[paulbennett]

This is fine on quiet roads, but doesn't work in busy cities. If you tried to cross the road on my walk to and from work without waiting for the traffic to be stopped you'd get hit very quickly!

edit: perhaps you live in Paris? In which case I don't envy you having to cross the roads there!

[thaumasiotes]

> This is fine on quiet roads, but doesn't work in busy cities.

I guess I can claim to have lived in Shanghai for a span of (not many) years, and I have to dispute this. People will just walk out into the middle of a busy street, making lane-by-lane progress much like Frogger if they have to. They do it because the only real alternative is not crossing the street at all. When I was working at an international school here, it was common (and, in my view, completely justified) for new arrivals to want help crossing the street. But the fatality rate is quite low. ;)

[Jacqued]

I do. I think it's a cultural thing, people around here tend to not respect the rules very much, myself included.

I must admit this behavior is less frequent in the busiest streets in town but even there it's no rare sight.

In France jaywalking doesn't exist in law, and cars are always required to give way to pedestrians crossing or looking to cross. The only thing to be aware of is, if you cross less than 50 meters away from a crossing, and there is an accident, the driver's insurance may not be liable.