I didn't realise quite how mental the US is over something as simple as crossing the road till I read this: "A distinguished British historian claims he was kn

I didn't realise quite how mental the US is over something as simple as crossing the road till I read this: "A distinguished British historian claims he was knocked to the ground by an American policeman before being arrested and spending eight hours in jail — because he crossed the road in the wrong place. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto said he had been the victim of "terrible, terrible violence" after he inadvertently committed the offence of "jaywalking" in Atlanta, Georgia, last week and failed to realise the man telling him to stop was an officer. The slight, bespectacled professor claimed that five burly officers pinned him to the ground after Kevin Leonpacher kicked his legs from under him as he hesitated to show his ID. He was left "traumatised and disorientated" and with a gashed forehead as he was taken to the local jail and charged with pedestrian failure to obey a police officer and physical obstruction of police." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1539148/Historian-pinned-to-ground-by-US-police-and-beaten-for-jaywalking.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1539148/Historian-pin... In the UK, we were just taught this thing called the "Green Cross Code" as children in a series of slightly surreal public information films, though the message in it is basically no more complex than to just to stop and pay attention to what the traffic is doing, before deciding to cross the road. Pedestrians aren't allowed on motorways (freeways), but that is about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Cross_Code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Cross_Code