With emptier roads, and people wanting to be well spaced out on the pavements, it is far more common for people to run or walk in the road. Cyclists are also more likely to go in the road where there is a cycleway, even if it is against another set of rules – The Highway Code.
At the end of Wilsham Road there is a warning sign about pedestrians.
M sent an email which prompted this post. He said ‘I have had a lot of incidents when I have had to move aside because someone else refused to, or runners and cyclists rush past me with no attempt to keep 2 metres away. They are more dangerous than walkers as their breath is stronger, and I read that one should immediately step aside if caught in the slipstream of one who has just gone past.’
He also mentions a cyclist on the pavement that forced him as a pedestrian into the road. He shouted after the cyclist and they scowled back.
Somebody I know, who is strict about abiding by the rules, says she was incensed when her neighbour had visitors round for a noisy Bar-B-Q.
At Tesco with the new direction arrows, most people follow the arrows. My wife pointed the arrows out to another shopper who was consistently going against the suggested route.
Whereas a lot of people abide by the rules about distancing, others appear to carry on much as before. They may have other things on their mind (such as a mobile phone). They may not want to be told how to behave.
Maybe a psychologist will do a study called ‘The Psychology of Social Distancing.’
