Narrowly avoiding coming to blows

OPINION: When was the last time you thought someone might be about to give you a smack in the head? For me, it was two Tuesdays ago.

I was pedalling down Trafalgar St at lunchtime when it happened. My potential head smacker was a ruddy-faced, 60-something, conservative-looking bloke with an English accent.

I passed him on the so-called courtesy crossing outside Farmers.

He had crossed the road and was standing near Bruce Mitchell's awesome Southern Cross sculpture when I rode by. As I did so, I heard him say something in my direction.

I stopped and inquired as to the nature of his remark. He mumbled something about cyclists and pedestrians which, again, I couldn't quite make out. However, it was clear he was not happy.

Considering I was at least two metres away from him when I rode over the courtesy crossing I asked: "Did you actually think I was going to hit you?"

A perfectly reasonable question, I would have thought, but he got more wound up and started raving about the paved platform being a pedestrian crossing and how cyclists and motorists had to give way, his face getting redder by the second.

I explained that, despite appearances, it was not a pedestrian crossing and that, in actual fact, vehicles had the right of way.

This made him even angrier and, getting all macho on me, he said that I should go while I still could.

Now, in the immortal words of Michael Jackson, "I'm a lover, not a fighter", so there was no way I was about to reach for a can of whoop-ass, but it did strike me as a particularly silly thing to say.

Aside from probably weighing 20 kilograms more than him and being 20 years younger, I was wearing a helmet.

He didn't look like the type to be carrying a knife, so I suggested that he take a deep breath and listen. I told him that the information I was attempting to impart could save him from being run over in future.

For reasons that are beyond me, this made him angrier still, so I said: "Look, if you don't believe me, we can go down to the city council just down there and they'll explain it to you."

Making about as much sense as Phil Heatley's credit card use, the bloke replied: "What about a cop? How would you like to take this up with a cop?"

I told him it sounded like a great idea, and looked up the road to see if I could spot one.

Incandescent with rage, the man gave up on the discussion and, glaring at me, hissed: "You pricks on bikes are all the same."

I thought about saying "You ignorant, angry idiots are all the same" but decided, under the circumstances, it was probably better not to.

Instead, I decided to check my facts about vehicles having right of way on the city's courtesy crossings. The police officer in charge of the Nelson Bays Traffic Unit is Sergeant Phil Wooding.

I asked him what the story was, and he said: "If a pedestrian is waiting to cross, a vehicle should, out of courtesy, stop, but there is no official obligation on them to do so".

However, this does not mean that motorists can roar over the crossings whenever they feel like it.

Phil went on to explain: "If a driver saw someone crossing and they took no action and proceeded to hit the pedestrian, they could very well face a charge of careless use of a motor vehicle."

Showing the clarity of thought that, no doubt, helped him become the Nelson Bays traffic unit's top cop, Phil went on to explain his personal philosophy on the use of courtesy crossings.

He makes a point of stopping before venturing across the road, makes eye contact with approaching drivers, waits for them to stop, and gives them a wave as he crosses.

Usually, people give him a wave back.

"I get a real boost out of it every time," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News