pedestrians do not have the right of way.

most of you either live in new york city or have been in new york city. and almost all of you have heard me say, as i walk across the street in any place, "no, its cool, pedestrians have the right of way, im not going to get hit by a car." now, imagine a very busy intersection in new york city. then multiply the number of motorcycles and bicylces by 10, divide the number of pedestrians by half, add some a subtropical rainstorm, and multiply that all by many cars having bad brake systems. oh, and then add in a sprinkle of cultural difference. then, think about every intersection being like this. the light turns green, which is tricky to begin with because there is only 1 light per intersection, so going 3 out of the 4 ways hinders your ability to judge whether to go or not, and everyone does 2 things: honks, and goes. no. matter. what. oh oh oh and to that last equation above, add in several piles of stray dog feces that you have to avoid while crossing. so youre walking across the intersection, neigh, RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE across the intersection, jumping over dog shit and hitting the cars on their hoods to make them stop about a centimeter before you die, looking 4 ways at once and wondering if going to the ice cream shop really was necessary in the first place. and thats what walking in guatemala city is like. cheers.