Great video Ed, I’m a student in Dundee studying town planning and in many ways pedestrians are starting to become the 1st priority in the design of the built environment, almost all our designs are supposed to discourage car use. But in some ways pedestrians are treated worse than in the 60s utopia, where they thought we’d all be living in high-rise flats driving to the local mall in our metal boxes. It used to be the idea to separate cars from people by building bridges, flyovers, tunnels etc. Now it’s all about ‘shared spaces’, buses, cars, cyclists and walkers all using the same path; it’s supposed to be safer as it makes drivers more aware, but it just doesn’t work. That statistic about the 40% increase in pedestrian deaths is shocking, I think it’s more so the fact cars have become so big, SUVs are almost twice the height and weight of a normal car, if they hit you, it hits you in the chest, right where all your vital organs are. As apposed to a smaller car that would hit you in the legs, it would be a lot less dangerous. I’d also like to add I’ve almost been knocked down on that very road, thinking it was a dual carriageway, only to be met with the blaring horn of a bus coming up the other way.
Hi Ed'. Note that the latest revision of the Highway Code favours the pedestrian at junctions. However, no drivers appear to be aware of this. Quoting Rule170: "Give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way."
I am a driver and passed my test in the late ‘70’s and I am always aware of other road users. This includes pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders etc. we all have a responsibility of care against potential incidents . Think about your proposed action and take responsible care! No one has maybe taught or shown new driver/ road users the right or wrong ways. It’s nice to be nice is an old saying that certain generations will or will not know. Technology does not make a good road user better or, bad ones, when it comes to it.
Oh my, Ed. I’m glad you’re ok after that. I had a similar situation when I was 24 yrs old and carrying my first child. However, I was hit by a car turning without seeing me in the walkway with a right-of-way indicator on the sign. Thank goodness he was not going too fast, and only knocked me down and into the gutter! I was really shaken up, but the baby and I both were ok, just sore for a few days. I’m so glad you were watching what you were doing, because you never know what the other folks are gonna do. You take care. Lynn in Naples, FL. 😎
Good you are ok. It isn't just pedestrians that are on the receiving end of bad car drivers. Cyclists and motorcyclists are also. I ended up over the bonnet of a car that turned in front of me. Luckily I was slowing down for the lights otherwise I'd be dead. The driver "didn't see me". She didn't look. Was probably on her phone. I ended up with a broken neck, broken back, dissected artery, 2 mini strokes, both hands broken and a broken wrist. Needless to say, I haven't been back to work and I won't drive due to the fact I can't turn my neck and would be a danger to the public. So, now I am a permanent pedestrian. Crossing the road is a risk. I can't do the look right, look left, look right again very easily. I need to turn my whole body and I still see drivers driving like morons. As a biker I was conscious of pedestrians and other road users. It was for my own safety. The person that hit me didnt indicate and, according to cctv, swerved at the last minute. Car drivers are coccooned in metal. Pedestrians arent.
I can completely relate to your point on cars expecting you to get out of their way. It happened to me when I had a bad back and was crossing a side road, a car sped around the corner and I couldn’t move quickly out of the way so they had to slam on the brakes. Had the nerve to have a go at me as well.
I was pretty much ready to blame any increase in deaths on phone zombies (walking and driving). That and confusion about updates to the highway code that don't quite grasp how physics works. Have travelled a lot. UK generally better than many. Street lighting exists, pavements don't change at every building you go past. In the US it felt like you needed a car to cross the road.
You caught one of the things in your video that stumps me Ed, concerning crossing the road to the green man. I don't know if it's the case but someone told me that the small raised bubble shapes on the pavement are to let people who are blind or visually impaired know that they are on the right side of the pole where the button is, what puzzles me is ( and this affects a family member) a lot of the ones that used to bleep when the green man comes on, don't. I enjoyed your video and no doubt there'll be more comments from people's experiences. All the best Ed 👍
Hi Jim. Yes that's an interesting point. Someone else may be more knowledgeable than me, but it may be the case that there is a small bit that sticks out at the bottom of the metal boxes containing the illuminated WAIT sign. When a green man appears, this things twirls or rotates so that the blind person - who will have their hand on it - can feel that it's a green man. This may be rubbish, but I think there may be a grain of truth in it. Anyone know for certain?
I can't see a reason for removing the bleeping, people who are older are not necessarily go8ng to use these things often. I went to use a railway station the other day, it had been redesigned to remove the ticket office aparently. Now its some sort of display board. On the other side! So I never saw it. People who knew the station would know wher3 to buy a ticket, but not strangers. I just went in immediately behind a guy who had a ticket, so the gate opened for him. There was an employee standing there, his sole job was to make sure everyone had a ticket ! I bought mine at the real ticket office upstairs, platform level. Aparently avoiding payment is rife. I would have thought they need to catch these people and ban them, facial recognition and all that?
Ed if you feel the bottom of the box on the crossing there is a knob that rotates. It is for the visually impaired, so when they feel it rotating they know the lights are in their favour and they can cross. Sometimes if you turn it it can quicken up the lights in your favour to cross.
Am originally from Inverness in Scotland but have worked in China for the past ten years now I am in Vietnam now I know what Scotland England Ireland and even Wales is like to drive 🚘in and yes I agree there are many bloody idiots that can't drive 🚫🚗 but after being in China and experiencing how they drive well let me tell you if you can drive in Vietnam you can drive anywhere and I literally mean traffic🚦 lights mean nothing here where there's a junction traffic 🚦starts to move 5 seconds before it turns to green 🟢there are absolutely no rules traffic goes on both sides of the road accidents here are at least once to twice daily you'll see it there simply are no rules they will drive for instance if it's mainly a motorbike you'll see between 4 and 5 people on a motorbike in the morning and with no helmet on car driving the cars literally on both sides of the road they tend to sit in the middle of the road and motorbikes go around them it's normal here people on cellphones all the time whilst driving either a car motorbike or even ordinary bicycle🚲 they all use there 📱phones they just do not care one bit Scotland has some bloody idiot drivers but here we have them absolutely all in abundance you'd be shocked if you sat in a ☕coffeehouse here like I do and I guarantee you'll always see at least one accident you can't imagine what it's like I thought I had seen everything but after a few years of being here it's like everyday normal life i have seen new foreigners come here and the first thing I ask is have you driven here yet and they usually say no 😂and am thinking ash ok your baptism of fire 🔥 is coming they usually hire a bike here as they're so cheap but when they first try it you need literally Balls of steel to do it I have seen many leave Vietnam because they just couldn't handle the driving here. But anyway enough of me warbling on talking 💩💩💩 as I usually do 😂 haha! The main thing is your ok and ya got oot O the way... another good video 😊...
The road layout on the south side of the squinty bridge is absolutely atrocious and is an ongoing risk to all road users and pedestrians. Another example of how out of touch and incapable the people making decisions for the city are.
Spot On Ed 🫡 Walking through the City Centre is horrendous with these guys bombing around on electric bikes, delivering takeaway food to students etc. Must be huge amounts of accidents to pedestrians that don’t get flagged up.
Yes, the e-bike, or indeed any bicycle, on pavements is a major issue, but police, like all walks of life, do not have the manpower or funds to tackle these low-level offences. Whole country's going down the pan.
I agree about the shared pathways (pedestrians and cyclists) when there is no split marking they are dangerous. Last year, a cyclist hit me when walking on a shared path. The cyclist braked hard and did a good job of slowing almost to a stop. He couldn't apologise enough. In fairness, I swapped sides, so it wasn't the cyclist's fault. Just a very bad idea.
I have a real problem with the infrastructure in Glasgow in terms of public transport and pedestrian walkways. There's no consideration at all for pedestrians, only bikes and cars.
Glasgow is notoriously pedestrian unfriendly, and have absolutely been considered 2nd class citizens. The prevalence of wide open roads that facilitate fast vehicles, and shoddy infrastructure such as the Clyde pedestrian tunnel, and numerous overpasses over the myriad motorways and spaghetti junctions - all a large part to be blamed on the British post-war planning zeitgeist. That being said, things are moving slowly in the right direction - best practice design guidance to planners and builders on street design now reflects many of the principles seen in the Netherlands and other European countries. Although not perfect, an example of this is the Byres road avenues project which includes raised kerbs at junctions which forces vehicles to slow down, making them more likely to comply with recent Highway Code updates and give way to pedestrians. The changes will be slow, non-linear and occasionally fail, but they are nonetheless happening. I'd really emphasise that bicycle users are on the same side as pedestrians here, if anything the have been at a disadvantage due to not being welcome on roads (which are busy and dangerous) or pavements. The villain is vehicular dominance, which results in bicyclists and pedestrians being pushed to the narrow margins, fighting to share the limited scraps of space left over. A white line will not solve any issues along the Clyde - the space is just too small to be shared with competent, fast (or delivery) bicyclists - but this does not mean that cyclists can't share space with pedestrians. There are numerous examples of this working out fine in countries like the Netherlands. I would implore you to check out Not Just Bikes on UA-cam who analyses street design in depth, and to get involved with the many community based initiatives on improving the city for everyone - there needs to be more people raising the issues that you have to the council and MSPs. Cheers
It's a cultural deficiency in the UK - in Denmark the pedestrian has the right in built up areas, and one has to wonder why this isn't the case everywhere, the sanctities of life are supplanted by the needs of the motor car. Perhaps the decision makers ought to spend a month out of their cars and find out in a first hand 'fact-finding' study to see what they are 'delivering' for the good people of the land. Not saying it will be easy to deliver infrastructure which is safe for pedestrians, but as they say, the longest journey begins with a single step. Everyone needs to respect other fellow travellers, be they on foot, bicycle or vehicle.
Quite right Ed another good video. Pavements should be for pedestrians and there should be no cyclists on them yet we see this violated every day. Another bummer is when idiots park delivery vehicles and cars etc. at bus stops which are clearly defined by road markings. They do these things for the simple reason that they know there is no effective enforcement so this crap will just continue.
Absolutely. Once saw a van parked more or less at the white line of a pedestrian crossing on a fast road. Pedestrians could have thought traffic had stopped and tried to cross. Unbelievable, and we simply don't have the number of police officers to properly enforce stuff like this.
Pedestrians already on the road have right of way, jaywalking isn’t a thing in UK, but I know what you mean about not wanting to compete with hunk of metal
Hello there. Your videos are always interesting, but some are just depressing. Sometimes it seems as if pedestrians are ricocheting all over the place. Walking is also a death-defying experience here in Ontario. AND NOBODY DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT! The only solution I have found is to fantasize about flame-throwers. BIG ONES!
Yes, a large 6-foot tall lollipop sign thing may in the future be something all us pedestrians have to carry to announce our position to the internal combustion engine- or battery-driven machine.
Thanks for highlighting this Ed. Glasgow is a tangle of roads. A deadly legacy of building infrastructure around cars not people. Now the council can’t seem to maintain the basics of what they inflicted upon the city. There are so many pedestrian crossings with lights that don’t work.
I don't live in Glasgow, but my council has a website where you can log defects with crossings and road defects, hopefully Glasgow does too? The reality of council funding is that they probably don't have any spare staff to go out and check if infrastructure is broken from years of funding cuts.
You're right Sarah. I reported WAIT lights out a while back, which were fixed immediately - almost the same day. But for whatever reason the bulbs didn't last long. And, as you say, councils, like every area of society, simply no longer have the manpower or the funding to maintain things properly.
It's very bad. At least pedestrians in the UK can cross the roads when it's safe to do so, not just at pedestrian crossings when they have a green light as in the US. I ride a bicycle, and I give way to pedestrians. People tell me they won't cycle as it's too dangerous. Others drive because they were injured by a car driver themselves, which is a bit pathetic. Motoring isn't safer, going at speeds up to 70mph. Someone died after their ex-partner grabbed their handbrake on a motorway, making the car spin. But what killed them, was when they got out and were hit by another innocent driver hurtling along at 70mph.
Yes, it's not good. The speed and fast acceleration of cars is a major factor. Almost impossible for a cyclist to survive on these big roundabouts where car speed is excessive.
I enjoy a walk and cycle so have mixed views on shared paths. Most of the time the issue I see is people walking tend to walk in the middle of the path rather than to the side and rarely ever look back to see what's coming. However, when I walked that clyde path and ones in Central Edinburgh there seemed to be a lot of delivery cyclist's zooming around on big electric bikes using the paths as a shortcut of sorts.
Hi David. Yes, there's a whole range of issues going on. For some unfathomable reason I always like to stick to the notion that folk should be walking on the left, in the same way that traffic does on roads. But this is a notion not adopted by most and I've had many instances where I've tried my best to stand my left-hand ground then had to move aside for another bull-headed pedestrian. Such is life.
Maybe you should move to the sticks where I am. There's plenty of car free walks where I am, and buses that go in different directions. If I was walking on the Clydeside walkway in the video, I would hope that speeding cyclists would ring their bell when approaching. I would then move to the left and let them overtake or pass on the right, as I would when driving a car. If they hit you, there's always the consolation that they will probably come off worse as they go flying off their bike. 😁Good luck when walking. 👍
I just checked Google Maps and see that you are on the other side of the Clyde to where my grandparents lived in Linthouse in the 50's and 60's. I used to love going there for the school holidays from our home town of Alloa! We have the same problem with bikes and pedestrians here in Melbourne. The cyclists get their lycra on and think they are in the Tour de France. We have had a few injuries in our local area.
A rather curmudgeonly video Eddie, but an important one nonetheless! Chinese woman driver; Chinese lightbulbs in the crossings; Chinese students in the flats. Bendy Chinese steel lamposts...😂
I was walking along the pavement minding my own business in West end. A kid on her bike ran right into the back of me. Mother on her bike also on pavement only concerned about welfare of her daughter. My knee never been the same! 😡
It seems to be the same everywhere Ed. A lot of people don't know , or maybe care, how to drive properly. People on their phones while driving, speeding and jumping red lights. In Edinburgh there are so many cycling routes created with little or no thought for pedestrians. The canal used.to he a nice walk but cyclists have spoiled that now. Pedestrians seem to have been forgotten.
Cheers Drew. I totally agree about canal paths. I love walking by water, but some canal paths aren't that wide and having cyclists in the mix just spoils the walk.
Cheers Dave. I'm afraid if I'd stood my ground in order to slap the bonnet I'd have found myself on the ground under the car. Another driver in La-La Land.
Unfortunately a lot of drivers believe that the roads belong solely to them. Also as the pedestrian is the one that would get hurt, its up to them to look out for themselves.
I've stopped using the shared paths on disused railway paths on the north side of Edinburgh for the same reason. I find it impossible to relax knowing that at any moment a fast moving cyclist, some of them on electric bikes, could come flying up from behind. Not helped by the fact that, counter to common sense, almost everybody walks and cycles on the left, when it would make more sense for pedestrians to walk on the right to face incoming cyclists.
Illegally altered e-bikes. Legally they can't exceed 15.5mph and do not have a throttle, just a cadence/torque sensor.... The ones that delivery riders blast about on have been modified to go much faster and use a throttle, so then they're basically electric mopeds. So yes, get rid of the illegal ones and fine those who use them.
@@notyetiYes, the sort of e-bikes they sell in Halfords and Go Outdoors aren't the problem. Delivery couriers and youths are cutting about on what are effectively electric motorcycles and they should fall under the A1 category of road vehicles and have to be licensed and registered and used as motorcycles rather than bicycles. I'm a nightshift worker who cycles into work in Edinburgh and I have to be alert to the danger of these things on shared paths and cycleways, often being ridden by someone who's not looking where they're going because they're too busy texting. That said, I'd still much rather take my chances with these things than share road space with motor vehicles.
Great video Ed, I’m a student in Dundee studying town planning and in many ways pedestrians are starting to become the 1st priority in the design of the built environment, almost all our designs are supposed to discourage car use. But in some ways pedestrians are treated worse than in the 60s utopia, where they thought we’d all be living in high-rise flats driving to the local mall in our metal boxes. It used to be the idea to separate cars from people by building bridges, flyovers, tunnels etc. Now it’s all about ‘shared spaces’, buses, cars, cyclists and walkers all using the same path; it’s supposed to be safer as it makes drivers more aware, but it just doesn’t work.
That statistic about the 40% increase in pedestrian deaths is shocking, I think it’s more so the fact cars have become so big, SUVs are almost twice the height and weight of a normal car, if they hit you, it hits you in the chest, right where all your vital organs are. As apposed to a smaller car that would hit you in the legs, it would be a lot less dangerous. I’d also like to add I’ve almost been knocked down on that very road, thinking it was a dual carriageway, only to be met with the blaring horn of a bus coming up the other way.
Many thanks. Your comments are - to use a strange phrase - spot on!
For me it's not that pedestrians don't matter, it's the inbuilt assumption that the motor vehicle is all that matters.
Glad you are okay Ed, good points raised. Pedestrian Lives Matter!
Hi Ed'. Note that the latest revision of the Highway Code favours the pedestrian at junctions. However, no drivers appear to be aware of this.
Quoting Rule170:
"Give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way."
I am a driver and passed my test in the late ‘70’s and I am always aware of other road users. This includes pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders etc. we all have a responsibility of care against potential incidents . Think about your proposed action and take responsible care! No one has maybe taught or shown new driver/ road users the right or wrong ways. It’s nice to be nice is an old saying that certain generations will or will not know. Technology does not make a good road user better or, bad ones, when it comes to it.
Oh my, Ed. I’m glad you’re ok after that. I had a similar situation when I was 24 yrs old and carrying my first child. However, I was hit by a car turning without seeing me in the walkway with a right-of-way indicator on the sign. Thank goodness he was not going too fast, and only knocked me down and into the gutter! I was really shaken up, but the baby and I both were ok, just sore for a few days. I’m so glad you were watching what you were doing, because you never know what the other folks are gonna do.
You take care.
Lynn in Naples, FL. 😎
Cheers Lynn. Yes, safety's all about looking out for what others may do. Take care.
Good you are ok.
It isn't just pedestrians that are on the receiving end of bad car drivers. Cyclists and motorcyclists are also.
I ended up over the bonnet of a car that turned in front of me. Luckily I was slowing down for the lights otherwise I'd be dead. The driver "didn't see me". She didn't look. Was probably on her phone.
I ended up with a broken neck, broken back, dissected artery, 2 mini strokes, both hands broken and a broken wrist.
Needless to say, I haven't been back to work and I won't drive due to the fact I can't turn my neck and would be a danger to the public.
So, now I am a permanent pedestrian. Crossing the road is a risk. I can't do the look right, look left, look right again very easily. I need to turn my whole body and I still see drivers driving like morons.
As a biker I was conscious of pedestrians and other road users. It was for my own safety. The person that hit me didnt indicate and, according to cctv, swerved at the last minute. Car drivers are coccooned in metal. Pedestrians arent.
Cheers. I'm inclined to think many car drivers really shouldn't have been given a license.
I'm glad you are ok Ed. Too close for comfort though. You have raised some interesting points.
This is full on Victor Meldrew, but I must agree.
I can completely relate to your point on cars expecting you to get out of their way. It happened to me when I had a bad back and was crossing a side road, a car sped around the corner and I couldn’t move quickly out of the way so they had to slam on the brakes. Had the nerve to have a go at me as well.
Yes, the combination of speed and a lack of brain cells makes car drivers a real danger.
I was pretty much ready to blame any increase in deaths on phone zombies (walking and driving). That and confusion about updates to the highway code that don't quite grasp how physics works.
Have travelled a lot. UK generally better than many. Street lighting exists, pavements don't change at every building you go past. In the US it felt like you needed a car to cross the road.
You caught one of the things in your video that stumps me Ed, concerning crossing the road to the green man. I don't know if it's the case but someone told me that the small raised bubble shapes on the pavement are to let people who are blind or visually impaired know that they are on the right side of the pole where the button is, what puzzles me is ( and this affects a family member) a lot of the ones that used to bleep when the green man comes on, don't.
I enjoyed your video and no doubt there'll be more comments from people's experiences. All the best Ed 👍
It's pot luck, no two pedestrian crossings are the same. Yesterday I saw the Poileas parked on the yellow raised paving for blind people.
Hi Jim. Yes that's an interesting point. Someone else may be more knowledgeable than me, but it may be the case that there is a small bit that sticks out at the bottom of the metal boxes containing the illuminated WAIT sign. When a green man appears, this things twirls or rotates so that the blind person - who will have their hand on it - can feel that it's a green man. This may be rubbish, but I think there may be a grain of truth in it. Anyone know for certain?
@@EdExploresScotland It does. Well, It's supposed to. 😅
I can't see a reason for removing the bleeping, people who are older are not necessarily go8ng to use these things often.
I went to use a railway station the other day, it had been redesigned to remove the ticket office aparently. Now its some sort of display board. On the other side! So I never saw it.
People who knew the station would know wher3 to buy a ticket, but not strangers. I just went in immediately behind a guy who had a ticket, so the gate opened for him. There was an employee standing there, his sole job was to make sure everyone had a ticket !
I bought mine at the real ticket office upstairs, platform level. Aparently avoiding payment is rife. I would have thought they need to catch these people and ban them, facial recognition and all that?
Edinburgh has to be the worst for changing one way/two way streets, it's just constant.
I remember I couldn't even pass the street without a traffic light in Corstorphine sometimes during Rush Hour. The cars just kept on coming
Ed if you feel the bottom of the box on the crossing there is a knob that rotates. It is for the visually impaired, so when they feel it rotating they know the lights are in their favour and they can cross.
Sometimes if you turn it it can quicken up the lights in your favour to cross.
Thanks James.
Check out Not Just Bikes, he's an expert on the topic
Was expecting the pedestrain crossing (or rather lack thereof) at the Thornwood roundabout to come up since you are so close! Absolute nightmare.
Yes, I would agree with that. Another big roundabout with cars moving way too fast for anyone trying to cross the road.
The walkway at the Clyde there is so narrow, but vast amounts of land doing nothing right behind it.
That's a good point.
Am originally from Inverness in Scotland but have worked in China for the past ten years now I am in Vietnam now I know what Scotland England Ireland and even Wales is like to drive 🚘in and yes I agree there are many bloody idiots that can't drive 🚫🚗 but after being in China and experiencing how they drive well let me tell you if you can drive in Vietnam you can drive anywhere and I literally mean traffic🚦 lights mean nothing here where there's a junction traffic 🚦starts to move 5 seconds before it turns to green 🟢there are absolutely no rules traffic goes on both sides of the road accidents here are at least once to twice daily you'll see it there simply are no rules they will drive for instance if it's mainly a motorbike you'll see between 4 and 5 people on a motorbike in the morning and with no helmet on car driving the cars literally on both sides of the road they tend to sit in the middle of the road and motorbikes go around them it's normal here people on cellphones all the time whilst driving either a car motorbike or even ordinary bicycle🚲 they all use there 📱phones they just do not care one bit Scotland has some bloody idiot drivers but here we have them absolutely all in abundance you'd be shocked if you sat in a ☕coffeehouse here like I do and I guarantee you'll always see at least one accident you can't imagine what it's like I thought I had seen everything but after a few years of being here it's like everyday normal life i have seen new foreigners come here and the first thing I ask is have you driven here yet and they usually say no 😂and am thinking ash ok your baptism of fire 🔥 is coming they usually hire a bike here as they're so cheap but when they first try it you need literally Balls of steel to do it I have seen many leave Vietnam because they just couldn't handle the driving here. But anyway enough of me warbling on talking 💩💩💩 as I usually do 😂 haha! The main thing is your ok and ya got oot O the way... another good video 😊...
Hi Ed, you said about white lines-think a white stick may be necesssary for pedestrians in Glasgow 😢🏴
The road layout on the south side of the squinty bridge is absolutely atrocious and is an ongoing risk to all road users and pedestrians. Another example of how out of touch and incapable the people making decisions for the city are.
Spot On Ed 🫡
Walking through the City Centre is horrendous with these guys bombing around on electric bikes, delivering takeaway food to students etc.
Must be huge amounts of accidents to pedestrians that don’t get flagged up.
Yes, the e-bike, or indeed any bicycle, on pavements is a major issue, but police, like all walks of life, do not have the manpower or funds to tackle these low-level offences. Whole country's going down the pan.
Driving standards have taken a nose dive. Lot of new arrivals dont indicate. I assume they can get a UK licence on their own country licence.
I agree about the shared pathways (pedestrians and cyclists) when there is no split marking they are dangerous. Last year, a cyclist hit me when walking on a shared path. The cyclist braked hard and did a good job of slowing almost to a stop. He couldn't apologise enough. In fairness, I swapped sides, so it wasn't the cyclist's fault. Just a very bad idea.
I have a real problem with the infrastructure in Glasgow in terms of public transport and pedestrian walkways. There's no consideration at all for pedestrians, only bikes and cars.
Glasgow is notoriously pedestrian unfriendly, and have absolutely been considered 2nd class citizens. The prevalence of wide open roads that facilitate fast vehicles, and shoddy infrastructure such as the Clyde pedestrian tunnel, and numerous overpasses over the myriad motorways and spaghetti junctions - all a large part to be blamed on the British post-war planning zeitgeist. That being said, things are moving slowly in the right direction - best practice design guidance to planners and builders on street design now reflects many of the principles seen in the Netherlands and other European countries. Although not perfect, an example of this is the Byres road avenues project which includes raised kerbs at junctions which forces vehicles to slow down, making them more likely to comply with recent Highway Code updates and give way to pedestrians. The changes will be slow, non-linear and occasionally fail, but they are nonetheless happening.
I'd really emphasise that bicycle users are on the same side as pedestrians here, if anything the have been at a disadvantage due to not being welcome on roads (which are busy and dangerous) or pavements. The villain is vehicular dominance, which results in bicyclists and pedestrians being pushed to the narrow margins, fighting to share the limited scraps of space left over. A white line will not solve any issues along the Clyde - the space is just too small to be shared with competent, fast (or delivery) bicyclists - but this does not mean that cyclists can't share space with pedestrians. There are numerous examples of this working out fine in countries like the Netherlands.
I would implore you to check out Not Just Bikes on UA-cam who analyses street design in depth, and to get involved with the many community based initiatives on improving the city for everyone - there needs to be more people raising the issues that you have to the council and MSPs.
Cheers
Thanks Owen.
i sometimes i feel i need flashing neon lights when i walk across the road
I sometimes feel I need someone to take my arm and gently help me to the other side.
It's a cultural deficiency in the UK - in Denmark the pedestrian has the right in built up areas, and one has to wonder why this isn't the case everywhere, the sanctities of life are supplanted by the needs of the motor car. Perhaps the decision makers ought to spend a month out of their cars and find out in a first hand 'fact-finding' study to see what they are 'delivering' for the good people of the land.
Not saying it will be easy to deliver infrastructure which is safe for pedestrians, but as they say, the longest journey begins with a single step. Everyone needs to respect other fellow travellers, be they on foot, bicycle or vehicle.
Interesting 😎😎😎
Quite right Ed another good video. Pavements should be for pedestrians and there should be no cyclists on them yet we see this violated every day. Another bummer is when idiots park delivery vehicles and cars etc. at bus stops which are clearly defined by road markings. They do these things for the simple reason that they know there is no effective enforcement so this crap will just continue.
Absolutely. Once saw a van parked more or less at the white line of a pedestrian crossing on a fast road. Pedestrians could have thought traffic had stopped and tried to cross. Unbelievable, and we simply don't have the number of police officers to properly enforce stuff like this.
Pedestrians already on the road have right of way, jaywalking isn’t a thing in UK, but I know what you mean about not wanting to compete with hunk of metal
Hello there. Your videos are always interesting, but some are just depressing. Sometimes it seems as if pedestrians are ricocheting all over the place. Walking is also a death-defying experience here in Ontario. AND NOBODY DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT! The only solution I have found is to fantasize about flame-throwers. BIG ONES!
Well highlighted. Stick to the mountains no one to spoil your day there
Absolutely. Apart, perhaps, for the odd dod of mud.
Nobody seems to indicate anymore!
Absolutely.
Meantime, wear a dayglo jacket and carry your own full size 'lollipop'!
Yes, a large 6-foot tall lollipop sign thing may in the future be something all us pedestrians have to carry to announce our position to the internal combustion engine- or battery-driven machine.
Thanks for highlighting this Ed. Glasgow is a tangle of roads. A deadly legacy of building infrastructure around cars not people. Now the council can’t seem to maintain the basics of what they inflicted upon the city. There are so many pedestrian crossings with lights that don’t work.
I don't live in Glasgow, but my council has a website where you can log defects with crossings and road defects, hopefully Glasgow does too?
The reality of council funding is that they probably don't have any spare staff to go out and check if infrastructure is broken from years of funding cuts.
You're right Sarah. I reported WAIT lights out a while back, which were fixed immediately - almost the same day. But for whatever reason the bulbs didn't last long. And, as you say, councils, like every area of society, simply no longer have the manpower or the funding to maintain things properly.
The FixMyStreet app is a handy way to report issues. It’s not a council app, but sends reports etc. to relevant local council departments.
It's very bad. At least pedestrians in the UK can cross the roads when it's safe to do so, not just at pedestrian crossings when they have a green light as in the US. I ride a bicycle, and I give way to pedestrians. People tell me they won't cycle as it's too dangerous. Others drive because they were injured by a car driver themselves, which is a bit pathetic. Motoring isn't safer, going at speeds up to 70mph. Someone died after their ex-partner grabbed their handbrake on a motorway, making the car spin. But what killed them, was when they got out and were hit by another innocent driver hurtling along at 70mph.
Yes, it's not good. The speed and fast acceleration of cars is a major factor. Almost impossible for a cyclist to survive on these big roundabouts where car speed is excessive.
I enjoy a walk and cycle so have mixed views on shared paths. Most of the time the issue I see is people walking tend to walk in the middle of the path rather than to the side and rarely ever look back to see what's coming. However, when I walked that clyde path and ones in Central Edinburgh there seemed to be a lot of delivery cyclist's zooming around on big electric bikes using the paths as a shortcut of sorts.
Hi David. Yes, there's a whole range of issues going on. For some unfathomable reason I always like to stick to the notion that folk should be walking on the left, in the same way that traffic does on roads. But this is a notion not adopted by most and I've had many instances where I've tried my best to stand my left-hand ground then had to move aside for another bull-headed pedestrian. Such is life.
Maybe you should move to the sticks where I am. There's plenty of car free walks where I am, and buses that go in different directions. If I was walking on the Clydeside walkway in the video, I would hope that speeding cyclists would ring their bell when approaching. I would then move to the left and let them overtake or pass on the right, as I would when driving a car. If they hit you, there's always the consolation that they will probably come off worse as they go flying off their bike. 😁Good luck when walking. 👍
You are performing a much needed public service...especially for folks who are visiting.
I just checked Google Maps and see that you are on the other side of the Clyde to where my grandparents lived in Linthouse in the 50's and 60's. I used to love going there for the school holidays from our home town of Alloa! We have the same problem with bikes and pedestrians here in Melbourne. The cyclists get their lycra on and think they are in the Tour de France. We have had a few injuries in our local area.
A rather curmudgeonly video Eddie, but an important one nonetheless! Chinese woman driver; Chinese lightbulbs in the crossings; Chinese students in the flats. Bendy Chinese steel lamposts...😂
Cheers Harry. I rather like that word: curmudgeonly.
China's effective support of Russia's attack on Ukraine is something I find unforgivable.
i chuffing hate pedestrains, but i hate everyone in all the other cars too
I hate everyone too.
I was walking along the pavement minding my own business in West end. A kid on her bike ran right into the back of me. Mother on her bike also on pavement only concerned about welfare of her daughter. My knee never been the same! 😡
It seems to be the same everywhere Ed. A lot of people don't know , or maybe care, how to drive properly. People on their phones while driving, speeding and jumping red lights. In Edinburgh there are so many cycling routes created with little or no thought for pedestrians. The canal used.to he a nice walk but cyclists have spoiled that now. Pedestrians seem to have been forgotten.
Cheers Drew. I totally agree about canal paths. I love walking by water, but some canal paths aren't that wide and having cyclists in the mix just spoils the walk.
Just slap their bonnet Ed and say "I'm walking here" no need to raise yer blood pressure mate have some fun with your old age ffs
Cheers Dave. I'm afraid if I'd stood my ground in order to slap the bonnet I'd have found myself on the ground under the car. Another driver in La-La Land.
@@EdExploresScotland ua-cam.com/video/X6s-rtAkjKA/v-deo.html lol
wait is the guy who tags "milk" everywhere still around? He must be about 90 by now!
He’s not! Just never been cleaned or replaced in the last 30 years!
He tags as 'X-tra mature cheeze' nowadays 😊
Unfortunately a lot of drivers believe that the roads belong solely to them. Also as the pedestrian is the one that would get hurt, its up to them to look out for themselves.
I've stopped using the shared paths on disused railway paths on the north side of Edinburgh for the same reason. I find it impossible to relax knowing that at any moment a fast moving cyclist, some of them on electric bikes, could come flying up from behind. Not helped by the fact that, counter to common sense, almost everybody walks and cycles on the left, when it would make more sense for pedestrians to walk on the right to face incoming cyclists.
😂😂😂
Cyclists should be made to have a bell to warn pedestrians of their presence.
E bikes should be banned from pavements / pedestrianised zones. Sauchiehall Street is a NIGHTMARE.
Totally agree.
Illegally altered e-bikes. Legally they can't exceed 15.5mph and do not have a throttle, just a cadence/torque sensor.... The ones that delivery riders blast about on have been modified to go much faster and use a throttle, so then they're basically electric mopeds. So yes, get rid of the illegal ones and fine those who use them.
@@notyetiYes, the sort of e-bikes they sell in Halfords and Go Outdoors aren't the problem. Delivery couriers and youths are cutting about on what are effectively electric motorcycles and they should fall under the A1 category of road vehicles and have to be licensed and registered and used as motorcycles rather than bicycles. I'm a nightshift worker who cycles into work in Edinburgh and I have to be alert to the danger of these things on shared paths and cycleways, often being ridden by someone who's not looking where they're going because they're too busy texting. That said, I'd still much rather take my chances with these things than share road space with motor vehicles.
it seems to be ,the more lycra the cyclist wears, the more aggressive and selfish they are