[mtrimpe]

After being hit by a car when I was young, that's exactly how I navigate traffic as a bicyclist/pedestrian.

Traffic rules create a useful abstraction but, if you want to be safe, the only non-leaky abstraction is seeing traffic as a collection of objects moving at various speeds which can optionally change acceleration or direction based on things like traffic lights / your presence / cats running across the road after the required reaction time has elapsed.

It's a bit less relaxing of a way to travel, but it sure as hell beats waking up in the hospital with brain damage, a leg whose foot no longer points in the direction it should and an arm that's no longer moving or ... not waking up at all.

[SiVal]

After living outside the US for many years, I now play the "invisible man game" even in the US. I've taught it to my kids, too.

The rules are: you imagine that you are literally invisible and find a way to cross the road that doesn't rely on the drivers' cooperation with you or the law. The drivers don't know you exist, because you are invisible.

Playing that game allowed me, for example, to jump onto the hood of a car that stopped at a red light briefly then hit the gas just as I walked in front of it. I was playing invisible man, as always, and had imagined what I would do if that guy, who was stopping, decided to take off again just as I got in front of his car. I imagined jumping onto his hood, which I did so quickly when he hit the gas that I landed on his windshield staring in at him with a grin on my face (instead of ending up under his tires.)

You can't protect yourself from everything, but playing the invisible man game each time you cross a street with traffic is a good strategy. I should add that I can't really play it if I'm on the phone, so I pause my call ("oh, um, hold on a second, I'll be right back"), play the game, and resume the call on the other side.

[geoka9]

I haven't taken my pedestrian survival skills that far, but I've always felt that if I'd ever be hit, that would be at an intersection. I felt that there are too many moving objects to keep track of at a typical intersection to be able to control your fate.

So, when in developing countries, I prefer to cross the street in the middle of a block (with no alleys in sight). This way there are only two directions I need to be wary about.

Now, that I've taken up road cycling, I'm at the mercy of other drivers and I'm afraid there are no hacks I could use (except of being extra careful at intersections).

[jacquesm]

That's a super hack. Thanks for the tips, I'll be using them to apply and teach.

[JabavuAdams]

That's fantastic! I'll have to use that with my kids.

[fduran]

Excellent advice. Also especially if you are riding a motorcycle you have to pretend you are invisible.