Truly, I reckon once you've seen them you're safe. I've just always backed off nice and calm and never had a problem. I've heard many credible stories about snakes chasing people but I've never yet heard of them catching them. It seems if you don't get bitten by the first strike you're pretty safe. I've got a picture of the first King Brown I ever saw. When I saw it it was 4m away but the photo was taken with a telephoto from 20m. With a clear escape path behind me.
