Crossing in style

At the kerb, halt! Eyes right, Eyes left, Eyes right again. If the road is clear, Quick march! - that was my generation; military. Then there was a squirrel, Tufty Fluffytail, and later the Green Cross Code Man. Or it may have been the other way around. I forget.

In Pinoso they have just painted some symbols on the zebra crossings. Apparently these symbols are there primarily to help people with autism but they reckon they may be of help to people with learning difficulties and also to we older, vaguely aware, people.

My experience is that Spanish drivers habitually stop for pedestrians on crossings - there's no cat and mouse to it, no gamespersonship. If you are waiting at a crossing or approaching one then cars will stop. It even works in big cities. Spanish people have sometimes told me that I'm wrong but one's experiences are one's experiences.

I mentioned the new symbols to my pal Jesús as we nattered over a coffee the other day. They've got it wrong he joked. The symbols say Stop, Look, Car stopped, Cross. That's not right. Why should the pedestrian have to stop or look? The instructions should just say Cross! It's up to the cars to stop.

I sniggered but I have to say that, when driving, the number of people who do not slacken their pace as they walk from pavement to zebra can be quite alarming. My personal favourites are the ones pushing prams before them as they stare at their mobile phone.