What Was That Car That Tried to Run Me Over

One of the things we are taught fairly early on is how to cross a street, we come to the corner look left, right and left again for good measure.  If no cars are coming we take the step of faith off the curb and hurriedly walk across the street.  Until school age, we may only be allowed to attempt this complicated set of steps when in the company of an adult or older sibling, but soon after the start of the first school year the hand holding ceases and we are free.  As we grow up this process becomes automatic and we tackle busier and busier streets, even crossing against the light.  Our judgement for distance improves (and maybe even our reflexes) and we leave less and less lead time between ourselves and any cars coming in our direction.  This is the general process that allows us to leave our home block and explore out into the wide world, what no one tells us is that what is done in the United States is not always the same for that wide world we were going to explore.
In the United Kingdom, a similar set of steps is used when crossing the street but it's the order of the steps that are so different and will get you squashed like the poor frog from the game Frogger if you aren't careful.  It's often joked about the British driving on the wrong side of the road, and how poor Americans come here and try to learn to drive but find it so difficult.  I never once heard a joke about the perils Americans face when they try to walk across the road.  See if the cars are driving on the wrong side then looking left before starting across the road is also the wrong side.  So here the proper procedure is to look right, left, right (and then close your eyes and hope for the best j/k) and then take the step of faith, some crossing points have painted on the pavement the words "LOOK RIGHT" with an arrow pointing the correct direction.  I have found that additional glances both directions are crucial depending on how close to a roundabout you are attempting to cross because cars, buses, and bikes can and do come out of nowhere.  Walking half a block or more from the intended crossing point is sometimes wise to be able to use a crossing light and have the cars halt while making your way across.  There are some crossing points that do not include stoplights but there are flashing globes of light that act as a warning for drivers that there is a crossing and that the kind thing to do is slow down just in case.  There are also crossing points named after the unlikely animals Zebra and Pelican.  A zebra crossing looks much like the striped crossing lines from the US and it is a crossing point where the pedestrian has right of way (think of the famous album cover for the Beatles, and that's a zebra crossing).  Pelican (Pelicon) crossings are the ones using a traffic signal to stop the vehicles and an indicator (can be visual and auditory) for the pedestrian that signals when it's safe to walk.  There are many crossings that include a median and the lights are supposed to include both directions at the same time and to make it even more of a challenge some crossings can include three directions.  So it's a lot to try and keep track of for such a simple procedure as crossing a road.
Another difference that doesn't really change the crossing steps but involves identifying the vehicles coming at you (or the safe ones that are parked).  I'm somewhat famous for my notice of details, especially when out and about, and one of the things that interested me right away was the identity of all the cars on either side of the road.  The UK has many new brands of vehicles and the majority of them are in the compact or subcompact size.  There are many of the usual brands like Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan all with their well-known symbols, but it's the new ones that are so cool.
My favourite is the Vauxhall:

Next favourite would be a Skoda:

The Peugeot is pretty cool:

Citroen is basic:

As is Fiat:

The image for the Mini is different here:

Last one that is seen frequently is Clio:

I'm still on the lookout for any new or less popular brands, I'm sure there are many that I have just not stumbled across, Yet.  Since I will not attempt driving (walking is complicated enough) identifying vehicles travelling at rapid speeds is not an altogether necessary skill, but it sure is fun.