People in our country treat the traffic rule book as a necessary evil to pass their driver's license. I'm serious, I'm getting my license and I have to study it, and, like me, many will read those rules before they are allowed behind the wheel. However after getting the license people, for some peculiar reason, seem to forget all the rules! That is why, in Sri Lanka, we have motorcyclists using the sidewalks as highways to bypass traffic, tri-shaw drivers who stop their three-wheeled metal coffin in the middle of the road to ask people if they want a lift, and bus drivers who must be still dreaming, because they think they are still rally drivers. While these are major annoyances, something that really makes me want to pull my hair out while laughing like a maniac, is the way pedestrians use the main roads. Not by-ways and small side roads mind you, I'm talking about major dual carriageways and the busiest road networks. If you come to Sri Lanka you will notice that people get down from the bus at the bus stop and simply cross the road immediately. Some get down when the bus is stopped at the lights, right in the middle lane, and simply stroll to the side of the road.
Crossings are treated like lava. You know that game we played when we were kids with either sofa cushions or big stones? Don't touch the lava? Yeah that's the one. People cross the road, without using the crossing, when it's actually a few steps away. I'm not even talking in meters. If they just walked five steps more then they have a pedestrian crossing. But why go through that hassle? Just cross wherever and whenever you want. If you are a driver, you will stop for someone at the pedestrian crossing, then immediately have to stop again for some cow a few feet away from the pedestrian crossing. Shouldn't say cow though. In our country, stray cattle and dogs use crossings more than humans. You would think they study the highway code.
People on crossings however, aren't all that fantastic either. You stop for them and then they stare at you for ages, like its such a mystery of the universe that someone stopped for them to cross the road, when they were standing at a pedestrian crossing. And when they do put their brains in gear and cross, its like they just got up in the morning and are taking the trip to the bathroom. Its really frustrating and annoying.
Now, I don't have license yet so i can't drive. However, I do the passenger thing brilliantly. I'm an expert at being driven around by my mother, father, Pips and my friends. Pips shouts at all humans on the road. My mother on the other hand goes nuts when people wander all over the road. She frequently shouts at pedestrians who sleepwalk across pedestrian crossings. I have heard many of my friends complain about this issue as well. They are all very annoyed. Here comes the weird thing though; when my mother, Pips or any one of my friends walks with me (I like walking, mostly because i can't do much else, and do it frequently as a method of travel), they call me a nuisance, crazy person, madman, idiot, "pissa", "modaya", fat-silly-man and many other colorful adjectives and nouns, just because i insist we cross on a pedestrian crossing. These are the same people who want to nuke the jaywalkers and murder their loved ones, but, have no qualms whatsoever when they do it themselves. They laugh at me for crossing on pedestrian crossings and when i question them about it, pointing out their hypocrisy, my mother tells me to just shut up and cross; Pips says the same thing, only sometimes she pinches me; and my friends just laugh and make more fun of me. This just shows that people would do things just because its more convenient, even if it is illegal. Its scary though. It starts with jaywalking and could just escalate to murder. "Why wait in line at the bank counter when i can just machine-gun the people in front of me?"
This is a knotty problem though. Laws should accommodate people. But, should accommodate all people so must be fair. You can't have crossings every 10 feet because then cars would be stationary all the time. Why can't people just walk a few feet more to a crossing? Is it unfair on the pedestrians? Or is it unfair on the drivers?
Its just me and the cows. Oh and the doggies.
-Wips
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