Final word: The new wave of road etiquette

James Griffin. Photo / Dean Purcell

Touch wood it never happens again, of course, but there has been one incidence in my life when I have been involved in the rather one-sided Car vs Pedestrian traffic incident. I was the Pedestrian part of the equation. It wasn't exactly a fun time for all concerned - especially me.

This was some years ago. A busy four-lane city street, - Ponsonby Rd, actually. There used to be a pedestrian crossing outside the Buzzy Bee Dairy, which is now no longer a dairy, just as there is no longer a pedestrian crossing there. I waited at the crossing until all the lanes of traffic that had cars in them - which was three - had stopped. The fourth lane appeared to be empty of cars, so I set forth on my journey.

But a lone vehicle, zipping along this vacant lane, had failed to compute that the presence of three lanes of stationary automobiles plus the stripy thing on the ground might equal me trying to get to the other side. Luckily he managed to hit the brakes enough so that instead of serious bodily damage and/or death, I was thrown on to the bonnet and ended up looking through the windscreen at my automotive assailant.

I bring up this traumatic memory because back in November last year the road rules changed so that motorists now are meant to give way to pedestrians who are "obviously" about to cross at a pedestrian crossing, rather than the old rule when they only had to give way when someone "actually" stepped on to the crossing. This, on the face of it, is a great new road rule, as it empowers the pedestrian in what is, on a daily basis, a life-or-death situation. "You see me coming? You see me heading in the general direction of the pedestrian crossing? I'm not kidding, I really am planning on crossing the road soon, so please, please stop."

Of course this new rule, which puts the onus fairly and squarely on the driver to take control of the situation and make the call whether or not to stop, has led to the seemingly simple act of crossing the road becoming even more of a guessing game.

Once upon a time, the fact that you had one foot planted on the crossing was a virtually unmistakable message that a pedestrian was about to amble into the path of oncoming traffic. Nowadays there are many more variables to be taken into account, mostly involving the relative-speed-of-the-approaching-pedestrian-towards-crossing versus the vehicle's-propensity- to-keep-moving before the letter (and spirit and pedestrians) of the law are broken - or not.

And I have to say that, for the most part, this seems to be working out pretty well - at least in my road-crossing experience. But when the pedestrian/motorist relationship does break down, and the pedestrian is left floundering as the car shoots through, there are an interesting range of responses.

At one end of the spectrum is the apologetic wave from the driver. This is all well and good and blame is acknowledged, accepted and everyone moves on.

Somewhere in the middle is the Sergeant Schultz "I see nothing" response, wherein the driver turns his or her head away from the pedestrian, thus trying - and failing - to pretend that the pedestrian does not exist. (This tends to be the most-favoured move of men in suits behind the wheel of late-model German automobiles).

And at the radical, pro-motorist end of the spectrum is what might be called the Jeremy Clarkson response, the one-fingered message, fired out the window, to those lesser beings who walk upon their feet upon the Earth: get a set of wheels or get out of the way. This one is, I admit, rare - but very memorable (blue 4WD, Ponsonby Rd, about a month ago - you know who you are).

For the most part, the new pedestrian crossing rules of engagement seems to be working out well for me, but they leave me with the dilemma of how a pedestrian can best acknowledge the motorist as I stride across the road. It seems rude not to airily raise a hand to say "thank you for not running me over".

But what this genial waft is actually saying, is: "Congratulations, you know your road rules - go to the top of the class" and that seems a tad, well, condescending. In fact, to some motorists it might be seen as rubbing salt in their wound as their mighty four-wheeled steed is brought to a shuddering halt by a mere biped.

To wave, or not to wave, that is the question. A simple, social gesture or a subtle incitement to road rage? I tell you, pondering questions as weighty as this, it's a wonder I can cross the road at all.