I've travelled a few places in my day, and getting around town is always interesting. Canada is pretty similar from what I've seen. Some narrow windy streets in Vancouver to no right turn rules in Quebec. Bangkok was dirty, London and LA were just clogged, and in East Africa, well, anything seems to go with the lines just suggested examples of where to drive.
I was surprised in Washington DC to find people crossing roads on a red. Lots of pedestrian signs, lights, timers and well done cross walks. So, lack of direction is not a problem. But yet, almost every crossing, people just walked across the road as long as there was not a car that would instantly hit them. I even saw a couple with 2 little kids in strollers crossing busy downtown streets like that!
I felt like an idiot standing there, unwilling to cross. I don't think I'm a stickler for traffic law, or unwilling to 'do as the Romans do'. Perhaps I just don't want to die. At times, groups of people would dart out as traffic allowed, and others would follow to not be left standing there. Leaving me all alone, waiting for the green light. What a dork. I asked several natives about this and they just chuckled and said 'That's what we do here'. One lady told me that almost once a week there is someone that is hit by a car. And yet, they just keep crossing on the red.
I asked a Somali taxi driver to explain and he just shook his head. It's on the traffic to stop, regardless, or it's all on the driver. The individual without the car needs to be protected. Single women sometimes will also dart out of the cab without paying, and a Somali taxi driver can't chase a pretty lady down on the street without fear of repercussion. So where on earth does this pedestrian power come from? Why do pedestrians feel entitled to doing what they want, when they want, without the rules applying to them? Even with police everywhere, I saw them stand around as people just walked where they want, when they want.
Just a cultural thing? Possibly. Perhaps a strong sense the the rights and freedoms of the less powerful person (ie: not in a car) need equality with a bus? But I would be concerned that an attitude of 'the rules don't apply to me, I'm special' in the nation's capital impacts on the running of that nation. I'm not sure how the nation's capital can turn a blind eye to pedestrian entitlement, and the cost of vehicles on the road. Isn't this the one place where entitlement shouldn't be rampant?
