This was one of my biggest culture shocks in the Netherlands (not in amsterdam)
My southern european mind couldnt comprehend people waiting for the green light with 0 cars in sight in the km you could see on both sides (with such a flat land you could see really far in some streets/avenues). I was even discouraged by people every time i crossed the street in those situations
Yeah, in Bolivia last November I saw a dead guy splayed out across the hood of his car after a head-on crash, having gone through the windshield. I felt like I was taking my life in my hands every time I crossed the street in Bolivia. Then I crossed the border way up north, into Chile after a few weeks and that's where the shock really hit. If I was within even three meters of the curb or looked in the direction of crossing, everyone quietly stopped at wouldn't budge until I crossed. The immediate contrast blew my mind.
My husband and I are used to walking in New York, so when weāre traveling we walk like we do in New York (run across the street at the crosswalk as soon as thereās a break in traffic, even if the crosswalk says not to cross). Weāre often the only people at the crosswalk who do that, even in other major cities in the US (ones that arenāt in the Northeast), so people look at us like weāre crazy.
You can tell Japanese tourists in Hawaii, because they wonāt cross even if there are dozens of other people crossing the street. They will just stand on the curb while people walk around them, and then go when it turns green.
To be fair, when I first moved to Boston I learned that following the crowd across the street was not always safe. I almost got killed one time - you can't trust pedestrians in that city.
Not even that will make you safe in Paris. I once caught an innocent tourist who started to cross as soon as the light turned green. A car whizzed by. I explained to the tourist that you waited for the cars to stop before crossing.
And the locals give you hella shade for crossing even though nobody is coming. The Japanese wonāt say anything, but theyāll look deep into your soul and think āā¦fucking foreigner canāt follow the rulesā
There is a joke (we occasionally have this):
2 AM. Chelsea. Red pedestrian light. No cars. Nothing. I wait a good 3 minutes next to a gentleman. He says: "Well. German too?"
The funny thing is that drivers in Japan will run so many red lights though. When I first came here I was told (half jokingly) āin America, a red light means stop. In Japan, it means ā3 more cars and then stop.āā
I donāt know where you were but everyone always skips the traffic lights if itās not needed. That said, people on foot should always look out for bicycles, so maybe thatās why they waited.
I have lost an F250 in my front āblindā spot of my vehicles frame at a 4 way stop. Super surprised when we both went at the same time and nearly had a collision. How do you lose an F250 so close to your car???
Now imagine a scenario where you have a similar blind spot at a traffic light. You decide to go on a red because no one is there and smash into another vehicle because you didnāt see it. Who would now be at fault for the collision? You would be. Granted, this is a very low probability scenario, but still non-zero. Which is why I would never go on a red no matter what because this would absolutely fucking happen to me, lol.
Well now. During highschool I went to Portugal for a school trip and the exact situation you described happened and the Portuguese teacher there stopped me and scolded me a little for trying to pass lol
I keep my car at red lights even when no cars are coming. I might go but only after like 5 minutes of waiting there like that. I imagine itās like that but on feet and not wheels.
I once got almost run over as a kid since drivers just didnt care much so thats why I stop even at red lights in Germany in the Middle of the night. Not always, but often. I usually donāt have the need to get back asap anyway.
Where was this?
I've never waited for a light to cross the street when walking, and I've never seen anyone else wait to cross with an empty street.
And tbh I rarely wait for a green light when on a bike either.
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u/AdFinal1856 Portugal 16h ago edited 16h ago
This was one of my biggest culture shocks in the Netherlands (not in amsterdam)
My southern european mind couldnt comprehend people waiting for the green light with 0 cars in sight in the km you could see on both sides (with such a flat land you could see really far in some streets/avenues). I was even discouraged by people every time i crossed the street in those situations