Do put in a word for getting the light lengthened. Many of our lights now have count downs so you can tell how much time is left (tho' because of the standards, technically, if you start walking across when a number is flashing, even though you *know* you have plenty of time, you are officially breaking the law). At one of our Bike/Ped Advisory Commission meetings, the dude in charge of the Timing of Lights talked to us about the assorted issues, and that because people were walking more slowly, the standards have been changed to allow more time, and that this was creating some backup issues.
Interestingly he said they were standardizing things so that all the lights behaved the same, specifically going yellow at zero. One of my lights had given me five extra seconds of green after 0... but indeed, that week, that ended.
Last month, though, I got my five seconds back. I didn't ask for it, but I figure there was a reason for it -- like somebody asked. I'm happy as long as I know.
I'm always *super* careful if I think a light is going yellow on me, especially if nobody is stopped and waiting. I will never forget reading about the rider in Richmond VA who rode through the intersection and the light changed, and a driver (in a police car) anticipated the green and accelerated, and hit her hard enough... well, the press and the public were *not* kind to the law enforcement guys when she got charged for the cleanup of her body fluids from the car since it requires Hazmat treatment. I believe she recovered.
I also utterly avoid crosswalks. Expectations are horribly ambiguous.



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