It's all about patience(耐性) really.
Chinese walkers, who usually walk the red light together, may be surprised at recent research which showed that they are more patient than people abroad.
A study looked at more than 1,800 walkers at three busy Shanghai crossings(交叉路口). It found that an average Chinese walker ran out of patience at red lights after 90 seconds. But there's an interesting fact: the average German's endurance ability(耐性) was around 60 seconds while the British only 45 seconds and the American 40 seconds.
People will take no notice of the red lights when the waiting time exceeds(超过) their patience time. "A lot of Chinese traffic lights are car-friendly instead of walker-friendly," said Ni Ying, who led the research team. As there are more and more car users in the city, city planners are givingthemmore convenience on the roads, according to her.
The study also found that at some crossings, walkers waited longer than 150 seconds, and at other crossings the wait could be as long as 200 seconds. However, most red lights abroad do not exceed 120 seconds.
The study suggested that planners should think about the walking pace(步幅) of people from different age groups, especially middle-aged people and seniors, in order to make the roads more walker-friendly. But the city's traffic police do not agree. They argue that the roads are built not just for the walkers, but also for cars. "To give more time for walkers would cut down the time for cars," a traffic policeman said. "On a busy traffic day, it can make traffic worse."
