Zebra crossing
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A zebra crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing used in many places around the world. The crossing is characterised by longitudinal stripes (hence the term, named after the zebra) on the road, parallel to the flow of the traffic, alternately a light colour (usually white) and a dark one (painted black, or left unpainted if road surface itself is of a dark colour). The stripes are typically 40 to 60 centimetres (16 inches to 2 feet) wide. Pedestrians always have right of way on a zebra crossing.
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[edit] History
The zebra crossing was first used (after some isolated experiments) at 1000 sites in the UK in 1949 (the original form being alternating strips of blue and yellow), and a 1951 measure introduced them into law. In 1971, the Green Cross Code was introduced to teach children safer crossing habits (replacing an earlier "kerb drill").
In the United Kingdom the crossing is marked with Belisha beacons on each side of the road. The beacon is a black and white pole topped by a flashing amber globe. They are named after Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport who introduced them in 1934. Pedestrians have right of way on this type of crossing; road traffic must give way to them.
The crossings were originally marked by beacons and parallel rows of studs, but the stripes were soon added for the sake of visibility.
[edit] Alternative crossings
This system is in contrast to that of a similar crossing, known as a pelican crossing (pedestrian light controlled), which is marked with traffic lights for the vehicles, and green and red men icons illuminating to show pedestrians when and when not, respectively, to cross. Pedestrians only have right-of-way here when the green man icon is lit or if they entered the crossing while lit. Pelican crossings were first introduced in 1969 (after an earlier experiment known as the Panda crossing) and in many places have completely replaced zebra crossings.
Other similar crossings in the UK include puffin (pedestrian user-friendly intelligent), toucan (two can cross — a joint pedestrian and bicycle crossing), and pegasus (for horses, usually outside race courses) crossings.
A lollipop man or woman helps children to cross a zebra crossing during school hours, so called because of the long lollipop-shaped pole they carry, with a circular disc edged in red. The centre of this disk has a black bar, which can be used to note down the license plate of motorists who fail to stop.
In the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia and most other countries in the European continent, pedestrians have right of way even if they are still on the curb, but about to enter the zebra crossing.
In Finland, the zebra crossing is also used by cyclists.
See pedestrian crossing for equivalent crossings in other countries, including North American "crosswalks".
[edit] Zebra crossings in popular culture
A zebra crossing appears on the cover of The Beatles' Abbey Road album. This has made this crossing famous and a minor tourist attraction, and it has even been incorporated into the current Abbey Road Studios logo. However, since the Abbey Road photo was taken, zigzag lines at the curb and in the center of the road have been added to all zebra crossings to indicate the no-waiting zones on either side. The band Shriekback's album Sacred City contains an entire song, Beatles Zebra Crossing?, about the Abbey Road zebra crossing and its status as a tourist attraction.
There is also a tongue-in-cheek reference to zebra crossings in the science-fiction comedy novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by English author Douglas Adams, in reference to Man using the improbable creature called the Babel fish as proof to the non-existence of God... the novel says, "Man then goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed at the next zebra crossing."
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[edit] References
- History of Road Safety, Gerald Cummins
- The History of British Roadsigns, Dept. for Transport, 2nd Edition, 1999
