Traffic Lights

Ever wonder why the pedestrian crossing sign starts flashing two steps after you left the curb? I wonder about this a lot. I realize the traffic department thinks all pedestrians are created equal. The reality of it is even able bodied people can not realistically cross the street that has two lanes in each direction, cars parked on both side of the road and a left turn lane for one of the directions. So doing the math that boils down to seven lanes total. The lights stay green for all of thirty seconds. I also realize the traffic department would not want to keep the poor drivers of the cars sitting on the cross traffic lanes in order to allow the pedestrians like a mother with a toddler or my favorite the elderly person with a cane to safely cross to the other side. I think it is high time that the pedestrian really gets the right of way. After all isn't that why the crosswalks are painted on the ground. These are the designated crossing zones laid out by the traffic department and are reportedly the safe place to cross the street. Truthfully I think the crosswalks are not safe at all and it is far safer to cross in the middle of the block. This way you don't have driver's that are in a hurry honking their horn at you as they are late in getting to their location.