Keith S. Taber
If you are going to have an accident in Cambridge and do not wish to get into trouble, you should make sure you take due care. Apparently it is permissible to drive into someone, and then drive off without checking they are okay or offering your details, as long as this is not deliberate, and simply due to you not looking where you are driving, or perhaps being in a hurry because you know you should not really have stopped the car where you are blocking a pedestrian crossing.
Science is full of stories of happy accidents – serendipity. Negotiating the traffic in Cambridge risks less happy ones. Last week I was nearly hit twice whilst undertaking the hazardous activity of crossing roads – using pedestrian crossings. That is probably not so unusual in Cambridge or many other cities, but it led me to reflect on some of the psychology involved, and also on how the Cambridgeshire Police understand the terms "accident" and "due care and attention".
The fist incident was a near miss
As I crossed the road, when indicate by the green symbol of a person walking, a cyclist braked suddenly to prevent herself running into me. My initial response – a slight shock, indignation, anger – was dissipated very quickly.
- The cyclist did not stop at the red lights.
- Did she not see the light indicating she must stop?
- Did she see the light, but not care about the rule?
- Did she see me crossing but think she would not hit me – till the last moment when she had to brake violently?
- Should I tell her off (once a school teacher…); tell her to read the rules of the road; tell her to visit an optician…?
The cyclist quickly indicated an apology. The negative feeling dissipated immediately. No harm done. My mood brightened and I went on my way.
On the second occasion it was a car driver at fault, and this time I was hit
Now, to be fair, it was more a brush or a kiss than a thump – but I was driven into. The car had been completely stopped across the crossing. This often happens in Cambridge. Despite the reputation of the place for clever people, this does not extend to many of the road users. During the rush hour cars drive onto crossings even when there is a long queue of traffic directly in front of the crossing that is not going anywhere. Even some bus drivers do this. The indignation that people do this selfish thing, annoys me much less than the fact that they do this even though it is obvious that they can gain nothing from it. When the traffic is that busy, it perhaps allows them to make the next 20 metres 30 seconds quicker than if they had driven correctly. But it does not get them to the next set of lights any quicker – it just gets them to the back of the slow moving queue, in precisely the place in the queue that they have had all along, slightly earlier than if they had not blocked the crossing. How stupid are these drivers not to realise that? I seriously think that even if such selfishness does not debar them from driving – such a lack of basic intelligence should.
When the green light and audible bleep signalled pedestrians could cross a number of us set out across the crossing. Well the nearest half of it, because we could not get across the other side of the road without leaving the marked path, or walking over the car. (I've often been tempted in these situations to climb across the car – but that would make me as petty as the drivers who behave this way.) The other alternatives, excluding a superhuman leap, were to walk behind or in front of the car. Only a very small part of the car extended in front of the crossing path, so I went in front. I assumed this was safer as the driver could not help but see me. I was surprised then when the car started up and drove into me. I was in front of a car, about a metre from the driver, and she drove into me. Presumably she did not see me, directly in front of her car!
No harm done, again? Physically, no harm done. Not a mark.
It was what happened next that hurt
Or perhaps rather what did not happen next. I waved my arms and shouted something at the driver along the lines 'you should not stop on the crossing; you should not drive into people'. If she really was so stupid that she did not already know that, I am not sure my advice would have been understood, but I had just been hit by a car, and it was an impulsive response. I was agitated, and I raised my voice and waved my arms – but I was not rude or abusive and I did not use foul language. What the driver did not do was… look at me, say anything, acknowledge me. She stared straight ahead as if I was not there (which presumably was what she had also thought when she drove her car into me).
If she had simply mouthed 'sorry' or something similar, I might have carried on uttering platitudes for a few more seconds, but then it would have been over. I would have had closure. I would have thought she was in the wrong and careless – but not that she was so ignorant that she did not think the likes of me were worthy of her attention.
She drove off, but I followed her along the pavement. This was easy as she only got to the back of where the queue had reached, so as I overtook her on foot, at walking pace, maybe 20 seconds later, I paused to make a note of her registration number.
When I got home I looked on line and sought to made a report to the local police
There was a form for reporting 'driving without due care and attention'. I am not a lawyer, a police office, nor even a driver, but it seemed to me that if you stop your car on a pedestrian crossing and then drive into someone who is directly in front of your car you are either
- deliberately callous, or
- not taking due care and attention.
I spent about 30 minutes completing the form with all the details of the location, the incident, and a description of the car and driver.
Would I be prepared to make a formal statement
the form asked. That would be inconvenient, as the police station where I live does not seem to be manned very often (or at least, given there are nearly always plenty of cars in the car park, no one seems available to talk to the public) but if I think there is a civic duty to report an offence then I should be prepared do so. So, yes.
Would I be prepared to give evidence in court?
That would be really inconvenient, but again, if I think people in a civil society should take responsibility (the next pedestrian this person drives into may actually get hurt) then I had to agree.
What did I want to happen?
Well clearly not prison. Not a court appearance. Not even a fine. Just contact from the police saying this had been reported, and the driver should be more careful in future to follow the highway code, and to look where they are driving. A warning that says you cannot carrying on behaving this way. A warning I would not have thought was needed had the driver simply said 'sorry' or 'how stupid of me' or even or 'are you okay'? Or, even just looked at me and offered an apologetic smile. Anything to acknowledge this was wrong, and that she might try to take more care in future.
Noted for intelligence [unlike the driver]
The actual outcome was an email from Cambridgeshire Police – signed with the ironic byline 'Cambridgeshire Police – creating a safer Cambridgeshire' – informing me that the matter was noted for intelligence, but would not be followed up. Why? Because "we do not believe this would fall under driving without due care and attention, after reading the report it appears to be an accident where the driver did not see you"
I was busy composing a response to the effect that
- just because something is an accident, this does not mean it was not a matter of not driving without due care and attention – surely that's why most accidents happen?; and
- that if a driver did not hear the crossing's audible indicator, nor see the 'green person' light on either side of her head, and also did not see someone walking directly in front of her car at a distance of about one metre from her eyes, then it is hard to imagine that the driver could have been paying due care and attention (how little care and attention do the Cambridgeshire Police actually feel is necessary when driving, in order to help create a safer Cambridgeshire?)…
when I noticed that the email came from 'donotreplyvc@cambs.pnn.police.uk' – so presumably a reply was not wanted and would not be read.
(Interestingly I was also told that I should 'notify the sender if you have received this in error' using one of those legal disclaimer footers that so many organisations use unthinkingly in their emails. [For example, see: It's a secret conference invitation: pass it on…] Perhaps someone does read the replies, just to find those received in error, and ignores more substantive responses?)
So I was injured twice last week.
Not by the cyclist, as she said sorry.
But by the driver who drove into me and then would not even acknowledge me. I was physically unharmed (as I pointed out to the police in my report of the incident, "as hit and runs go – there was hardly a hit, and a very poor attempt to run") but treated as if less than human by someone who clearly felt no need to admit any sense of guilt over her poor behaviour, and was not prepared to show me the most basic respect that should be due to any other human being. Perhaps she had had a really bad day – but a simple sorry does not cost much.
And by the police, who responded to my report by offering an illogical argument for why they would not take any action – and then perhaps more importantly did not leave space for me to respond to point out the irrational nature of their justification.
It is the refusal to interact at the human level – to say sorry, to respect us as human beings, to consider our views – that does injury, as it is an assault on our spirit. Strangely, the incident with the cyclist actually improved my mood. I am not recommending we encourage more near misses to act as foci for human interaction – but that moment of humility when the cyclist offered an apology made a human connection and made me feel good about the world.
If you are reading this, cyclist, thank you (but do try to watch for traffic signals in future).
If you are reading this hit-and-run driver, and Cambridgeshire police, then perhaps remember that.
We all sometimes make mistakes, do silly things, utter illogical statements, have accidents – but often it is how we behave afterwards that matters most, and that can leave the world seeming an impoverished or enhanced place for those we interact (or decline to interact) with.
First published 27th October 2018 at http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/kst24/
