Doing the Zebra

[steepholm]

Okay, I'm doing this mostly to see whether I can work out how to post a poll, but I am interested in the results, as it's a moral quandary that has stumped me for years...

[Poll #1808368]

Comments

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

And intriguingly, I find that as a bye and large, male drivers are politer over giving way than female drivers which is not what I might have expected......

[diceytillerman.livejournal.com]

What is a zebra crossing?

[ron-broxted.livejournal.com]

Depends on the mood I am in.

[larryhammer]

For reference, I live in a jurisdiction where pedestrians in marked crossings have the right-of-way, and the drivers are legally required to stop for same. (This varies in the States by state and by city.) I like to acknowledge and thank them for obeying the law of courtesy.

---L.

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

I live in a place where the streets are not designed for modern traffic - there's a lot of giving way and being thoughtful required to make things work. About 90% of the time drivers politely thank each other and acknowledge the thanks. I think that makes everyone feel better and helps it feel as though the world is working smoothly.

Zebra crossings seem much the same to me. As a pedestrian I acknowledge drivers when they stop for me - if nothing else, it seems worth saying 'thanks for not being an arsehole'. And as a driver, I smile at the pedestrians when I've stopped for them.

I do also enjoy yelling obscenities at rude drivers and those who don't stop at zebra crossings.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Watch warily in case they decide to run me over anyway.

[gillo]

I generally nod or make a polite hand gesture, much as I do if a driver has let my car out of a junction. Politeness costs nothing, even if the driver was legally required to stop.

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

I usually raise my hand in a "thanks" gesture and make eye-approximation-contact (often I can't actually see into the car to find the driver). I do it basically as positive reinforcement so that they're more likely to stop at crossings in the future - and that's why I don't necessarily think pedestrians *should* to it!

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

Random, vaguely relevant thing that fascinates me:

We visited Vietnam in 1996 and eventually learned to trust the fact that, despite the apparently chaotic and ferocious traffic and the total lack of pedestrian crossings, if a pedestrian makes eye contact with a driver and strides out with confidence, the driver will give way.

Around that time, it was reported in the UK press that a policeman had also been on holiday to Vietnam, made the same observation, and thereby realised that Vietnamese immigrants in his part of the UK were prone to getting run over because making eye-contact over here generally means that the pedestrian waits.

[dorianegray.livejournal.com]

Given the behaviour of most drivers approaching the zebra crossing I use most often, I generally glare at them, daring them to run me over.

Actually, come to think, that's generally my reaction to any approaching driver anywhere I'm crossing a road.

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

To be honest, the friendliness of my wave and smile does tend to depend on a number of factors. The drivers who get the friendliest treatment tend to be the ones immediately after the ones who didn't bother to stop at all.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I watch the drivers like hawks. When I make eye contact, it's to emphasize the "PLEASE do not run over me!" message. I do nod my head, smile, and sometimes lift a hand (in acknowledgement, not aggression) to those drivers who are not actively attempting to eat my leg with their car bumpers.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Somewhere between 'wave & smile' and 'surly nod' - an unsurly nod, maybe, with possible added smile if I feel that way.

Actual wave & smile seems excessive (I am English, after all).

[intertext.livejournal.com]

In Canada, it depends on where you are. In Montreal, for example, you take your life in your hands when crossing the street. In Toronto, you can quite literally stop traffic, and the sense of power is quite heady. Here in BC, it kind of depends where the intersection is and the mood of the driver. Drivers are obliged to stop, but don't always, and I always smile at them and/or wave or nod if they do.
The term zebra crossing is not used here, either. I only know it from my British origins.