The ‘catwalks’ on zebra crossings

Back in the days, there was a primary school subject that zeroed in on road discipline. It was called civics. If I were asked to pinpoint the main lesson I got out of my civics class, I would quickly recall the wisdom of a tall, slim man who loved grey pants: my civics teacher.

Some pupils used to say he had one pair of trousers; others said two—their argument was stain-based; that one pair of trousers had a stain on the left pocket, while the other didn’t—but I still choose to believe he had several, just that he preferred the colour grey. His poor sense of dress aside, this man taught us how to make sense of road signs, traffic lights and, of course, how to cross the road.

He made it very clear that roads are no play grounds for school children. He discouraged chit-chat and sluggishness while emphasizing on care, caution and speed when one finds themselves on the road. His argument was: a road is a public good on demand by motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and others and so if it’s your turn to use it, use it responsibly and speedily because one small mistake can cost lives.

I have found myself back in the civics class memory lane several times recently due to funny tendencies by some pedestrians when they are using zebra crossings.

For some, it doesn’t matter whether it is red, green or yellow flickering on their end of the traffic lights; if they feel like getting to the other side of the road, they must cross immediately. The thinking is that after all, the motorists or cyclists have functional eyes and won’t hit them.

It’s sometimes worse for zebra crossings without traffic lights. Some pedestrians will just walk into the road, without due consideration to the speed at which the next motorist is approaching the zebra crossing. The other road users are lucky if such pedestrians have attentive ears to listen to hoots, because others even have loud music playing in their headsets while they make the surprise appearances on the roads.

Then, there are some pedestrians who would surely upset my civics teacher because they just know no speed when using the road. They will take their time, chit-chat or catwalk at a snail’s pace, wasting other people’s time. I am sure if I were back in the civics class today my teacher would add one more ‘don’t’ to his list of don’ts: don’t mistake the zebra crossing for a fashion stage where you take your time to catwalk or wiggle your body for the viewers.

There is no point in feeling too big or important on the roads. While speed is of essence to the pedestrian, too much speed that ignores other players could be fatal. In the end, the duty to take one’s limbs home intact lies with oneself, not other road users.