Traffic signals, signs, crosswalk markings mean NOTHING.

Look both ways before you cross the street.

If i proceeded every time i had the right- of-way i would be dead 10,000 times already. When you make the decision to throw your leg over your bike and ride on public roads everything becomes your fault IMO. Look at it as if you are going to war and you will have a better chance at survival.

Agreed. In a car vs bike accident, the cyclist loses every time.

Boston has lots of green arrow for car/ walk signal for peds, it doesn't make sense to me, but something I'm aware of.

one of the reasons I started riding on the road on the worst block on my commute is that the bike path/sidewalk has a button for peds that does nothing except turn on the walk light. There is no walk cycle and there is both left turning and right turning traffic crossing the crosswalk at the same time as well as right turn on red traffic. It's really bad there and I'm surprised there haven't been more pedestrian accidents. This is probably because there is an island for pedestrians and they yield to the automotive traffic, but it still is a real problem trying to frogger your way across that intersection.

Leebo,
Concurrent crossing phases help to keep automobile traffic moving (traffic engineers love this), provide shorter wait times for pedestrians and are the default choice for a great many traffic engineers. They do have their problems, especially where there are few pedestrians crossing and drivers don't expect them, much of the USA falls into this category.

Exclusive pedestrian phases (also know as scramble or Barnes dance) stops all traffic and give pedestrians free reign in the crosswalk. The downside for pedestrians is that the time between pedestrian phases is increased. When frequency of pedestrian phases goes beyond 60 seconds, jaywalking tends to increase as pedestrians become impatient. In areas with high pedestrian traffic this phasing can reduce automobile throughput and significantly downgrade the Level of Service (LOS). Automobile LOS is frequently the Holy Grail for traffic departments and not surprisingly, traffic engineers don't like to downgrade automobile LOS to make things easier for pedestrians.

Adding a leading pedestrian interval (LPI) to the concurrent phase gives pedestrians a head start on traffic and allows them to be in the crosswalk giving them them the right of way and making it much more likely that turning traffic will yield, instead of barreling through to deny pedestrians their RoW. Not unlike taking the lane in cycling terms. The LPI is generally three or more seconds. Most pedestrian crossings are timed for a pedestrian walking speed of 4ft/second, elderly people and small children are slower and do better with 3.2 - 3.5 ft/sec. The LPI tends to balance out the problems with concurrent and exclusive phases, except where there is a large amount of turning traffic.

Of course, increased traffic enforcement is frequently needed to help make crossings safer and your eyes and ears are always your best defense when crossing or riding on the road.

Anyways, I hope I'm not totally highjacking The Sci Guys thread.

Wow, that sounds crazy.

you might consider filtering to the front in the go straight lane. wait with traffic, then on the green light tilt your head down to look at the car next to you, when they take off you follow. if they wait for you, nod your head a little so they know it's ok for them to go. no eye contact, no waving of hands. the cars behind will see this and pass you as they follow the lead car. anyway that's how I handle many intersections. the lead car acts as a football blocker and leads the way.