Zebra with no road markings

[7db]

Try using a couple of short toots - this is usually taken the right way. One long blast is usually the sign for rebuke. (Although I would use it on a conflicting nose edging out onto an NSL, say)

A wave after helps too - often then they are just confused as to whether they know you or not, but at least they don't step out.

[crr003]

If you hit her, regardless of blame, its still something that would be on your mind surely.

I'm not going to hit her! I'm expecting her to walk.......and don't call me Shirly!

But I'm not going to stop and entice her to step out either.

Perhaps someone can answer the legal quesiton as to if a couple of orange flashing balls counts as a ped crossing? Know your traffic signs pg 85 doesn't help me.

[7db]

It need the stripey paint to be a zebra - TSRGD is your friend.

[LEEGO]

I would use an arm signal to say i was slowing down for the crossing, this informs oncoming traffic,following traffic and the "little old lady" what you intend to do.

[crr003]

I would use an arm signal to say i was slowing down for the crossing, ......

That's nice, but technically, in this example, there is no crossing........hence the discussion.

And to counter the argument that the little old lady has been crossing here for 50 years so that's OK then, ........I'll try using that on my local NSL DC that's been reduced to 40........... Signs and road markings apply to pedestrians too!

[Lady Godiva]

Try using a couple of short toots - this is usually taken the right way. One long blast is usually the sign for rebuke. (Although I would use it on a conflicting nose edging out onto an NSL, say)

A wave after helps too - often then they are just confused as to whether they know you or not, but at least they don't step out.

I can't think what is the best thing to do on the original post. I can't help thinking that IF I had a chance to reduce speed slowly AND make it clear through signals what I was doing AND be sure that it wasn't making a bad situation worse then I would stop. Legally I don't know, but I would like someone who does know to let me know!!!

Re the horn, I was advised by my Senior Observer to always wave after having to give a 'toot' to a car or pedestrian approaching from the side. He said that this way, the other person thinks that you are waving because you know them, so it takes the perceived sting out of it. It gets the job done without causing any grief. So that's nice all around.

[James]

Regarding the crossing, I would say there is no crossing. The clearance of zebra lines and the appearance of normal tarmac simply eradicate the crossing. Even if the zebra lines were to be painted on the road the next day, and this was only a temporary change, for the duration of time that the zebra lines were missing, there is technically no crossing. This is the same technicality of when double white lines become "eroded" to show just one line, or the red traffic light bulbs are "out". You can't prosecute someone for something that is beyond their control. Nor can you argue that because the crossing was there for 50 years and there were still beacons, that it was still a crossing. The defining part of a crossing is the zebra lines and beacons, present together. The absence of either of them denotes the crossing. The zig zag lines on the run up and exit are nothing other than "do not stop here" lines and do not have an effect on the requirement to slow down and give way to people who have "stepped on" the crossing (other than mounted cyclists). The points to prove within the legal definition include the words "failed to accord precedence to a pedestrian on the carriageway
within the limits of an uncontrolled zebra crossing". If there is no crossing (the crossing is defined as black and white lines surmounted by black and white poles with orange beacons at the summit) then the point cannot be proved, therefore the offence is incomplete.

Having said all that I would have stopped if it was safe to do so. Why not? Be nice to the old dear. Just don't wave her over incase the cyclist undertaking you wipes her out and you get the blame.

As for the horn it is a source of information. It is up to you how you use it and it is up to you to think about the possible circumstances of a mis-interpretation. If you spent minutes thinking about whether to use it and how to use it the need for using it would be long gone. It is a nice addition to a scenario of increased risk but don't dwell over it. Instead watch the little old lady and note her reactions to guage how you are going to deal with the road.