Z is for Zebra Crossing #AtoZChallenge #BriFri

I’m doing the A to Z Challenge in April, using the theme of the UK & Ireland. Today is the last day of the challenge, featuring the letter Z. I’ll make a list tomorrow of all my A to Z posts, just in case you missed any!

Z is for zebra crossing, the term that the Brits use for a pedestrian crossing that is marked by wide white stripes.

Possibly the most famous zebra crossing in the world is the one at Abbey Road in London. The cover of the Beatles album, Abbey Road, is a photograph of the four band members crossing the road on a zebra crossing. Lennon leads in a white suit. McCartney is third in line and barefoot.

Cover of the Beatles album, Abbey Road By Source, Fair use, Link

I recently learned that American transportation experts and urban planners use the term continental crossing for this feature.

This blog post about safety improvements for pedestrians in Cincinnati demonstrates that usage:

The old standard accepted the typical parallel lines seen throughout most of the city today, but the new MUTCD calls for what traffic engineers call “continental” crosswalk markings, which feature two-foot-wide yellow or white stripes.

I learned another descriptive term for this type of crosswalk from a planning document for making safer routes to schools in Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

Recommendations include wide “piano key” or “continental” crossing patterns for the best visibility and for ease of maintenance.

I like either zebra crossing or piano key crossing better than continental since they are much more descriptive.

Whatever we call them, I’d like to see a lot more of these in the US. The consultant who spoke at the meeting where I attended said that zebra crossings would make a particular busy intersection near where I live much safer for pedestrians, including a lot of children who walk through the area before and after school. For now, that intersection has thin parallel lines to protect pedestrians.

Are zebra crossings common where you live?

Comments

Z is for Zebra Crossing #AtoZChallenge #BriFri — 5 Comments

Molly on April 30, 2018 at 7:35 am said:

When I led my first student travel group to London in 2007, the number one request they made was to see the Zebra crossing! London traffic is trained to stop for tourists taking photos of the now famous walk across the street. Such fun 🙂

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Haralee on April 30, 2018 at 11:45 am said:

Learned something new! Never knew what they are called beside pedestrian crosswalks. I see many in yellow, is that another animal? I like Zebra or Piano key crossings better than continental too.

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A.J. Sefton on May 1, 2018 at 11:28 am said:

I like zebra crossing best. But then that’s the term I grew up with ha! Interesting post

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Colette B on May 5, 2018 at 12:00 pm said:

Aha, I’d been wondering what you would post for Z, sorry to take so long to get back here, barely any time for reading this last week or so. As well as zebra crossings, in the UK we also have similar crossings that are called ‘pelican crossings’, these have no traffic lights signalling drivers to stop but have a yellow globe shaped light atop a pole at the kerb. Drivers are expected to stop voluntarily whenever a pedestrian appears to be about to cross the road. As a general rule, although drivers often forget this, according to the UK’s Highway Code pedestrians always have right of way (unless they changed it, fact-checking needed!) – and except for motorways where pedestrians are prohibited even from walking along the verges beside the road. I didn’t know there was a term ‘continental crossings’ for pedestrian road crossings, sounds more like a passenger ferry terminology 🙂 Congratulations on completing the challenge, I loved reading these and learnt quite a few things along the way.

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Tizzy on May 27, 2018 at 5:49 pm said:

I’ve never heard them described as piano key crossings, but that’s quite a fitting name. I think they’re great and make being a pedestrian much safer.

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