Almost knocked down a pedestrian on Christmas Eve

[glend14]

In the Christmas crowd season, I had a pedestrian walk out in front of my very slow moving MG3 Hybrid, as I was trying to leave parking space. He was walking on the road, not at a marked intersection. Of course my car does not make any noise as it inches forward, but in reverse it certainly does emit a warning sound. I stopped my car before he fell over the bonnet and he made a significant rude gesture. Who is at fault? Should my car be making a noise a crawling speed forward? It was inside a car park area, and he had access to a empty footpath going in his desired direction, only a metre to his left. I was pretty upset by this idiot but it didn't occur to me until later that he might have been deaf, in which case a crawling noise might not have been of any use anyway. Moral of the story is to stay away from busy holiday shops on Christmas eve.

 

[salty]

Better luck, next time.

 

[Deleted member 18108]

In the Christmas crowd season, I had a pedestrian walk out in front of my very slow moving MG3 Hybrid, as I was trying to leave parking space. He was walking on the road, not at a marked intersection. Of course my car does not make any noise as it inches forward, but in reverse it certainly does emit a warning sound. I stopped my car before he fell over the bonnet and he made a significant rude gesture. Who is at fault? Should my car be making a noise a crawling speed forward? It was inside a car park area, and he had access to a empty footpath going in his desired direction, only a metre to his left. I was pretty upset by this idiot but it didn't occur to me until later that he might have been deaf, in which case a crawling noise might not have been of any use anyway. Moral of the story is to stay away from busy holiday shops on Christmas eve.

When moving at low speed in EV mode, the car emits a whirring sound. However, the pedestrian might have been hard of hearing, wearing ear pods or similar, or otherwise distracted. I am not a legal expert, but I would assume that the following would apply: As a driver, you would be liable if you hit them, even though an alternative route was available. The fact that such an alternative was available would apply an amount of liability onto them and therefore reduce the amount that they may seek in compensation. However, your insurance would also be affected to some degree. Concerning any hazard, you are expected to be traveling at a speed that allows you to stop in the distance that you can see to be clear.
Your car also has a warning device in terms of the car horn, which may be used to warn other road users of your presence, if they are in danger as allowed by Highway Code rule 112 and subject to the conditions as outlined in same. All in all, it's a good excuse to follow your advice of avoiding busy holiday shops.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Unfortunately, people are people and this sort of incident can happen any time of year , apart from " accidentally" sounding your horn or putting on your hazard lights when moving off, especially if your views are restricted , it won't time be the last time this occurs.
Near to me there is a quite fast, narrow, blind corner/bend , some drivers sound their horn on approach then race round with the notion they have given warning and that the responsibility for any accident will be on the other party , be it driver, pedestrian or cyclist .

 

[Anon70]

MG mark 3 pedestrian alert system concept, deploys at speeds under 25mph. Select from the following modes:
Megadeath
Meatloaf
Mastodon

 

[salty]

MG mark 3 pedestrian alert system concept, deploys at speeds under 25mph. Select from the following modes:
Megadeath
Meatloaf
Mastodon

That would do it!

 

[Deleted member 18108]

This news film from the 1930s shows that it is not a new problem.

 

[Archev]

MG mark 3 pedestrian alert system concept, deploys at speeds under 25mph. Select from the following modes:
Megadeath
Meatloaf
Mastodon

Pardon?

 

[Archev]

MG mark 3 pedestrian alert system concept, deploys at speeds under 25mph. Select from the following modes:
Megadeath
Meatloaf
Mastodon

Never happy

I never heard the electric car
As it whispered up behind
I gave that driver such a swearing
When he said he wasn’t blind
He said he’d seen me stumble
As I stepped into has path
That I looked inebriated
But that just fuelled my wrath
If he drove a real combustion car
I’d have heard him as he passed
He could have sailed on up the road
And left me bloody gassed.

 

[mj224]

I would have thought there is also a need for the pedestrian to be observant, and not just blindly walk forward here.

But, it is always then car drivers fault certainly where cyclists are concerned...

 

[Anon70]

Pardon?

I don't think there are any EV's on the market that give the same or even a similar audible warning of an approach as an ICE vehicle.

There are also very few (if any) pedestrians who are not aware of what an ICE car sounds like. Whereas EV's all choose different noises to alert them.

But then again in the early days of the ICE car it was felt someone walking in front of the vehicle with a red flag was the best notification/safety system available. I guess over time legislation and manufacturers will change how pedestrians are warned.

 

[Deleted member 18108]

I don't think there are any EV's on the market that give the same or even a similar audible warning of an approach as an ICE vehicle.

There are also very few (if any) pedestrians who are not aware of what an ICE car sounds like. Whereas EV's all choose different noises to alert them.

But then again in the early days of the ICE car it was felt someone walking in front of the vehicle with a red flag was the best notification/safety system available. I guess over time legislation and manufacturers will change how pedestrians are warned.

Remember the red flag applied to all automobiles, not just ICE vehicles. The first cars were BEVs, it wasn't until Karl Benz perfected the combustion engine, that ICE vehicles took over. The braking systems were also pretty poor.

 

[MG3AKL]

Here in NZ the driver is responsible for their vehicle regardless of any noise it does or does not make. It's quite simple - we're not allowed to hit pedestrians and the driver is usually found at fault. Rare exceptions allow for the court to decide in rare cases where peds really do jump into a driver's path.