[ghaff]

Dealing with pedestrian crosswalk behavior is, in some ways, in the same class as left hand turns across unregulated traffic in the sense that both are situational. What I mean by that is that with few pedestrians/light traffic, it's appropriate to just wait it out. But there are definitely circumstances in cities where a bit more aggression is called for. I don't mean cutting right in front of a car or sending pedestrians scattering but you do sometimes need to take your space and go or you'll sit there for a very long time with horns blaring behind you.