Crosswalk Intervals?

I have noticed something on my longer runs this fall preparing for my marathon. One thing i hate to do is to run laps on any type of course, so I am branching out, amping up my mileage. So that means crossing a lot more streets, going longer.

Now, I am a rule follower, mainly because the rules are important to me, even in my job. So this mean I also try to follow all the laws, especially traffic laws. So let me ask a question:

At a crosswalk, do you wait for the signal that allows you to cross, or do you watch traffic and decide on your own when it is OK to cross the street?

I for one, always, always press the little button on the pole, asking the traffic lights for permission to cross the street. Hoping that the traffic light will take pity on me and let me go quickly. I am always thrilled when I see the light switch from the red hand to the white light of freedom allowing me to get across the road.

Only the outline of the man walking across the intersection lasts like 2 seconds! I have 4 lanes, plus a turn lane to get across!  This often turns into an interval workout! I am sprinting to get across the intersection, and sometimes, I might have the white light of passage, only to see people turning into the lanes anyways, so It is not a free pass!

So now what I do is this. I go halfway across when I look and get the all clear, then I take a second and run across when the other half of the road is clear. I have no idea if this is breaking the law, I know it is not jaywalking and I doubt I would ever get ticketed for this, so I am not worried about it at all. So it is a sprint still across the last remaining lanes of traffic.

So tell me, what do you do?