I crossed the road when the cars drove

[Glizdka]

The following is my own joyful creation.

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1. I crossed the road when the cars drove.
2. I was crossing the road when the cars drove.
3. I crossed the road when the cars were driving.
4. I was crossing the road when the cars were driving.

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I'm trying to find a sentence in which different combinations of the past simple and the past continuous result in vastly different messages. I want to include an element of danger because it's imaginative. The idea is that 1 is supposed to sound "the safest" of all the four options.

"I crossed the road." - I made it to the other side of the road.
"I was crossing the road." - It is not known whether I did or didn't make it to the other side of the road.
"The cars drove." - The cars had finished driving in front of me, and there were no cars on the road when I commenced crossing.
"The cars were driving." - The cars were still present on the road, swooshing by, when I commenced crossing.

I'm not sure whether these sentences are grammatical and whether they accomplish what I want them to. The fact that there's no real equivalents of the words drive, ride, run, go, or walk in my first language is probably why I'm struggling with these. I've certainly heard that cars drive, so I decided to go with this verb, but it feels odd. I might want to use a preposition (by/past come to my mind), change the verb, completely reword the sentences, or scrap the idea entirely. I need your help.

 

[GoesStation]

None of these sentences work. Sorry.

 

[jutfrank]

I've certainly heard that cars drive, so I decided to go with this verb, but it feels odd.

It's not right to say that 'cars drive'. You could just about get away with saying 'cars drive by'.

I don't get why you're doing this. I think you should scrap the idea entirely and put your mind to something else.

 

[Glizdka]

I see. I'm probably trying to replicate a Polish word/pattern that doesn't really exist in English.

Cars usually move in groups traveling at the speed of the slowest car in front of them they can't overtake. There are windows of opportunity when a group of cars has moved past the path you'd take to cross the road. If you're patient, you can wait for that, so you can cross the road safely before the next group of cars approaches.

Here's a crude animation I've made in MS Paint to illustrate what I mean.

There's a verb in Polish that can refer to either the movement of cars or them having moved past the path you'd take to cross the road. It could be used to explain to children how to cross the road safely.

"Don't cross the road when the cars are [verb]ing."
"Cross the road when the cars have [verb]ed."

I don't want to mention the red/green light, or drivers stopping on purpose/yielding so the pedestrians can cross. Let's say there's no pedestrian crossing/traffic lights, or the person's jaywalking.

How would you describe this situation from Bowfinger?

"He crossed the road when the cars ..."

How would you describe this situation from a not-movie?

"The dog crossed the road when the cars ..."

 

[Rover_KE]

How would you describe this situation from Bowfinger?

"He crossed the road when the cars were hurtling past in both directions.

How would you describe this situation from a not-movie?

"The dog crossed the road when a gap appeared in the traffic."

 

[Tarheel]

I would say:

The dogs crossed the road when there was a break in the traffic.

There was more than one. In fact, there were lots of dogs. Lots and lots of dogs.

How do they know when to cross the street?
:hi: