[seesawtron]

"One peculiarity of human perception is that large objects in motion appear to be moving more slowly than they really are" - Folks, never cross the roads/tracks when you see a vehicle approaching. Wait for it to pass and then cross.

[Jabbles]

Crossing roads is different - and it would be often impossible if you had to wait until no vehicle was approaching.

But as this article points out, you can't use your experience judging car distance/speed to judge train distance/speed.

[emmelaich]

How far away is the vehicle? How much time do you have?

From a fairly recent HN article -- see Lamport's discussion of Buridan's principle.

http://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/pubs.html#buridan

[dredmorbius]

Same applies to ships, especially for those in small craft.