Crossing the road

Use a designated crossing point where one is provided. A marked crossing, or a point controlled by a robot or a police officer, is where drivers already expect people to be. Where there is no crossing point, cross on a straight stretch of road where you can see clearly in both directions and be seen from both directions.

Avoid crossing on a bend, near the brow of a rise, or out from between parked vehicles. Move along to a place where drivers and riders have a chance of seeing you first.

How to cross:

• Stop short of the kerb, at a point where you can see the traffic without standing in it. Where there is no pavement, keep back from the edge but keep your view of the road.
• Look right, then left, then right again, and listen.
• Let any approaching traffic pass. Always give way to vehicular traffic: away from a marked crossing, nothing on the road is obliged to stop for you.
• Wait for a gap big enough to walk the whole way across in. Traffic that looks a long way off may be moving quickly.
• Walk straight across. Do not run, and do not cross diagonally. A fall in the road is far worse than a wait at the kerb.
• Keep looking and listening the whole way over, and watch for a cycle or a motorcycle coming between lanes of stopped traffic.

Never cross in front of a stationary vehicle or behind a reversing one. A bus is the worst case of this. Crossing in front of one, or too close behind it, hides you from every driver coming past and hides them from you. If you have just got off a bus, wait for it to move off before you cross.

At a junction, watch for traffic turning into the road you are crossing, including traffic coming from behind you. A driver turning left or right must give way to any pedestrian already within a marked crossing.

If you have to cross between parked vehicles, treat their outer edges as the kerb: stop there, make sure you can see and be seen, and check that there is a gap on the far side to step into. Never cross close to a vehicle with its engine running.