There’s a lunch spot at the top of the T but I have to cross the stem of the T to reach the top of the T.
Why are they doubling my chances to get hit when they could just add another crosswalk and let me cross one street instead of two? Are they stupid?
When I was visiting Quebec City, I noticed that their traffic lights would all go red for cars and the pedestrian lights would come on for every direction. People would cross the intersection in whatever way was fastest for them (even diagonally) because the cars all had to wait for pedestrians anyway. It was super nice as someone walking.
The lights here do that as well. It’s an argument I still have with my teens: you should still use the crosswalks as the most visible place to cross, and walk directly across on the shortest path.
But they recognize all lights are red. If they walk diagonally, they cross both streets at the same time but if they stay in the walk there may not be time
Yup, a diagonal crosswalk is part of a “pedestrian scramble”. Someone posted the wiki article elsewhere in this post.
Sure but you can’t be the only ones doing it. It’s safer to be predictable and visible, follow whatever the local conventions/regulations/laws are
The scramble is a formal design convention, requiring lights, signage and markings, it’s not a YOLO pedestrian manuever.