Pelican crossing

Pelican crossing

A pelican crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing featuring a standard set of traffic lights with a push button and two coloured lamps for pedestrians using the crossing. The official name is Pelicon crossing (short for PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled crossing) but "pelican" is consistent with other crossing types (see below) named after animals and, in particular, birds. The term "pelican crossing" is used only in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but similar traffic control devices are in use throughout the world.

The pelican crossing was the first definitive light controlled crossing in the UK, introduced in 1969, after the earlier failed experiment of the panda crossing. Previously only zebra crossings had been used, which have warning signals (Belisha beacons), but no control signals. The pedestrian lights are situated on the far side of the road to the pedestrian. A puffin crossing has the lights on the same side as the pedestrian; a toucan crossing is a crossing for pedestrians and bicycles; a pegasus crossing allows horse-riders to cross as well.

Pelican type crossings sometimes have further non-visual indication that it is safe to cross, such as a beep, vibrating button or tactile rotating cone in order to assist blind or partially sighted pedestrians.

References

* "The History of British Roadsigns", Dept. for Transport, 2nd Edition, 1999.A button on a pelican crossing has to be pressed whereas traffic lights work on a timer.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/2/newsid_2840000/2840919.stm BBC article] , on the introduction of Panda crossings, and subsequent developments.
* [http://www.driving-test-success.com/pedestrian_crossings/pedestrian_crossings.html UK Pelican crossing video tutorial]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • pelican crossing — pelican crossings N COUNT A pelican crossing is a place where people who are walking can cross a busy road. They press a button at the side of the road, which operates traffic lights to stop the traffic. [BRIT] …   English dictionary

  • pelican crossing — n a place on some roads in Britain where someone who wants to cross the road can stop the traffic by pushing a button that changes the ↑traffic lights →↑zebra crossing …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • pelican crossing — ► NOUN ▪ (in the UK) a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians …   English terms dictionary

  • pelican crossing — noun an acronym for pedestrian light control; a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights that are controlled by pedestrians • Regions: ↑United Kingdom, ↑UK, ↑U.K., ↑Britain, ↑United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, ↑Great Britain •… …   Useful english dictionary

  • pelican crossing — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms pelican crossing : singular pelican crossing plural pelican crossings British a place for crossing a road where you can stop traffic by pushing a button to operate a set of traffic lights …   English dictionary

  • pelican crossing — noun (in the UK) a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians. Origin 1960s: pelican from pe(destrian) li(ght) con(trolled), altered to conform with the bird s name …   English new terms dictionary

  • pelican crossing — noun A pedestrian crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians Syn: toucan crossing …   Wiktionary

  • pelican crossing — /ˈpɛləkən krɒsɪŋ/ (say peluhkuhn krosing) noun a pedestrian crossing at which the lights can be activated by the pedestrian, and which usually incorporates a flashing orange signal after the red signal to indicate that caution is required.… …  

  • pelican crossing — noun (C) a place on some roads in Britain, where someone who wants to cross the road can stop the traffic by pushing a button that makes traffic lights change to red compare zebra crossing …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • The Pelican Crossing — est un groupe de musique pop/folk/psyché français fondé en 1998 à Moulins (Allier). Sommaire 1 Histoire du groupe 2 Descriptifs et influences 3 Composition du groupe …   Wikipédia en Français

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