h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

> I'm pretty sure I know what a zebra crossing is, but the subtle
> differences between all the others eludes me, until I read that I'd
> never even heard of puffin and toucan crossings. run to buy copy
> of latest highway code!

A zebra crossing is your basic light-controlled crossing. You press the button, wait for the green man, then cross. After a pre-set amount of time the amber lights and the green man start flashing, then the lights go green again.

A puffin crossing has PIR detectors to tell when there are people waiting and when they are crossing. So you press the button, and so long as there is someone still waiting to cross the lights go red. If a kid presses the button and runs off, the lights detect that no one is waiting and so don't go red.

Once the lights have gone red, the amount of time they stay red is controlled by people crossing up to a maximum time limit. If some runs across quickly it detects that everyone has finished crossing, and goes green again quickly in the normal red, red-amber, green cycle. There is no flashing amber phase. Equally, if a little old lady is doddering across the road, it detects that she is still crossing and so holds the lights on red longer.

You can easily tell the difference between a zebra and a puffin crossing due to the sensors monitoring the crossing, and the lack of the flashing-amber phase.

A tucan crossing is a pedestrian crossing with a cycle lane. It has a red/green man and also a red/green bicycle to indicate when to cross. The name comes from the fact the two can cross. Tucan crossing. Geddit?

the zebra crossing you have described is a pelican crossing.

a zebra crossing is the black and white crossing which cars have to stop at if someone puts a foot on the crossing to cross

Thanks, nicky, that was also my take on a zebra crossing. Honestly have never heard of the other varieties.

Meanwhile, we need a special bunch of flashing lights so as not to run over old people who may take longer getting across the street?

How bizarre.


az

> the zebra crossing you have described is a pelican crossing.

Sorry, yes I meant pelican crossing.

> Meanwhile, we need a special bunch of flashing lights so as
> not to run over old people who may take longer getting
> across the street?

No flashing lights, it just holds the lights on red longer whilst people are still crossing. Better than going green when Mrs. McDoddery is still crossing and having a boy racer go straight through without looking, just because the lights are green.

I like the idea of people sensors.

I was in Korea recently, and at some (really wide streets, it has to be said) crossings next to the green man, was a countown of green lights, so you could see how much longer the man would be green.

Much appreciated by me.

Yes I seen count downs in the US too. Quite good.

If only the people sensors actually worked!!! The number of times I've been sitting waiting at a puffin crossing when everyone finished crossing half an hour ago..........

Equally as a pedestrian I've had a wait-signal cancelled on me because I was standing too still and the PIR sensor thought I'd gone! So I had to press the button again and keep moving around.....

Here in Seville there are now some pedestrian crossings (especially for crossing four-lane roads) that show the green-walking-guy and also give you above that the 'countdown' as to how long you have to make it across the road before it changes to yellow.

So perhaps if you are old and doddery (or in my case, just lazy and don't feel like running) you know exactly how much time the green light is going to last. It does help to know if you have either 45 seconds left to cross or just 10 seconds.


az

Was in Singapore recently and they also have countdowns - you are not allowed to cross roads except at a designated crossing places when the green man shows, even if the road is utterly clear of cars. I got the impression (from my guide book) that there are sniper towers where marksmen are waiting with their finger on the trigger, just waiting to spot a pedestrian not on the pavement at the end of the countdown

You don't want to know the penalties for chewing gum.

Odd place

"So perhaps if you are old and doddery (or in my case, just lazy and don't feel like running) you know exactly how much time the green light is going to last."

Sorry, for me that brings up a wicked image of little old lady desperately struggling to hurry up, while Boy Racer sits muttering '10 seconds and your ass is mine'.

hey Mazin thanks for the link to the 'menagerie' of british crossings!

I'm thinking I might do an art performance piece about them! I love the way humerous things pop up in the unlikliest of contexts!

>>Heck! So I've had a pig of a day and a couple of glasses of wine. Your post has almost inspired me to take my chances and jump in my car right now and hunt down a few cyclists! Just to tickle their rear wheels as it were and give them a halloween thrill!

But something's stopping me? Respect for the lives and well being of all other road users apart from cyclists!<<

Redpeck, bring it on! I've yet to meet a motorist I can't out-manoeuvre. I've never hurt a pedestrian while on the bike, I've surprised and shouted at more than a few but nothing they didn't deserve. No conflict with respecting the rights of others to live, just if someone does something that might harm me I get annoyed.

As for the speed-limit thing, 30kph is well under any most speed limits in the UK, I wouldn't get done for speeding because I'm not speeding. And no, when I'm riding in a cycle path that's on the road, I don't expect pedestrians to be on them. If pedestrians want to walk in cycle paths, I might as well ride on the pavements

Only thinking this morning that its getting round to the time of year where us law abiding, considerate cyclists are at our most peril.

FROSTY MORNINGS!!

As well as trying to keep upright on roads which have been gritted with one piece of grit per square mile, we have to endure car drivers who appear as shadowy ghosts, driving via a 3 inch square clear piece of glass in an otherwise completely iced up/misted windscreen. Often only a pair of bloodshot, tired eyes are seen.
Nearly been wiped up a couple of times by the above....

I've been lurking on this thread for some time, but didn't expect to contribute quite in this way. I saw a car hit a bike last night. What's said about things like this is true - there's the moment of expectation when you know something bad's about to happen, followed by that split-second of pure unreality that sticks in the mind, then an ominous thud... [Further witness details removed after legal advice - thanks ] I don't think she was too badly hurt and really hope she's alright.

I am a sensible, reasonable cyclist - most days. I cycle as straight as possible, don't make sudden movements, make sure motorists know what I'm doing, etc. The behaviour of my fellow cyclists (there are lots in Oxford) does cause me minor paroxysms. If more of them saw what I saw last night, I'm sure they'd reconsider some of the shenanigans they get up to.

As for the original question, there are the laws of the road and then there are the conventions - what actually happens. Almost no motorist indicates when they're overtaking; all of them go on amber - this is the way things are. On balance, cyclists do adopt rather more of these "conventions" than motorists, some of them being particularly kamikaze. It is presumably illegal with an on-the-spot fine to use a mobile while cycling - it certainly should be. And anyone who uses a personal stereo should be put away for their own safety.

I reckon there are five cycling rules to go by. 1-3) Observation - and I mean constant vigilance - anything else and you're chancing your arm every time you take to the road. 4) Never second-guessing what a great big hunk of metal is going to do next: most of the owners are sane people, but fewer are behind a wheel. 5) Clear signalling to motorists: not sticking your arm out and hoping, but making eye contact. Not literally, but you know what I mean - making it nice and obvious what you're about to do next. Those put together are fifty times more important than wearing a helmet.

I think we should bring back horses. Good visibility, no pedaling and a unique personality. Only problem would be the large mountains of equine dung on the roads and pavements, but you could use that in the garden to enrich the soil of your flower beds and rockeries. Unlike dog shit, which just 'appears' in your garden, or enriches the sole of your shoe and you only notice it 10 floors up some building in a lift cramped full of your associate contempoaries, 3 of whom are good looking and single, on the afternoon before a work night out.

I was gonna leave it alone, but I can't resist.

I was under the impression that any vehicle hoping to turn from a minor road onto a major road must wait until said major road is clear of *all* road users, including cyclists. I assumed this law was well known as 'right of way' but apparently not every motorist is aware of it, and I got to spend Monday evening in hospital because of it. Lucky me! (and Jack, I can totally relate to that sensation, on it's own it's kinda fun!)

I think both sides of this debate have mounted our high horses a bit too readily (I certainly have ). Both groups of the population have causd injury or nuisance to the other, despite the fact that most of us normally reside in the 'safe and considerate' category. Just occasionally though, both sides have let our standards slip and that's when people get annoyed with us, and we get annoyed with each other.
Iago

As a by the way, motorists should be aware of the weather conditions, which affect us more than you. I for example, will never signal if I'm cycling in strong winds. The loss of stability isn't worth it. A bike is a thin vehicle, and if I'm turning that's obvious from my position on the road. Signaling is only an extra, which I will do if I think it's safe.

In contrast, the position of a car on the road is not so clear, because it's a big thing anyway and has less road to play with. And signalling for you requires only the flick of a switch.

TRiG.