Calling All UK Pedestrians!

[terminator363]

I've been wondering about this stupid thought I've had on my mind for ages; in my school everyone walking in my direction keeps right, and those walking in the other keep to their right. Now I am well aware that in the United Kingdom (and other nations), people drive on the left lane - so do those rules apply to walking also? I'm genuinely curious.

 

[Liquid]

We used to have signs in school saying 'keep left' and it is fairly common practice to do so out on the streets.

I find it very irritating when pedestrian traffic does not stick to the left.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Yes, people will stick to the left here... although you rarely see it, with the exception of stairs and places where you will get grief for now doing so (airports, schools with lane systems, etc). Most of the time people walk anywhere and everywhere (but not literally like in Russia).

 

[Omnis]

I've been wondering about this stupid thought I've had on my mind for ages; in my school everyone walking in my direction keeps right, and those walking in the other keep to their right. Now I am well aware that in the United Kingdom (and other nations), people drive on the left lane - so do those rules apply to walking also? I'm genuinely curious.

Walking is traditionally on the left side because that was where you kept a sword. Certainly, if you clunked swords with someone in feudal japan, you could expect your head to be lopped off. Crossing paths such that the sword was on the outside was therefore the way to go.

You might say rootin' tootin' Amurricans kept their guns on their right hip, and thus adopted crossing paths to the right.

 

[Liquid]

Well, the story goes that we Yuropeans had left handed traffic because most of the population is/was right handed, thus making it easier to whallop someone passing by or, more diplomatically, wave and offer a kindly handshake.

But that all changed when Napoleon attacked. He was left handed, and changed continental Europe onto the right hand side because that was easier for him. The United Kingdom, including Ireland at the time, being islands evaded this treachery.

Not sure how apocryphal that is though.

 

[Guardian]

Well, from my experience, walking is done predominantly on the left side. Especially when it comes to stairs etc.

 

[dhandeh]

Walking in a town centre is like a free for all. You got the 'shambling zombie' types, the 'obnoxious not looking where you are going' types, the 'let's stop randomly in random places types' or the 'barge into you like a selfish idiot' types. I thrilled a method of walking in zig save once and I avoided a lot of these aforementioned people. But on reverting to walking normally, it was carnage.

 

[Grayfox]

I get annoyed about people that walk like idiots too.

People that walk in the middle of the road in carparks, stand in the middle of isles in shopping centers or even in the middle of escalators.

 

[Dean]

I get annoyed about people that walk like idiots too.

People that walk in the middle of the road in carparks, stand in the middle of isles in shopping centers or even in the middle of escalators.

I can't agree more! It happens (though only occasionally) here too. - Very annoying, indeed .

 

[Daniel]

We drive on the left down here, so I guess the question applies to us, too . At school during room changes, all the students keep to their left when are stairs or indoor corridors. Outside or on any wide pathways, people walk wherever.

 

[DustDriver]

Here in Belgium, if there isn't a sidewalk, you have to walk on the left side of the road, so you can see the traffic coming on your side of the road.

For situations like hallways and such, most people just walk on the right side.

 

[Carbonox]

Here in Belgium, if there isn't a sidewalk, you have to walk on the left side of the road, so you can see the traffic coming on your side of the road.

That's how it always should be. When I'm walking on the sidewalk of a street, I always make sure I'm walking in the opposite direction of the traffic on my side. Otherwise some drunkard riding the sidewalk could easily give you a nasty surprise.

 

[W3H5]

I'm all for order in walking, which is why I love Hong Kong streets with left hand walking lanes. Here in mainland China it's chaos, just like the roads. :insane:

 

[mattythedog]

In the outside world, I stick to wherever is least busy, mainly because my walking speed is about twice as fast as all the dawdlers. In the school corridors, I just follow the person in front of me, whichever side they may be on. There seems to be no set side.

 

[Ross]

In school, there is no set side to walk on and the younger students just tend to get out of the older students' way. In my local shopping centre, it varies a lot, some days, people walk on the left and other times on the right so I just go the side wherever most of the people walking in the same direction as me are. On the streets, I really don't know because I live in quite a quiet town so there often aren't many people walking around.

I would describe myself as a fast walker though as I usually walk faster than most.

 

[Michael88]

Reminds me of a really bad accident I had with my bicycle because a bunch of elderly people couldn't decide on what side of the road to walk.

They were walking in the middle of the road in a blind corner (how dumb can you be? ), there was no time to brake, I slammed into an old guy with 40 mph / 65 kmh (thats what my bikes tachometer said seconds before the accident), got thrown off my bike, fell in a concrete ditch, made several rollovers, hit a boundary stone with my chest and when I finally came to rest I got hit by my own bike.
I only suffered from a dozen bruises, scratches and a palm sized part of skin and flesh was completely torn of my knee down to the bone. (which resulted in a huge infection a few days later)
My bike was majorly damaged in that accident but fortunately I could repair it.

I only hit the bike the old guy was pushing so he was largely unharmed. (I wish that stupid idiot broke his neck)

 

[Yukon]

I tend to stay on the left hand side, though I've never really thought about it. When I was in school we were told that you were to walk on the left through the corridors to make life a little easier for everyone, that way no one is walking into each other and having a little dance whilst deciding which way to pass someone.

Town is bad, oh man. Don't even get me started on super markets.

 

[TyrrellRacing]

Card factory is by far the worst for overcrowding. Especially when a fat git and their other, very large, half block most of the aisle leaving an uneasy queue of people waiting to get past and block the aisles themselves.

Otherwise I suppose it's a general free for all in most places, but I never seem to see much overcrowding, and certainly not in town.

 

[Im_Lukas]

At school we're told to walk on the left but you soon realise that everyone walks on the right, when the corridors get crowded though it just ends up with following the person in front because you always get people who decide the middle of a busy corridor is the perfect place to have a conversation.

Outside of school people tend to walk on the left so the person closer to the road can see the oncoming vehicles. Sometimes the right (or even the road) has to be used as the overtaking lane when you come across slower moving humans though.

 

[Crash]

I typically stay to the right when walking. But I'm an American.

When I was in the UK, I noticed that most people would stick to the left when walking or going up/down stairs. Me, being used to walking on the other side, would often forget and end up walking against the flow of pedestrians. This was especially an issue when trying to enter the London Underground during busy times.

 

[axletramp]

It might just be me, but I tend to get the feeling I'm walking around faster than other people. I end up zigzagging through the streets, drafting slow walkers and picking the best overtaking moment.

I have no time for people that dither...

 

[W3H5]

It might just be me, but...

Not just you. I do exactly the same.

 

[Grayfox]

I am quite the opposite, when I am walking behind an old person I will pull out early and just overtake them like one would do when they see a sow truck ahead.

 

[Sprite]

My work have "Keep Left" notices on the stairs to stop people colliding and causing accidents. Leeds train station seems to be a free for all on a busy morning. I think York train station also have "Keep Left" signs up on stairs too.

 

[terminator363]

Not just you. I do exactly the same.

This. I find myself being the fastest walker on the street. V-Tec just kicked in bro...

 

[Slash]

Here in the US, we walk on the right side of the road, sidewalk or not.

 

[Barra333]

Walking in a town centre is like a free for all. You got the 'shambling zombie' types, the 'obnoxious not looking where you are going' types, the 'let's stop randomly in random places types' or the 'barge into you like a selfish idiot' types. I thrilled a method of walking in zig save once and I avoided a lot of these aforementioned people. But on reverting to walking normally, it was carnage.

Each of those categories of people needs to be appended with 'while staring at their iPhone'

 

[kikie]

Here in Belgium, if there isn't a sidewalk, you have to walk on the left side of the road, so you can see the traffic coming on your side of the road.

For situations like hallways and such, most people just walk on the right side.

Or don't even bother and walk where ever they please and don't even bother the upcoming traffic or cars in general.

 

[Saf1]

Generally, on empty stairs, the more favourable side. eg where I used to work (NHS Direct (health advisor)) the stairs had guardrails either side but I would usually go for the right side as the left side was adjacent to a wall and "not as good". Difficult to articulate what I mean, in general I prefer walking in the middle rather than edges (anywhere). The issue though is OVERPOLITENESS AT DOORS. Too many people giving way and no one gets through, at a building with 400 employees and one entrance this is not good for your punctuality