Talk:Zebra crossing
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A previous edit removed the "in the UK" bit.
While striped crossings exist in many countries (which?), the "zebra" in the UK is different: it is a crossing with no traffic lights, where pedestrians have priority. As soon as a pedestrian steps onto the road, cars are required to stop if they can do so safely. AFAIk, this is not the case in other countries (certainly not in Canada, my Canadian uncle was shocked, nay outraged when he saw these) -- Tarquin
- In the Netherlands zebra crossings with traffic lights also occur. If there aren't any, above rule applies. Fransvannes 15:44 Dec 16, 2002 (UTC)
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- Let's add this to the main page? :-) --KQ
- In the US there are striped crossings both with and without lights and signals to tell you when to cross. I don't know about all the other states, but in Washington State, the rules Tarquin describes apply at all striped crossings without electric signals. They apply even more broadly, in fact; drivers are supposed to obey that same rule at all intersections without signals, regardless of whether the street has been marked with stripes. Of course, an American would never say "Zebra crossing", and I'm not clear on all the subtleties of how it differs from "crosswalk". --Ryguasu
Australia and New Zealand, same as UK. Tannin
In the UK, zebra crossings never have lights : the striped road marking is used only for crossings with no lights & pedestrian rights of way -- Tarquin
Question for Brits: does a "Zebra crossing" have only two parallel lines, or might it also have crosshatches between those two lines, a checkerboard pattern, or some other kind of design? --Ryguasu
- No checkerboard crossings in the UK. Mintguy 19:22 Dec 16, 2002 (UTC)
- More than two stripes also, unless it's a very narrow road ;). --Lezek
Maybe the article needs to explicitly mention the direction of the stripes! parallel to the flow of traffic; perpendicular to the flow of pedestrians. About 40-50 cm wide I think -- Tarquin
- A diagram from above would be a fairly simple affair. I might do one. -- Sam
- even simpler: link the Beatles picture ;) -- Tarquin
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- hmm does this constitute fair use of copyright material? --Lezek
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- I did wonder that. -- Sam
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- In case nobody's mentioned it, the dark stripes are always nearest the kerb, at least in the UK. Lee M 01:26, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
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The description of toucan crossing fits better the etymology of "puffin crossing" than that of "toucan crossing". Which is right? -phma
- I've seen a puffin crossing, and that sounds nothing like one. A puffin is one where the traffic lights can detect whether or not there's anyone crossing. -- Sam
We shouldn't use the Abbey Road image - it is fair use and far outside its direct context here. [[User:Sverdrup|❝Sverdrup❞]] 14:56, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- there is one near my house. I'll try to get a picture in the next few days. -- Tarquin 15:23, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Very western centric way of introducing an article
THis is how the article starts
"A zebra crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing or crosswalk used in the UK, Australia, USA, Canada and Europe, and increasingly around the world."
Common dude, considering all the other methods that can serve zebra crossing role require some kind of technology, would that automatically mean zebra crossing use is more prolific in the third world countries. In another word, mentioning those countries is kind of unnecessary, isn't it?
- I think that the key is the combination of the iconic animal name (zebra), strips on the road and UK origin. Similar crossing may exist in other jurisdictions, but the UK (and Australia and NZ) have the "pure" form, with stripes on the road and a requirement for vehicles to stop and/or give way to pedestrians. Not sure if Zebra is used in the crossing name in other countries (Asutralia doesn't use any of the other type names, and the zebra is slowly falling out of use as various other forms of crossing proliferate). Alex Law 08:52, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Netherlands and Scandinavia
In the Netherlands and Scandinavia, pedestrians have right of way only if they are standing close to the zebra crossing on the side of the road.
This doesn't appear to make a lot of sense! How can someone "standing close to the zebra crossing" (and therefore not moving) have right of way, while someone actually walking over the crossing does not have it? -- Picapica 22:55, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
- According to the website of the Swedish National Road Administration [1], drivers must stop if pedestrians are crossing, and also if pedestrians are about to cross the road. The law was changed on 1 May 2000, and the linked website is about a campaign, Zkona zebrafolket (approximately Zave the zebra people), to inform about the new law. I don't know about the rest of Scandinavia though. /81.224.28.184 13:25, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
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- A curiosity regarding Finland is that in many cases of crossings of a multi-use path and a road, motorists do not have to stop for bicyclists, not even if the bicyclist has stopped and is waiting, but they do have to stop for pedestrians. Few do either. (Motorists should give way for bicyclists if they're turning themselves over a crossing multi-use path, or there's a yield sign -- which are rare -- but they do not have to stop for bicyclists in a simple crossing of a multi-use path and a single road, but should let pedestrians over the road. Rollerskaters etc. are counted as pedestrians, btw. Smells like anti-bicycling discrimination.)
[edit] Belisha/zebra
According to the dates given belisha beacons predate zebra crossings? Neither this article or belisha beacon appear to explain what they were originally used for, in that case. Morwen - Talk 20:25, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
- I believe the crossings do predate the stripes. They were originally marked only by the beacons and a row of studs along their edges. The stripes were added, I'd imagine, very soon afterward when the Ministry of Transport realised the crossings were almost invisible to drivers! Lee M 01:26, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Merging?
Shouldn't this be merged with the article Pedestrian crossing? they're just two names for one thing. Mlkdts 02:38, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

