Diagonal Crosswalk

As a child I was always taught that Diagonal=Disaster (well, it sounds much better in Hebrew plus it rhymes...) and that roads should always be crossed in a straight line merely because this is the shortest, fastest and safest way, and whenever possible use a crosswalk.

A bird's eye view sketch
of the actual junction

So one day I ran into this strange Diagonal crosswalk, also known as Pedestrian scramble or X crossing, only this is no X, it extends to only one side. The original thing was mainly used in the past for major traffic Intersections of both cars and pedestrians but this one is just a crosswalk from a parking lot to a small street. I am not sure what benefit it provides for the person crossing it but it is quite confusing both for drivers, that have to look for pedestrian crossing from different directions and the person that actually uses it to cross the road has to look for cars coming from 6 different directions instead of the traditional 2 and wait until they all stop. Yet people use it even though the old fashion short crossings are still there. Does it shorten the time it takes one to cross the road? Not really because you have to wait until more cars stop at the crosswalk. Is it safer? NO, the risk is even higher, at least in this specific junction. So I am still wondering what was the initial purpose, at first I thought it was a joke, but I have seen more than one, they seem to reproduce. So, if I find an answer for that I promise to write an update. Until then I am avoiding using the diagonal crosswalk and am choosing the old fashion one that is right next to it.

The real thing