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Tuesday 13 July 2010

Zebra Crossing


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"Z" is for "Zebra Crossing" and today's photo shows the zebra crossing outside the Best of Brass pub on Manchester Road in Mossley.

For those unfamiliar with British street etiquette, a zebra crossing is a place where pedestrians can cross a busy road. Its path is marked by black and white stripes painted on the road surface, hence the name "zebra"! There are also posts topped with flashing orange globes, known as Belisha beacons, to warn drivers that they are approaching a zebra crossing. The beacons in this photo are cowled to prevent them flashing into bedroom windows at night!

A pedestrian who is crossing the road on a zebra crossing has priority over vehicular traffic, although it is always wise to ensure that approaching traffic is going to stop before stepping into the road!

Perhaps the most famous zebra crossing is in Abbey Road, in London, which featured on the sleeve cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road record album.

Many zebra crossings have now been replaced with Pelican and Puffin crossings, where pedestrians push a button to operate red stop lights.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

See Google Street View of this location.

"Zebra Crossing" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "Z" posts from around the world please follow this link.

9 comments:

  1. Oh yes - look right look left! Words from childhood!

    Thanks for contributing - Round 7 approaches now A is for....lol!

    Denise
    ABC Wednesday!

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  2. Apparently there used to be Belisha Beacons in the Netherlands as well, because whenever I drive around in London with older people they will exclaim over the 'blinking bulbs' as they are called over here.

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  3. I'd never heard this expression before, but I guess we have the newer kind where we push a button to get a flashing light to come on so the cars will stop for the pedestrians. Have a great day!

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  4. I haven't heard the crossings called by zebra before. It certainly makes sense. Very interesting information and use of the word zebra.

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  5. Never heard the term "zebra crossings". I like the crosswalks that have the lighted timer that tell you how many seconds you have left to make it to the other side.

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  6. We don't call it that either. Fascinating. It is so fun to see parts of the world on Wednesday and learn about each one. Just fascinating :)

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  7. we're supposed to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks - ha!

    love the Abbey Road cover, which was heavily parodied.
    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  8. Ah, The Euphonium Player, Nice Pub!

    ReplyDelete

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