lights that are directed at you, not the pedestrian. So, if it's red-->stop, green-->go, no light-->check and go. If 'your' light does not exist, then give way if the little man is green. If it's red, and flashing, AFAIK pedestrians are not allowed to start crossing. They deserve to know that they are being idiots.

Rikkitic

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#1774930 3-May-2017 13:15

If someone is in front of your car, the state of the traffic light is not a license to run over them.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Dairyxox

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#1774939 3-May-2017 13:28

Wow some terrible attitudes towards pedestrians are showing here.

There should never be an excuse to hit or even scare a pedestrian. People make mistakes, but drivers here commonly act like they own the whole road, everywhere, anytime. If you're driving a vehicle then its fully capable of being a deadly weapon, pedestrians do not have that power, so show some restraint and don't be c__ts.

This is one area where I think China does it right. Over there if you always have to give way to pedestrians, no matter what. And you better believe that drivers avoid all pedestrians like their lives depend on it. Over there if you do hit someone you have to pay for all the fallout (medical bills, loss of income etc).

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#1774941 3-May-2017 13:30

gsr:

I think you should be following the lights that are directed at you, not the pedestrian. So, if it's red-->stop, green-->go, no light-->check and go. If 'your' light does not exist, then give way if the little man is green. If it's red, and flashing, AFAIK pedestrians are not allowed to start crossing. They deserve to know that they are being idiots.

I let them know it too BAAARRRRRRPPPPP. As bad as red light running in a car. And of course if you hit them, likely be to blame. But not adhering to the 'DONT CROSS" indicators causes more jams.

#1 reason that cashel/Hereford/Cambridge was gridlocked for the last 4 months behind the roadworks. Outside bridge of remembrance there is 1 Lane right turn and a pedestrian crossing to contend with. When used it was green + ped, and only 5 seconds of continuing green (OK to turn) after ped red. So they kept walking across and it would go red and keep doing so. Instant red light runners and high frustration

It's since been closed due to near misses and made so they cross to the northern side of the intersection before crossing.

cadman

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#1774943 3-May-2017 13:31

The trend of late is to put more red arrows in for people that can't apply common sense which I believe is becoming the default because of these measures - chicken or the egg...

So you can't really choose anyway although I tend to ignore red arrows unless there's a valid reason for them being there i.e. lack of visibility.

richms

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#1774944 3-May-2017 13:34

Annoying thing with red arrows is they dont put them on all green lights, if youre at the front, the one above you is useless, and the one on the left across the intersection is often blocked, so if you cant see any red arrows from where you are stopped, do they really exist?

Richard rich.ms

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#1774952 3-May-2017 13:58

If pedestrians enter the crossing after the red man starts flashing they need to be fined, just like a driver would if they ran a red light.

At some intersections pedestrians continue to cross after the red man is flashing, effectively stalling all traffic. If a drive tries to make the turn, they are labeled bullies, aggressive or impatient.

Pedestrians need to follow the rules just like drivers.

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#1774957 3-May-2017 14:10

Or they do what they have done at the Greers Rd/Harewood Rd intersection in Christchurch - when turning right from Greers Rd into Harewood heading toward Bishopdale, the green arrow is only switched on for a few peak hours of the day, and even then, it only goes green every second rotation, which means the right turners back up for hundreds of metres a peak times. Given that there is ALWAYS a continuous stream of cars heading East on Greers Rd, this results in no more than 2 cars getting to turn (and even then it's usually on the red due to the east bounders running the amber).

Until recently I lived 5 doors from this intersection. It was almost impossible to get in or out of my driveway at peak times - 4 lanes right outside my house with cars either queued across the driveway, or doing 60-70kph to catch the green. They also tended to speed up to close any gap I might have had a chance to pull out into. This meant having to reverse onto the footpath and merge with the traffic as best I could, or just pull out and hope for the best.

Sooooo glad I managed to sell that house - I really don't miss it at all. When we bought it 30 years ago, Greers Rd was quiet-ish - the ring road hadn't even been invented yet so it wasn't the main thoroughfare it is today.

But I digress, what annoys me is when I see pedestrians who are clearly able bodied dawdling across the road (usually staring at their phone), oblivious that they are keeping me (and others) waiting.

gzt

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#1774960 3-May-2017 14:17

gsr:
I think you should be following the lights that are directed at you, not the pedestrian. So, if it's red-->stop, green-->go, no light-->check and go. If 'your' light does not exist, then give way if the little man is green. If it's red, and flashing, AFAIK pedestrians are not allowed to start crossing. They deserve to know that they are being idiots.

As the post above yours says, give way to pedestrians crossing.

What makes you believe they are 'not allowed' to start crossing?

gsr

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#1774964 3-May-2017 14:28

gzt:
gsr:

I think you should be following the lights that are directed at you, not the pedestrian. So, if it's red-->stop, green-->go, no light-->check and go. If 'your' light does not exist, then give way if the little man is green. If it's red, and flashing, AFAIK pedestrians are not allowed to start crossing. They deserve to know that they are being idiots.

As the post above yours says, give way to pedestrians crossing.

What makes you believe they are 'not allowed' to start crossing?

Source : https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadcode/about-other-road-users/information-for-pedestrians/

nzkiwiman

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#1774970 3-May-2017 14:53

Was discussing this with a work colleague today; while I was in the USA in 2013 I studied how the intersections worked (both with crossing signals and without) in order to make sure I was able to safely cross the road and wasn't doing something "dumb and touristy". From my observations, drivers over there let any pedestrians cross and I came to the conclusion that it was because the pedestrian could sue the car driver if anything bad happened.

Over here in New Zealand, car drivers are so damn impatient (myself included) and today while walking down George St Dunedin, saw a car driver clip someone who was just completing his road crossing ..

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