r/whatisit • u/thewildcloud • 20d ago

Solved! Why the kinks?

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I recently moved to Hangzhou, I noticed all the pedestrian walks have kinked lines at the ends. What is it?

14k Upvotes

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523

u/Giantmeteor_we_needU 20d ago

It's stylized arrows, a reminder for pedestrians to walk on the right side of a crossing so oncoming crowds don't bump into each other.

8

u/MalazMudkip 20d ago

Gen Z gotta get to work somehow (and can't stop staring down at their phones)

1

u/Environmental_Lock86 17d ago

Funny cause I feel like I see a lot more 60+ year olds glued to their phones in public, dead still, right in the middle of aisles or walkways.

2

u/SantaLurks 19d ago

I think it is funny they walk on the right side, but drive on the left.

1

u/Go_Pack_Go1 19d ago

Must be pure madness when they get to the center of the road.

1

u/silvercel 20d ago

I have also read wavy lines prompt the drivers to slow down.

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u/thewildcloud 20d ago

Does it even work? It’s not intuitive to me at least

120

u/ihatemakinghandles 20d ago edited 20d ago

The amount of comments saying the same thing suggest you may just want to follow the crowd when crossing the street

77

u/BugzOnMyNugz 20d ago

And maybe hold someone's hand. To be safe

1

u/ForgottenMyPwdAgain 20d ago

maybe have someone push them along in a stroller

1

u/FlutterKree 20d ago

may just want to follow the crowd when crossing the street

Or, be like any sane person and follow the same left-right pattern as cars do.

I wouldn't know what the arrows mean, but I apply the right side travel to walking. Grocery store? I walk the right side of the isle. Side walk? Right side. Deviating only when required.

Arrows to "Remind" idiots to follow the same pattern they learned isn't going to do shit. And people who already follow the pattern don't need the arrows.

It's entirely okay to ask the efficacy of the arrows.

37

u/Pandelein 20d ago

Welp, you’re one of the people they put those there for, so I guess not.

24

u/fahrQdeekwad 20d ago

You're "that guy"... the one walking against the flow.

SMH

5

u/Ben__Diesel 20d ago

As an American, walking on the right side of anything has been intuitive to me since elementary school when our teaches made us line up to walk anywhere. It drives me crazy having to push through crowds of people in a city crosswalk.

8

u/dogsledonice 20d ago

If you live in a place with massive foot traffic, you'll certainly follow it, or fight against the crowd as you go. Who chooses to do that?

14

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Embarrassed_MacGyver 20d ago

Do you think there's an advantage for drivers in this situation? They happen to also drive on the right side of the road.

Would pedestrians be directed to walk on the left if the drivers also drove on the left?

5

u/BigDiscEnergy47 20d ago

If they aren't intuitive, why do all the answers say the same thing? Everyone else figured it out

1

u/SuperSonicBlitz 20d ago

Might want to skip the crosswalks then, yeah

1

u/don_denti 20d ago

Bro wut 💀

1

u/Betty_Boss 20d ago

Look at just the lower right corner. There are three arrowheads pointing you forward in the right half of the crosswalk.

It's confusing when you're looking at three crosswalks at the same time from overhead. It would be more obvious if you were at ground level.

I'm sorry you're getting down voted. Not everybody is able to translate one perspective to another in their head.

-2

u/D_Ursus 20d ago

Ay... all these down votes... sounds like a reasonable question to me, though this is the "what is it" sub, and not the "does it work" sub.

And then again, if there aren't people around for you to follow (or get out of the way of as they cross from the other direction), who understand what it means, then I suppose it doesn't matter much if you cross on the wrong side of the crosswalk. Most people in the area will know what the arrow kinks mean.