Pedestrians Don't Matter 

Glad you are okay Ed, good points raised. Pedestrian Lives Matter!

For me it's not that pedestrians don't matter, it's the inbuilt assumption that the motor vehicle is all that matters.

Check out Not Just Bikes, he's an expert on the topic

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 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.

This is full on Victor Meldrew, but I must agree.

Edinburgh has to be the worst for changing one way/two way streets, it's just constant.

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.

Hi Ed, you said about white lines-think a white stick may be necesssary for pedestrians in Glasgow 😢🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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! 😡

I'm glad you are ok Ed. Too close for comfort though. You have raised some interesting points.

Was expecting the pedestrain crossing (or rather lack thereof) at the Thornwood roundabout to come up since you are so close! Absolute nightmare.

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 RU-vid 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

i sometimes i feel i need flashing neon lights when i walk across the road

The walkway at the Clyde there is so narrow, but vast amounts of land doing nothing right behind it.

Meantime, wear a dayglo jacket and carry your own full size 'lollipop'!

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!

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 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.

You are performing a much needed public service...especially for folks who are visiting.

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.

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.

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 👍

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.

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.

Well highlighted. Stick to the mountains no one to spoil your day there

i chuffing hate pedestrains, but i hate everyone in all the other cars too

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.

Nobody seems to indicate anymore!

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.

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.

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

wait is the guy who tags "milk" everywhere still around? He must be about 90 by now!

E bikes should be banned from pavements / pedestrianised zones. Sauchiehall Street is a NIGHTMARE.

Cyclists should be made to have a bell to warn pedestrians of their presence.

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.

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.

it seems to be ,the more lycra the cyclist wears, the more aggressive and selfish they are