2

Legally in Belgium, you must stop at a pedestrian crossing with no light if someone shows they want to cross. So when I stop driving to allow people to just walk over I expect them to just walk over to the other side of the road.

However more often than not I see that people crossing the road start running (or speed-walking) over to the other side of the road, especially when they're alone to cross over.

It seems like they just want to hurry up so I'm stopped for a shorter time. I personally don't mind losing the one second they give me by running. I'll more than likely lose it anyways at the next traffic light.

On the other side, it seems to me that running while crossing is dangerous, as there are more chances to have a problem.

  • women with heels have a greater chance to break their ankle
  • people might not see as easily a (motorized or not) bike passing on the bike lane at my right, and that my car is hiding to them, reciprocally the biker might not see the people crossing as well either.
  • by experience, if I hold something I can lose it on the street easier when I run than when I walk.

The bike issue, for instance, already happened twice this year when I was waiting for someone to finish rushing, and in the end, instead of making me gain time, they made me lose something like 15-20 seconds.

Personally when I cross a road, I just walk to the other side, even if I see some other people rushing to the other side of the road. No one ever honked at me to make me go faster.

Given the small estimated gain and the much higher risk of having a problem I don't see why people rush to the other side of the road, especially since in Belgium you must let people cross. Can anyone explain why this happens?

Improve this question
11
  • 6
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because interpersonal skills are about the ability to communicate or interact well with other people... Questions about why people behave a certain why aren't really answerable...
    – Tinkeringbell ♦
    Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 13:41
  • 2
    'Should I run' has other problems: It is opinion based. You should focus your question on communication or interaction with other people... Is there maybe an underlying reason why your asking this?
    – Tinkeringbell ♦
    Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 13:46
  • 1
    See this. I think you could ask 'is this rude (if everybody else is running and I'm sauntering behind them).... But this is an interesting question, I would like to take this to meta if you're okay with that @Olivier?
    – Tinkeringbell ♦
    Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 13:53
  • 1
    @Tinkeringbell Of course I'm okay with that.
    – Someone
    Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 13:54
  • 3
    I feel like we've had questions of this sort ("Why do people do [X]?") before, and I think they've been well-received. I'll try and link them here.
    – HDE 226868
    Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 13:54

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

For the same reason you cross in a straight line instead of diagnal, you don't drive in the left lane you only pass in the left lane, and you figure out what you want before you get to the drive through window at a fast food joint - it's courteous. You are considerate of other people's time and it keeps the world moving efficiently.

What happens when there's a line of cars behind you and he does a leisurely stroll? That 5 extra seconds wasted on just you is now 5 wasted seconds for each person in the line and he just ended up wasting a man-minute, made traffic more unsafe (you know why you're stopping, but does that car 10 cars back?), and indicated that he thinks his time is more important than everyone else waiting on him.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.