NORMAL LIFE: Crossing Confusion

I nearly died on my way to work! Maybe I'm being a drama queen, but morning after morning cars refuse to stop as they approach a zebra crossing (one of those black and white striped pedestrian crossings) quite closer to where I work. Sometimes I'm standing there for up to ten minutes waiting to cross the busy road and I'm left wondering: why did they paint this road?

In the UK, it's mandatory for motorists to stop at zebra crossings if its seen that somebody is attempting to cross it. Of course, you get that occasional smart arse who thinks he's above the law and values his time more than yours. But throughout mainland Europe, I have often wondered why they put these crossings in places where motorists seem to not even notice them.

Another weird thing in Finland is when you cross a normal pedestrian crossing (e.g. one that it regulated by traffic lights for motorists and a green/red man for pedestrians). In Finland, pedestrians can walk at the same time as motorists turning left or right into the right you are crossing. Quite often, a motorist is dangerously close to pedestrians rushing across the road to beat the Green Man before he becomes a Red Man. Again, I'm left wondering why?

Isn't letting pedestrians and motorists go at the same time a risky combination? Somehow, Finland has got it right as road fatalities are amazingly low. But I am tempted, just to make my point, to sit in the middle of the road on my way to work tomorrow, but I'm afraid the motorist won't see me and I'll be added to the statistics of people who died through stupidity!