"It's a damp, grey morning in Soho, London, and Cameron Roh is standing a metre or so behind a woman who is speaking loudly into her phone outside Caffe Nero. She is breaking his laws of pavement etiquette and he holds up his phone and presses record. Lost in conversation, the woman doesn't see him, but still, watching him from a distance, it's fist-in-mouth awkward."
"What if she turns around? Is this allowed? Is this even OK? Suddenly, the woman hangs up and dashes across the road, oblivious to what has just happened. Evidence duly captured, Roh returns to where I am hiding and delivers his verdict, which is marks out of 10 with 10 being perfect pavement etiquette. That's a two, he says. Her crimes? On her phone, sudden stop, pretty much in the centre of the pavement, meaning people have to walk around her to get past."
"Roh giggles, unfazed. As a self-appointed pavement vigilante, this is what he does. The first video 21-year-old Roh posted was in July. In about 20 seconds, he follows five different walkers, quietly unpacking their gait to camera before rating them for speed, direction, footwork and phone use. He has since rated walkers in New York in more than 30 videos, and has recently diversified to other US cities."
Cameron Roh films pedestrians from a short distance and rates their pavement etiquette on a scale from zero to ten. He evaluates speed, direction, footwork and phone use and delivers quick numerical verdicts after recording. Roh aims to avoid making people identifiable and exempts young children, groups of children, the less able and elderly from criticism. He began posting videos in July and has produced more than 30 videos, including walkers in New York and other US cities. Roh critiques behaviours such as stopping suddenly in the centre of the pavement and cyclists on hire bikes that endanger pedestrians.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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