Woodford Road madness

[nedsram]

Last night my wife was driving home along Woodford Road. Just past Mill Hill Hollow she encountered a couple walking in the same direction with their dog. They were wearing dark clothing and were not visible until the last minute. Somehow she managed to brake, swerve and avoid crashing into them, and got hooted by an oncoming driver for her pains. If anybody living locally knows who these people are, could they make it clear to them in no uncertain terms that they are putting their lives at risk. Some people have no imagination.

[Rostervor]

The Highway Code
Pedestrians
2
If there is no pavement keep to the right-hand side of the road so that you can see oncoming traffic. You should take extra care and
• be prepared to walk in single file, especially on narrow roads or in poor light
• keep close to the side of the road
It may be safer to cross the road well before a sharp right-hand bend so that oncoming traffic has a better chance of seeing you. Cross back after the bend.
3
Help other road users to see you. Wear or carry something light-coloured, bright or fluorescent in poor daylight conditions. When it is dark, use reflective materials (e.g. armbands, sashes, waistcoats, jackets, footwear), which can be seen by drivers using headlights up to three times as far away as non-reflective materials.

Drivers
144
You MUST NOT
• drive dangerously
• drive without due care and attention
• drive without reasonable consideration for other road users
[Law RTA 1988 sects 2 & 3 as amended by RTA 1991]
145
Adapt your driving to the appropriate type and condition of road you are on.

Country roads
154
Take extra care on country roads and reduce your speed at approaches to bends, which can be sharper than they appear, and at junctions and turnings, which may be partially hidden. Be prepared for pedestrians, horse riders, cyclists, slow-moving farm vehicles or mud on the road surface. Make sure you can stop within the distance you can see to be clear. You should also reduce your speed where country roads enter villages.

No further comment

[ScoobyDoo]

It's really unfair for people to do this sort of thing, I can't imagine how anyone would feel had they ploughed into this couple.

Sometime in the 80s a boy at my school was knocked down and killed on that road

[nedsram]

My turn to encounter them this evening. Going north, just before Mill Hill Hollow. Two young men dressed in black, walking two abreast on the road in the same direction as the traffic, approaching a blind bend, with what looked like a cream retriever. And I had to brake as there was a car coming in the opposite direction. (I wasn't going fast, but they weren't visible until the last moment.) It was dusk. I wouldn't have liked to have encountered them in the dark. Sooner or later Darwin's law will most likely catch up with them if they continue to carry on like that.