Crossing the road

[davidhembrow]

In many places, crossing the road takes a very long time because pedestrian and bicycle crossings are set up to favour drivers even when there are no cars visible. That's not the case at many crossings in The Netherlands. For instance, showing a crossing which always gives pedestrians and cyclists a green light to cross within eight seconds of pressing the button (there's also a loop under the cycle-path which detects bikes).

On my blog I've written about several other examples of in safety.

[Rebecca]

I look twice when I see a child under the age of fourteen crossing the street at our major intersections; it is so unusual.
Our traffic lights are timed to cause the least amount of delay to motor traffic. In the US motor vehicle traffic and pedestrians traveling in the same direction are given a green light at the same time. This creates a problem for pedestrians crossing because they have to contend with right turning traffic. In an attempt to resolve this problem pedestrians may be given a a walk signal a few seconds ahead of the green light for motor traffic. We have a few intersections where pedestrians are given a four-way crossing which allows pedestrians to cross diagonally as well as straight across with out fear of a car turning into their path. I love crossing at those intersections.
When I was in Amsterdam in June, I saw many children traveling to school. I did not notice any crossing guards. There are crossing guards here near the schools to stop traffic. Perhaps the need for crossing guards is symptomatic of poor infrastructure design.

[Bryce P]

We have school crossing patrols at zebra crossings outside schools. Tome, all it does is encourage drivers to drive across zebra crossings without stopping, almost creating a behaviour.

[wangell]

[Andre Engels]