Pedestrian Planet: What YouTube Driving from 233 Countries and Territories Teaches Us About the World

Pedestrian crossing behaviour varies globally. This study analyses dashcam footage from the CROWD dataset, covering 233 countries and territories, to examine crossing initiation time, crossing speed, and contextual variables, including detected vehicles, traffic mortality, GDP, and Gini coefficient. Qatar had the longest mean crossing initiation time (6.44~s), while China exhibited the fastest crossing speed (1.69~m/s). On average, worldwide, pedestrians exhibited a crossing initiation time of 3.18~s and crossing speed 1.20~m/s. Crossing speed and crossing initiation time are negatively correlated ($r = -0.18$), indicating slower crossings after longer hesitation. Crossing speed is negatively correlated with Gini coefficient ($r = -0.19$) and positively correlated with traffic mortality ($r = 0.18$). Similar crossing times in countries with different infrastructures, such as Bangladesh (3.42~s) and the Netherlands (3.40~s), underscore the complex interaction between infrastructure and behavioural adaptation. These findings emphasise the importance of culturally aware road design and the development of adaptive interfaces for vehicles.