Sunday Times: drivers should pass close

[Vorpal]

Pedestrians in Norway and Sweden seem to be 'militant' as you described it. They step out into traffic and expect it to stop for them, even when they are crossing against the lights. Newcomers to Oslo and Gothenburg complain about it regularly, as much as British drivers complain about cyclists jumping red lights.

[LollyKat]

Like present day Glasgow then. I'm still amazed despite decades living here at peds who walk across busy roads without looking at traffic and just trust that nobody will hit them.

Indeed - when I first moved to Glasgow 35 years ago I hit 6 pedestrians in the first 6 months . Or be precise, they hit me, sometimes when I wasn't even moving. One was a very smartly dressed woman in a pale Barbour coat which suffered a dirty great smear from my front wheel. In a very posh accent she said, "I'm frightfully sorry, that was was entirely my fault." "Yes, it was!" I replied, and rode off.

Neither they nor I ever hit the deck, and I got wise to their unexpected manoeuvres.

[MikeF]

Would there need to be changes in law to restrict pedestrian freedom before these driverless cars come in to general use?
It would appear that militant pedestrians could cross roads where and when they liked and the driverless cars would stop to let them cross safely.

Pedestrians can anyway but cars with drivers are too keen on running into them. It might be good to see pedestrians take back some control in the streets.

[MikeF]

Some cars already have some degree of driverless automation. For example they can be set with a cruise control so that the vehicle keeps a set distance from the one in front or run at a set speed, and even accelerating when the right indicator is used to change to a passing lane. A degree of driving automation is already here.

[mill4six]

I was v impressed by a Google car video in which a runner comes from the left and runs across the road without looking. The car did not stop, it didn't have to. It had seen the runner ages before, calculated his trajectory and slowed a little to allow him to cross safely. Once the runner was clear the car accelerated briskly back to where it would have been. All rather seamless compared to the emergency stop a human would have most likely done. That sold the idea to me.

[kwackers]

I was v impressed by a Google car video in which a runner comes from the left and runs across the road without looking. The car did not stop, it didn't have to. It had seen the runner ages before, calculated his trajectory and slowed a little to allow him to cross safely. Once the runner was clear the car accelerated briskly back to where it would have been. All rather seamless compared to the emergency stop a human would have most likely done. That sold the idea to me.

Did it sound the horn continuously, wind the window down and shout obscenities? If not how will pedestrians ever learn their place?