I operate from a different perspective when walking in that I assume cars are not stopping for me, they don't see me, and they have the right of way. I see many people blindly walking across streets when the walk signal goes green, they don't even look. There's too many inattentive drivers and texting drivers to depend on them to do the right thing.
I guarantee you’re not as safe as you think you are unless you literally never walk anywhere. Drivers illegally tint their windows so you can’t see them. Some can be staring literally right at you while stopped at a stop sign and not see you. The sidewalk isn’t even that safe, I see big trucks accidentally jump the curb and ride on the sidewalk pretty regularly.
My dad gave me a good bit of advice when learning to drive, which is also a good distillation of defensive driving in a nutshell: assume the other driver is about to do something stupid. Usually you don't even have to ASSUME in Atlanta, unfortunately.
