Where I live, there’s a law that says all vehicles have to yield for pedestrians at crosswalks. Of course this would be a thing, otherwise crosswalks would only be as good as any part of the road. Despite this, it’s a largely unfollowed rule, to severe degrees. To the extent that me and some friends have a “running gag” (generous way to put it) where some of us bet on who can wait at a crosswalk point and cross the street the quickest without going ahead before cars decided to stop. Tonight I had to wait twenty minutes for a black jeep to stop, the longest I’ve had to wait for years (and side note, I noticed that drivers of certain vehicle types/colors are more likely to stop for you), so I lost that bet tonight if we were doing it.
Some of us have also apparently led drivers to having bad vibes because some of us have used our phones to take extensive video of what’s going on, causing angry drivers (never referring to the ones that do stop for us) to yell that we’re invading privacy. And the response is always something along the line of “what are you going to do, would you really risk exposing yourself just to make a complaint that someone is making a video” before posting them to groups like the main Tumblr road conflict group (such stuff being hidden from there at the moment).
So what’s the longest you’ve ever had to wait to cross the street? And do you notice any etiquette trends like I describe in that one part?
In Denmark cars only have to stop at zebra crossings if you walk.
So i just stare into the eyes of the driver and walk. Of course not if theyre too close, and wont be able to stop.
That is not true. If a pedestrian is waiting in front of a zebra crossing, the cars have to stop.
It has been really complicated to teach our kids. Yes kids, the cars have to stop when you wait. No they usually do not actually stop, unless you look like you are going to walk out in front of them. No you don’t walk out in front of them, that would be dangerous. Yes, you have to look like you are going to walk out in front of them, without actually doing it, unless you clearly see they are going to stop. And yes, you still have to be ready to jump back in case they don’t actually stop, but just look like it.
Above is the reality. What it should be like: Kids, you stop and wait at a zebra crossing, then the cars stop on both sides, and then you cross.
IIRC in Denmark any pedestrian who has taken a step onto the road should be treated as an invisible zebra crossing. It’s only really taught at driving lessons in order to not risk making pedestrians lazy when checking for cars and go in harm’s way.