Obviously they're not treating the sidewalk as part of the road, and why should they? In sensible countries walking in the general traffic lanes of a regular street is be fine.
>Obviously they're not treating the sidewalk as part of the road
From wikipedia:
"The primary features of roads include lanes, sidewalks (pavement), roadways (carriageways), medians, shoulders, verges, bike paths (cycle paths), and shared-use paths. "
Emphasis mine
>and why should they? In sensible countries walking in the general traffic lanes of a regular street is be fine.
I don't know what "sensible countries" you're talking about. Sidewalks are hardly some sort of concept exclusive to car-centeric America. Even bike/pedestrian friendly European countries have separate lanes for pedestrians, with some very limited exceptions such as during festivals/events.
