Brimstone
ItalyWatch out for the excess, which can be MbuttIVE in Italy (I have seen 600 euro quoted!). Personally I would recommend booking in advance through Holiday Autos, as...
Only up to a point. AAMOF, the risk of pedestrians darting out unexpectedly should logically be much smaller at a pelicon than anywhere else on the road. Why would they walk to a crossing place then not use it properly? Why not just run across the road at any old spot?
That can only work up to a point. There is no practicable speed at which vehicles can approach a crossing such that they can be stopped for just any imaginable emergency. And in any case, why would this be the case at crossings in particular? As mentioned above, logical analysis suggests that "the unexpected" is more likely to happen away from pedestrian crossings - otherwise, why would a pedestrian be at the crossing at all?
Since it is simply not possible to be "prepared for any eventuality" (other than by driving at walking pace, which still would not defend the vehicle's own occupants against, for instance, an unexpected side-collision), that does not arise.
Neither does it mean that if there is a collision, it must be the driver's fault.
Exactly that once happened to me at Sherdley Park in St Helens - a kid (aged about 10) rode out smartly across "my" carriageway from an entirely hidden position behind a wall at an ornamental gate. I was doing 40 in a 40 and was 30 feet or less from him. He was the luckiest little bugger ever, because against all the odds, I managed to stop (broadside on). My fault, I suppose. I should have realised that someone would cycle out from behind a wall.
...er... exactly.
Within reason, as your own anecdote illustrates.
