London Bridge - what is going on?

[Vladimir]

guys,
I cycle on London Bridge every morning. I come from south London and go into Central London.
Every morning, without fail, there are a plethora of pedestrians that decide to cross the bridge smack bang in the middle of it, or even only a few feet past the pedestrian crossing that I have just cycled through (on green of course).
I can't wrap my head around why they do this. There is nothing on that side of the bridge that wasn't on the side they came from. There are no turnings off the bridge (stating the obvious I know), no bus stops, nothing special. Nothing there for them that they can't reach when they get to the end of the bridge and can use the pedestrian crossing to cross safely.
Why do they elect to cross 6 lanes of traffic?
I see them weaving in and out rows of cars, vans, and buses. I see them try and power through and stop cyclists from carrying on normally, all for this deep seated desire to get to the other side, like it was paved with gold...
I see them deciding that all of a sudden, it is a good idea to just walk on the bus lane, walking in the same direction as the flow of traffic, as well.
Why? that, is my question... why do they cross?

[eileithyia]

view is better, river is bluer on the otherside
see the crossing and it registers in their psyche that they need to cross but by now they are passed it but cross anyway.


pedestrians randomly crossing is not exclusive to London it happens in the provinces also...

how many do you see that walk up to a crossing, it's safe to cross but press the button anyway.... then they cross on the red while lights change a few mins later and stop the now approaching traffice grrrrrr

Saw an old lady recently heading toward zebra crossing... thought she was going to cross it... eased up as did the bus behind me... she then carried on past it.. then tried to cross 50 yds after the crossing skirting around barriers to do so, and dice with traffic on quite a wide road that she was very slow crossing..... if she had used the crossing she would have legitimately stopped all the traffic.

[Vladimir]

I see what you mean, and of course the problem is not exclusive to London, unfortunately.

I can see why someone might not cross at the relevant pedestrian crossing, and only cross when they really have to.

I've done it before, in my pre-chess and pre-cycling days; where I didnt think ahead, and just walked around on auto-pilot, when I suddenly realised the shop I wanted to pop into (or the road I wanted to go down) was right across the street from me, so I just crossed there and then.

Fine, it happens, but as I say, these people literally have nothing to gain. If they need to be on the other side of the bridge in order to go down one of the streets that come off the bridge on the other end, it makes no odds just to keep walking on the "wrong" side and use the pedestrian crossing when they get to the end of the bridge.

Is there something I'm missing?

[[XAP]Bob]

Is there something I'm missing?

No - there's something you are wrongly attributing to the pedestrians - sense.

[hexhome]

And they don't even pay road tax!

[Fasgadh]

Nor fuel duty!

Not only that, they use the pavements which can make parking very difficult and hazardous.

[alicej]

view is better, river is bluer on the otherside

Tourists in London often think of it as a big museum/theme park rather than a working city, and have a tendency to stand around blocking pavements etc oblivious to other people trying to actually get anywhere. They probably are crossing in the middle of the bridge just to see the view from the other side.

What I particularly hate is when they stop dead at the top or bottom of escalators, causing a big pile up of people behind them. I'm much more chilled out about it now I don't have to live and work in London any more!

[SJSBrompton]

^^^^^^
this

Though if you want to see suicidal tourists stepping out in the road/bus lane - try Westminster Bridge. Fine in the morning - not many around at 08:00 - but at 17:00 - stepping out to get a wide angle on their photo of the London Eye or the Houses of Parliament/Big Ben. Plus ice cream vans parked in the cycle lane. And open top buses.

I'm considering cycling over Lambeth Bridge and up the Lambeth Palace Road to Waterloo instead it gets that bad.

[Braveheart]

Vladimir

In answer to your question, "Why do they cross?"

A- Because they can

Until 2 years ago there was a metal waist level fence on both sides and it actively discouraged traversing the traffic lanes other than at pedestrain crossings at each end of the bridge. Still dont know why they removed the barriers, they were there to protect the peds, both from themselves and from cars/motor bikes/bikes. - the fences were very heavy duty.

Interestingly this morning I also had an incident at the crossing outside the Barrow Boy & Banker - Southside. Walking across on the green man, along with about 30 other peds, was nearly mown down by 3 "cycists" who clearly did not believe in the Highway code.

The trouble is we cant have it both ways. Unless "we" collectively start behaving then, we dont get any respect from others. (for the record, I was all cycling kitted up having commuted to my local station and yelled at them. Waste of time in two cases as they were listening to thier ipods....)

[Edwards]

Are there new laws about where and when you can cross a road?
Maybe they did not want to wait for the lights which are not really convenient for pedestrians. Why should they wait for vehicles, after all was walking not here first?
I always thought the railings were to keep these poor people who can not afford a car in their place.

[Vladimir]

Interestingly this morning I also had an incident at the crossing outside the Barrow Boy & Banker - Southside. Walking across on the green man, along with about 30 other peds, was nearly mown down by 3 "cycists" who clearly did not believe in the Highway code.

The trouble is we cant have it both ways. Unless "we" collectively start behaving then, we dont get any respect from others. (for the record, I was all cycling kitted up having commuted to my local station and yelled at them. Waste of time in two cases as they were listening to thier ipods....)

I hate those "people" more than I hate mindless kamikaze pedestrians that walk out onto the road whilst not looking, or looking the other way!

[Vladimir]

http://www.experianplc.com/~/media/Imag ... rs/home-uk?
like this?

[thirdcrank]

And they don't even pay road tax!

Beat me too it.

[Vladimir]

Nor fuel duty!

Not only that, they use the pavements which can make parking very difficult and hazardous.

and they produce lots of emissions, too!

[eileithyia]

Interesting to see replies; Sense and planning ahead or inability to do so... we know motorists do this all the time otherwise they would not get themselves into a situation where they are suddenly overtaking us on a bend,.... without thinking something might be coming the other way etc.

Pedestrains stopping... again not the sole province of tourists, walk into one of our local supermarkets and they always stop just inside the push barrier, and that goes for most shops... either going in or out... if there is a pinch point they will stop in it preventing any progress of those behind! lol