Day 65 - Zebras

Zebra crossings, the black and white markings on the road that signal to the cautious pedestrian that it is safe to cross. Of course one should still follow the green cross code, look left, look right, look left again and if it is safe to cross, proceed. (If you are reading this thinking I got that wrong, I live in Europe now). 
It is illegal to cross the road in Czech Republic if you are not on a marked crossing, unless there is not one in sight. I believe the fine is 500 crowns which is quite a bit of money. It's true the police mostly target tourists with this fine, but the fact that the law is in place suggests the zebra crossing should provide a sanctuary for pedestrians. I believe by law the pedestrian has the right of way on crossings so as long as you are careful they should be safe. But don't be fooled. 

One wonders why zebra crossing are marked in paint that seems to be invisible to drivers through a windscreen, perhaps, like zebras, they are camouflaged.  This is the only explanation for the fact that drivers never slow down near a crossing.  In fact drivers actually speed up when they see a pedestrian waiting to cross, so maybe not only are they invisible but they also pull the cars towards them like some kind of magic force field. If by chance a driver has seen you and the crossing, they won't stop, they'll just slow down and swerve slightly so you feel their drag as they zip passed you. Despite this being a far more dangerous act than jaywalking, I've never seen a Czech policeman stop a driver for failing to stop, not even a tourist.