Definition of Assume

I was walking back from the MRT station when I witnessed a case of plain assumption made by both parties.

A little info on the incident place.

Location was at this traffic light which has this slip road coming into the main road. Zebra-crossing is situated at the slip road for the convenience and safety of pedestrians crossing to the other side.

What happened:

Cyclist A started to cycle when it was green man. No fault here. Pedestrians and cyclists have learnt to co-exist on the traffic light - green and red man.

However, pedestrians would stop at zebra-crossing before crossing. Not for the cyclist. He cycled on and assumed that the lorry would stop. Lorry did not stop before the zebra crossing because there was no indication anyone is crossing. So you can imagine what happened.

Lorry nearly knocked down the cyclist. Luckily lorry stopped in time. However, cyclist still thought that it's the lorry's fault and scolded the driver vulgarities.

I stand by the lorry driver. Because

1. never assume that vehicles will stop just because there's a zebra crossing. Drivers are taught to slow down but NOT STOP when approaching the zebra crossing.

2. cyclist is clearly at fault. He took the short cut and zipped through the crowds and just cut into the slip road. Never look out for vehicles.

3. the position of the lorry jam braked and where the cyclist almost fell is a good 2 meters away from the zebra-crossing. The evidence clearly points out whose fault it is.

Moral behind this story:

Never assume. Because it will be an ass out of u and me.



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