"PeterE" wrote in message
...

But the reason people are allowed to walk alongside roads, and not
alongside
railways, is that roads are inherently safer because the vehicles can stop
much more quickly than rail vehicles, and also steer out of the way of
danger.

It's just a shame that so many walkers in this country are ignorant of the
advice to walk *towards* oncoming traffic, rather than in the same direction
as the traffic. There was a major accident involving a pedestrian, a coach
and an HGV earlier this week - it appears that the coach hit the pedestrian
and then veered into the HGV. What's the betting that the pedestrian was
walking in the gutter, heading in the same direction as the traffic? It's
such a simple philosophy - if you walk towards oncoming traffic and remain
aware then you have the opportunity to take sudden, evasive action if a
vehicle fails to see you or swerves towards you.

Likewise the logic in keeping left on pavements - if an approaching vehicle
is out of control or has a wing mirror or other item overhanging the
pavement then you see it coming, rather than when it clouts you from behind
at some force.