In the UK if you are a pedestrian, you are a first class citizen. Walking pavements are wide, flat and in excellent condition. Why am I making a big deal out of this? If you have ever tried to walk around in any Indian city you will quickly realize that its not very easy. Most of the time the pavements have been narrowed to make way for roads. In most areas they dont exist. If they exist, they are so uneven or broken that they are difficult to walk on. Open manhole covers, small vendors doing business on the pavement, rubbish and other distractions make it hellish to walk.
Welcome to London. As a walker you are treated to lovely pavements that make it a pleasure to walk on. But thats not the subject of this blog. What I found most impressive was extreme consideration to people who are about cross the road. Often you are lost in conversation and don’t realize that you are about to cross at all. On all London streets there will be raised metallic dots on the pavement just before the road that will remind you (by the way your shoes feel on them) that you going to reach a road soon. It will also be written on the road “Look Left” or “Look Right” so that you don’t have to figure it out. The raised metallic dots are probably for the blind. Its an easy way for them to know that they are going to be on a road soon. But for non-blind people (lost in conversation perhaps) its a nice way to be reminded: “Be careful.”
P.S. I’m not slamming India. We can learn a lot from others. Just pointing that out.
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