All this occurred in busy areas, where people were shopping, children crossing roads and where there were many cyclists. But objecting to these dri ving habits is like protesting about sexual explicitness. This is a bizarre situation, especially in comparison with the rules of the sea. There, logically, engine gives way to sail, which gives way to oar. On the roads it's the opposite, everything gives way to the most powerful force.
Traffic flow is always the priority.
Yet in other European countries where cities and villages give priority to pedestrians and cars slow down, there is no obvious cost to the transport system or economy. The Netherlands has even experimented in some areas with removing all road signs, designing the road to look like a pedestrian area. Speeds drop dramatically and so do road accidents. Not surprisingly, our streets are emptying of pedestrians. This is the only reason why Britain's pedestrian death rate is not considerably higher.