This would be safer blind folded

This past summer I spent 7 weeks in Israel. Aside from the obvious culture shock, one of the most difficult things to learn was that Israeli's are crazy drivers. Stop lights warn you before they turn green so you can prepare to floor it, stop signs are a suggestion, and the turnabout is used to make sure people slow down on turns. People blaze through intersections and mopeds drive in between traffic. Clearly this presents itself as an issue, especially if you need to get the the awesome Italian restaurant across the street. The key to crossing the road is timing. Lights change quickly and you need to cross the street with a sense of purpose. The question arises, would it be easier to just cross anywhere in the street, do I need an intersection? Interestingly, J-walking is severely punished. There's actually quite a large fine because it really is so dangerous to cross the street.