Do you wait for the WALK signal before crossing the street?

Princess Alice

I'm curious.

I get the impression that most people just cross whenever they find a gap, and that kinda makes sense to me.

But I always wait, because despite my distaste for authority I feel wrong when I'm not following silly rules to the letter.

Obā-san

I always wait, 'cause drivers around here are crazy.


Doesn't stop me from almost getting run over, so (*Shrug*)

Imipolex G

Depends on the exact situation. On busier roads I definitely will. Otherwise I jaywalk like a sociopath

PlutoniumFist

Salix Babylonika

There's only a single one in the town I live in, and no one obeys it--not even the cops. So no, I do not.

Ace Rimmer

Is the "WALK" sign the same as the green man because if it is then no I don't wait for it, I wait for a gap in the traffic,

Icalasari

I do

Unless I missed hitting the switch in time in which case fuck that

Why the hell are some of the green walking lights here manual instead of automatic?

ProfessorGator

Sometimes when I'm in a rush, I wait for a gap and then go for it. But the vast majority of the time, I wait for the walk signal. Sometimes, it's conveniently already on.

On the opposite end, I sometimes have problems with people wanting to make turns when the walk signal is on. I'm fairly sure the left turn arrow was red when you started turning, good sir.

Ace Rimmer

^

There are automatic Zebra crossings in the US?

Thats quite interesting

ProfessorGator

I think so, yeah. The ones I encounter on the way to school are mostly automatic, but one of them only seems to respond if you press the button.

Jumpingzombie

It depends. Heavy traffic I make sure to wait. However, the signals here are faulty and sometimes they won't change or take many minutes to change. In such a case, I just go when it's clear.

Justice4243

I count myself amongst the "it depends" folk.

In related news, I'm pissed off that Google Chromes doesn't think "amongst " is a word.

.-.

...Faw face fail, I mean...

._.

splash

Usually, but hardly any streets in my town have signals for that anyway. It's nice living in a small town, anyway. Hardly any cars.

Princess Alice

I had a weird one the other day: I was on Sycamore Street trying to cross Front Street. I waited until Sycamore got a green light, but...the pedestrian signal never changed. It just stayed on the steady red hand.

I figured this was one of those intersections where you had to push the button for the walking man to ever light up. But there's one problem...the only button to cross Front Street was on the opposite corner.

That's when I just said "screw it", made sure nobody was turning, and ran across the street anyway.

Gelzo

It depends, but I do default to waiting for the sign. I feel embarrassed when someone else crosses and I don't, so I usually follow them unless they're getting in the way of traffic.

Princess Alice

I do that, too.

Also, any time I do cross against the light, I check the traffic lights first for green arrows, because it's infuriating when a pedestrian crosses against the light and wastes your protected left turn phase, especially when traffic is heavy.

Justice4243

^ I agree, though Portland seems mostly good about this where it lets green arrow traffic clear out first, the lets the pedestrians across. When they're both green at the same time, I book it across the cross-walk.