Pedestrian crossing

A pedestrian crossing is a designated point on a road at which some means are employed to assist pedestrians wishing to cross the road. Pedestrian crossings may have regular traffic lights (where those for the pedestrians are usually without yellow) or special coloured lamps to alert drivers of vehicles.

Pedestrian crossings are often at road crossings but also at other locations on busy roads with a good deal of fast moving traffic that would otherwise be perilous to attempt to cross, and near schools or in other areas where there are a large number of children.

In the USA, they are marked using the abbreviation Ped Xing.

Types of pedestrian crossing

• Zebra crossing

Pedestrian Controlled:

• Pelican crossing
• Puffin crossing
• Toucan crossing

Enhancements for Disabled Users

Pedestrian controlled crossings are sometimes provided with enhanced features to assist disabled people. Enhancements may include:

• Tactile cones near the control button. These rotate when the lights turn red. This provides an indication to pedestrians incapable of seeing the lights that a crossing is possible with a degree of safety.
• Tactile surfacing pattern laid flush within the adjacent footways (US: sidewalks), so that visually impaired pedestrians can locate the control box and cone device and know when their crossing manoeuvre has been accomplished.
• An audiable signal, such as a beep, in order to assist blind or partially sighted pedestrians.

These enhancements can greatly increase the mobility of visually impaired travellers but are relatively rare.