I almost got hit twice today on my short walk to work. I was never in any real danger, but it was scary. Both times drivers of utes (a pickup truck with no sides--never hear of the name in the US but are popular here) were driving erratically because they were clearly changing their mind about how to respond to whatever traffic pattern they were facing. Both totally ignored the fact that I was crossing in front of their path as they accelerated suddenly towards me.
Now, in my mind, no matter what the formal right of way conventions are, when you are driving in such a way that it is not easy to read, it is incumbent upon you to give way to everyone and everything, since people around you cannot be expected to stay out of your way since your way is difficult/impossible to predict. But this is obviously not so in the Sydney driver's mind! In general it is scary how little right of way the pedestrian has here, but both of these cases seemed really beyond the pale.
UPDATE: I corrected the misspelling. Sigh. At least I was able to figure out the correct spelling without looking it up.....
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2 comments:
Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere, hon!!
Oh, btw, "excelerated"??? Are you spending too much time in front of your worksheets??
hehehe...
F
But australia is such a weird direct transplant of the northern hemisphere. I'm planning a post on that one later. Besides, their driving isn't freewheeling, it just displays a disregard for pedestrian life.
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