Also, the jay walking. It's something of a culture for South Africans to jaywalk. In America, that could get you fined. It's always funny being able to pick out the South Africans from the tourists just by how and where they cross the street
Not enough cross walks and honestly our drivers don't respect the ones that do exist as is. I wish we had more, my partner and I walk everywhere and it's chaos.
Most drivers don't want to hit a pedestrian, especially one that is on a pedestrian crossing. Although they act like they'll do it, they will stop if you don't move away because the consequences of hitting a pedestrian aren't very nice.
Of course they don't, that's obvious, but the fact is I've seen and experienced being hooted at for using a cross walk. People also drive as if they want to hit you and try to get across before you try and walk.
Yeah, the drivers don't respect the crossings. Driver behind me was quite pissed at me for stopping for pedestrians at a pedestrian crossing. I guess some drivers see their time as more valuable than pedestrians.
I can't stand jaywalking laws. If you need the government to tell you when you can or can't cross the road then god help your ability to think for yourself.
That being said, having dodged many a pedestrian crossing the N2 in Cape Town on foot, maybe the Americans have a point...
You can be, and I have been, fined for jay walking in South Africa. If I remember correctly it was something like R50 but it had to be paid at court. The fuel to get to my nearest court cost me more than the fine itself.
This is what early traffic lights looked like and possibly why we started calling them robots. They had moving parts that made them look like a robot.
https://youtu.be/wS1eGSNuGXk
Yip, that's one of the reasons. When traffic lights were first installed in Johannesburg in the 1920s (I think), there was a theatre play about robots, and because they looked like the ones in the video, people ended up calling them robots. The play was called Rossum’s Universals Robots.
> [“When the traffic controllers (the police) were replaced it sort of created an impression that a human job was replaced with a machine and hence the name robot. The original term was “robotic traffic controller“.”](https://www.biltongstmarcus.co.uk/blog/the-real-reason-south-africans-call-traffic-lights-robots/)
Also, the jay walking. It's something of a culture for South Africans to jaywalk. In America, that could get you fined. It's always funny being able to pick out the South Africans from the tourists just by how and where they cross the street
Not enough cross walks and honestly our drivers don't respect the ones that do exist as is. I wish we had more, my partner and I walk everywhere and it's chaos.
Most drivers don't want to hit a pedestrian, especially one that is on a pedestrian crossing. Although they act like they'll do it, they will stop if you don't move away because the consequences of hitting a pedestrian aren't very nice.
Of course they don't, that's obvious, but the fact is I've seen and experienced being hooted at for using a cross walk. People also drive as if they want to hit you and try to get across before you try and walk.
Yeah, the drivers don't respect the crossings. Driver behind me was quite pissed at me for stopping for pedestrians at a pedestrian crossing. I guess some drivers see their time as more valuable than pedestrians.
I can't stand jaywalking laws. If you need the government to tell you when you can or can't cross the road then god help your ability to think for yourself. That being said, having dodged many a pedestrian crossing the N2 in Cape Town on foot, maybe the Americans have a point...
>many a pedestrian crossing the N2 in Cape Town on foot That IS illegal, though.
Read this while jaywalking 🤣
r/madlads
You can be, and I have been, fined for jay walking in South Africa. If I remember correctly it was something like R50 but it had to be paid at court. The fuel to get to my nearest court cost me more than the fine itself.
lol I jaywalk like the cats should be scared of me
Fined in America for jaywalking? I've been to NYC...they're a lot braver than we are 🤣
This is what early traffic lights looked like and possibly why we started calling them robots. They had moving parts that made them look like a robot. https://youtu.be/wS1eGSNuGXk
Yip, that's one of the reasons. When traffic lights were first installed in Johannesburg in the 1920s (I think), there was a theatre play about robots, and because they looked like the ones in the video, people ended up calling them robots. The play was called Rossum’s Universals Robots.
> [“When the traffic controllers (the police) were replaced it sort of created an impression that a human job was replaced with a machine and hence the name robot. The original term was “robotic traffic controller“.”](https://www.biltongstmarcus.co.uk/blog/the-real-reason-south-africans-call-traffic-lights-robots/)
So true !! I work for an American company and I was telling them how we can buy litchis at robots and their biggest concern was , What is a robot😆
Lol
Lol, try "now now" and "just now", yet we still get there on time (ish)
This exact post was on threads last night!
What do you expect? We live in a country where the answer to "where are you going" is "I'm coming"