There seems to be a compulsive need to press the button when crossing the street at traffic lights.
This morning on the way to work I was waiting at the lights (after I'd pressed the button), and a guy walks up next to me, and, invading my personal space, reaches in front of my face to press the button.
Hmm yes, good thing you pressed that button mate, because hell, I probably didn't do it, and anyway, the more times you press it the faster the lights will respond.
I wonder sometimes if those buttons are even connected to the traffic light system, or whether they are there to make pedestrians feel better. Kinda like a stress ball.
Posted by davechan at December 15, 2003 11:06 AMStress ball. And I am a firm believer that the more you push it, the more presses it registers, and therefore THINKS that more people are waiting to cross, therefore increasing the importance of the light changing! -*pfft*- so there.
Posted by: lisa at December 16, 2003 03:30 AMPedestrians that are crossing roads are given right of way over any cars turning in Melbourne.
Yes, there are still greenman crossing lights, but as soon as the main road lights change people start crossing. If there are no lights, a person is given right of way over a turning car.
Makes it very dangerous returning to Perth and waltzing across the roads with friends screaming for my safety.
Posted by: kt at December 16, 2003 09:09 AMYeah, I can remember feeling cross with motorists when I first moved to Perth because even when you've got a little green man (ie it's your, the pedestrian's, turn to cross the street) you're still in danger of being mown down by turning traffic.
Also, there aren't enough pedestrian lights in Perth. There are too many intersections where the pedestrian has to:
1. wait for the TRAFFIC light to go green
2. bless themselves and cross their fingers
3. dash across the road and hope (pray) that they don't get hit by the turning traffic.
Perth is the least pedestrian-friendly Australian city I've ever been to (but at least it's not Bali).
Posted by: Fiona at December 16, 2003 02:14 PMA lot of these pedestrian buttons in Melbourne have a little red light that lights up when you press it. Yet people STILL walk up to it, see that the red light is already on, and press it anyway. It's like obsessive compulsive or something :)
Posted by: Phil at December 16, 2003 04:22 PM