Talk:Zebra crossing

message: 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)
::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
:: hmm does this constitute fair use of copyright material? --Lezek
:::I did wonder that. -- Sam
::::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)
replies: text: 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. ❝Sverdrup❞ 14:56, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)

text: 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)
thread_title: previous edit removed

message: 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)
thread_title:  Very western centric way of introducing an article 

message: 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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title: Belisha/zebra

message: 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)
replies: text: That's mostly true, but this article is too UK-centric. It does not mention anything about zebra crosswalks in any other country. Admiral Norton (talk) 17:28, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

text: I support a merge, with a re-direct page. Presumably, the UK-centric problem would be fixed in a merger, or fixed later. 206.53.196.131 (talk) 21:09, 29 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Merging?

message: In the section "Popular Culture", can we use the photo of the album sleeve to demonstrate the Abbey Road crossing as it appeared on the sleeve? Thanks.--Gg53000 (talk) 02:07, 6 January 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd advise against that - since the album art is used under fair use, we use it as minimally as possible. This basically means that we use it only for identifying the album in its article, and anywhere else where it's necessary for critical commentary. In this case, a popular culture listing wouldn't require a picture of the album. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 07:03, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Abbey Road crossing 

message: This article seems to use the term "Right of Way" several times when perhaps "Priority" is better used.  "Right of Way" simply means access to, through across - whereas "Priority" means privilege is given to one set of road users over another.  In the UK, pedestrians have Right of Way on nearly all metalled roads - exceptions are some Clearways, Motorways, &c. - but Zebra Crossings give Priority to pedestrians.  Would use of the term "Priority" be more appropriate?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alan.jenney (talk • contribs) 01:05, 12 September 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Unfortunately in the US the words "yield the right-of-way" appear in most laws and official guides, and this has resulted in the perception that "right-of-way" means what in the UK would be called "priority." I don't think the term "priority" is widely understood in the US, but I'm not sure. Kendall-K1 (talk) 14:25, 29 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Right of Way" vs "Priority" 

message: This is almost certainly not true: "by 1960, 500 people died on Zebra crossings in six months." Consider that in 2010 five people died. Do we really think there has been a two-hundred-fold reduction? In 1960, 7,000 people total died on UK roads. Is it possible that one out of seven of those were pedestrians at a zebra crossing? Kendall-K1 (talk) 13:55, 29 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  UK deaths 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: WHENEVER this article is revised by someone authoritative to address three-dimensional (3D) optical-illusion crossing paintings, could someone please get a picture taken from the "backside" of the image. 
I am curious to imagine WHAT is the image or illusion viewed coming from the "other" side;  all of the pictures readily found seem to have been taken from the "front" of the painted illusion.
Other 3D images painted on flat surfaces can only be viewed from their "front" - they become distortions at best viwed from the sides, or from the "back".
See - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-29/outback-town-3d-pedestrian-crossing/9809394  for an example, "front"-on.
..
And as an aside, realated to the 2006 discussion above, about "zebra" crossing, I really do not believe that "zebra" crossing has been common Australian-English usage for years - say, in the last 30 years, I'd reckon.  124.171.204.53 (talk) 03:15, 29 May 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  3D pedestrian crossing - optical illusion painting 

message: I didn't know what these were called before, but they seem to be making a comeback in London: particularly on Quietways, I have seen about a dozen of these zebra crossings with an adjacent lane across the road for bicyles. I must confess that as a cyclist, I hadn't a clue whether I was supposed to have right of way across them!feline1 (talk) 21:58, 11 November 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tiger crossings in the UK 

message: Voice 2405:201:E007:9E2:5092:302B:698C:B416 (talk) 13:13, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Zebra crossing 

message: 3rd paragraph: "In the US, they can be found at any type of crossing."  This is needlessly USA-centric;  I suggest it should read:  "Outside of the UK, they can be found at any type of crossing."
Elsewhere in this Talk page, a merge is suggested with the entry "pedestrian crossing".  This makes great sense;  UK crossing terminology should be mentioned there, rather than having it's own page(s).  English terminology specific to other nations, e.g. Canada & Australia should also be listed.
Small pictures or diagrams of each crossing type would greatly help readability -- or perhaps a combined diagram in the right margin. TDisk-z (talk) 23:24, 3 February 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Country-specific tone needs fixing