Zombie apocalypse

I often wonder if, by the process of making things as safe as possible, that we have created a situation where people simply no longer see the danger that is right in front of them.

I have spent the last week working across South and West London, and spent some time at Putney Bridge Station; on NUMEROUS occasions throughout my visits there, I saw people putting themselves in the path of danger, and whilst some were distracted by phones/headphones, not all were.



On the image above, the red rectangles show where buses are parked, and generally this particular area is stuffed so full of buses that they often have to exit and re-enter the station as there is simply nowhere for them to park. The yellow line shows the path for buses that are not parking, but are passing through, stopping only to pick up passengers.

Note the red rectangle that overlaps the yellow line with a blue line through it. This rectangle represents the length of a bus, and shows its 'footprint' at the point where its rear offside wheel would be in a position to allow the bus to turn to the right to pass through the station. The blue line shows the path where pedestrians cut across the road, rather than walk around the pavement which is represented by the green line.

On Wednesday, one chap stepped of the pavement right in front of a bus - and I mean RIGHT in front of it. The driver of the bus thankfully had his wits about him, and stopped the bus in time, and Mr Thicko continued without even realising just how close he had come to being a bonnet mascot on a 12 ton double decker.

On Tuesday, the station was so congested, I was having to guide buses back as they reversed to get around the corner; I had one bus nudging backwards with two buses parked on the left and three on the right - there was less than a foot of space on either side of this bus, it was that tight. Yet despite the buses reverse alarm sounding, and me yelling at the top of my voice for people to get out of the way, people continued to stream across the road to cut the corner.

I have been on the receiving end of the back end of a double decker, and I can tell you without doubt that it bloody well hurts - with a capital F! Yet day in and day out, I watched people obliviously wander within inches of moving vehicles, seemingly unaware of the danger.

I cannot help but feel that we have put in so much to protect people, that they no longer see what is right in front of them - their own safety is not their responsibility.