Wait for the little green man

The roundabout "corners" in Paris seem like a distant and delightful memory in comparison to the "taking your life into your hands" intersections in London!

There is no easy way to get from Point A to Point B in London intersections. The above photograph shows that eight paths must be crossed in order to get to the opposite side of the intersection.

Being a Montrealais my tendency would be to jaywalk.  In Montreal crosswalks and lights are for sissies and jaywalking is the norm.

In London, if you jaywalk or decide to cross where you think a crosswalk should be, you are bound to become a splattered mess all over the road as the car traffic feeds from several directions all at the same time and at top speed.

Also remember the cars are coming from the opposite direction than what you may be used to!  You need to look left when you would usually look right and visa versa.  But thank goodness the friendly Brits have helped us visitors by painting on the road in large letters "LOOK LEFT" and "LOOK RIGHT".  And if you are on a Safety Island in the middle of an intersection make sure that you are all the way on it.  You don't want to get clipped by a double-decker bus as it zooms past!

But cars and people each get their turn.  When the little green man lights up, the road belongs to the people and all car traffic stops.

So follow the crosswalks, wait for the little green man and make sure your life insurance is paid up!