Street talk about jaywalking (2)

"I have traveled in 30 countries, and none has traffic as crazy as Beijing. The traffic situation in Beijing is either complete gridlock or a total free-for-all, with very little in between. My wife Shari and I discussed the notion of ticketing jaywalkers in Beijing and it made us laugh.

In California, where I live, there are laws against jaywalking, but they are seldom enforced. California has its share of crazy drivers too, but for the most part when a pedestrian is crossing the street we tend to give them the right of way, especially if they are on a crosswalk, and certainly if they have a green light.

In Beijing, there was one occasion where my wife grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back to stop me getting run down by a car making a right turn - and this was on a crosswalk where the light was in my favor! Anywhere else in the world, it would be clear that I had right of way.

From what I saw in Beijing, if there are pedestrian safety issues, the problem lies more with the drivers than pedestrians, and it doesn't matter if they are jaywalking or not."

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