The Rudest Pedestrians In The World

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m sure we all have our anecdotal stories of just how rude some pedestrians can be. But I am now convinced the rudest of the rude are those at a particular road crossing in London.

See for yourself: http://www.abbeyroad.com/crossing

Yeah, it’s that famous road crossing permanently etched in our minds from the cover photo on the 1970 Beatles album, Abbey Road. The photo was actually taken on 08 August 1969. This time of the year, especially around the anniversary date, it seems everyone wants their own special photo. Fair enough.

But do you have to be so f***ing rude to drivers about it? On and off the past several days I’ve been watching the live video feed (complete with audio). It’s amazing how so many just walk right out into traffic, forcing drivers to slam on their brakes. You think this was any old street in Portland, Oregon (crosswalk or not).

Then again, to be somewhat fair to all the peds, there are always a few drivers that just blow through the pedestrian crossing, regardless if anyone is in the crosswalk. Bicyclists and motorcyclists seem to be the worst of the lot. Yesterday, one motorcyclist was second in line behind a stopped truck only to say “screw it!” and illegally pass the stopped truck and blow through the crosswalk narrowly missing several pedestrians.

2

Oh god. Within 10 seconds of watching that, I saw some people try to do the walk, forcing a car to slam on its breaks. 30 seconds later 4 guys dressed like the Beatles show up, but there was already 3 people in front of them pausing in the middle of the road to take pictures. They should just tear that crap up or install an overhead walkway or something

3

That crossing is a real nightmare for drivers. We have very strict rules about having to stop for pedestrians waiting to cross a pedestrian crossing which the vast majority of drivers are really good about complying with, but that means you just can’t move on that bit of road. I noticed a couple of taxis just blowing through - presumably they drive this stretch so often that they realise they have to break the rules or they’d never get anywhere.