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@oddsock
i see it sort of like a food chain: the faster and more powerful vehicles have the responsibility to look out for the slower, less powerful, and generally less predictable. So we (as cyclists) have every right to expect motorists to be extra careful around us, and I have no sympathy for drivers who fsck us around.
But when it comes to peds, we have the same responsibility: if you cycle on the pavement, run a red light, forget your lights one night, you're already in the wrong - I'm not saying don't do it, just accept that it's your responsibility to get through safely. We also have to accept that pedestrians just are going to walk out in front of us on charing cross road or whatever - so we just have to slow down and be ready to stop on a penny. Yes it's annoying and yes it's our right of way (or apparently not according to cornelius!) but what can you do? You have to treat them like slightly mobile street furniture...
having said that, i sympathise with socialamnesia's case - it sounds like there was genuineley no way to predict or avoid that and it's a shame that the woman's nose got squashed as a result.