Toltec wrote:
malcolmw wrote:
Hmmm...
If you have the ability to stop "instantly", swerve easily and so on then you should have the primary responsibility to avoid others as you have the capability to do so. The less agile the road user the less responsibility would be attributed to them as their room for corrective action is less.
This actually sounds pretty sensible.

Isn't that what shipping does? Smaller craft have to avoid the big ones which cannot stop or steer easily.
Not quite - Racing Sailing Boats (Think they have overall rights but they don't - a;though many will try to not get in their way !)

So then : > Sailing Boats then Motor Powered that's it in essence but if you are a tug boat moving a floating Oil Rig then the sailing boat is going to go around you, and this tends to apply to Oil tankers that take a mile to stop in and their turning circle is measured in miles !
So not surprising then that there are exceptions and then there is the Common Sense, approach.
I think that going down the path of assigning response ability to be responsibile toward those that might be harmed more easily, or those that are 'more' vulnerable, is not the basic root to ID of the real issues, because how can you
know that someone is deaf or blind or otherwise impaired or afflicted ? You don't, now and again a white stick may help ....or a dog with a reflective band but that cannot be any guarantee to know of the ailment - service dogs also wear these now too!
We have to ensure that at all times we leave space all around us, to allow for our safety and all those about us. By predicting and being aware this encompasses the potential danger of threat from pedestrians and all other road users. Likewise pedestrians & all other road users must look out for themselves too.