Pelican crossing

Pelican crossing in London after button pushed. "WAIT" is now lit and the far side "red man" continues to show. When safe to cross, the "green man" will show. (Controls for users crossing from the other direction are also visible.)

A pelican crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing with traffic signals for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic, activated by call buttons for pedestrians, with the walk signal being directly across the road from the pedestrian. Pelican crossings are ubiquitous in many countries, but usage of the phrase "pelican crossing" is confined mainly to the UK and Ireland. The design was originally introduced in the United Kingdom; they are also found in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Ireland, Indonesia and Australia.[1]: rule 196 [2][3][4] The crossings began to be phased out in Great Britain in 2016, being replaced with puffin crossings which have pedestrian signals above the call button rather than across the road.[5]: 142 

The pelican crossing is usually formed of two poles on either side of the road, each containing three signal heads (one in each direction for drivers and one facing pedestrians) and a call button unit for pedestrians to operate the crossing. The crossing type is distinctive for fixed signal timings (as opposed to the variable timings of puffin crossings and the flashing amber/green man phase, which allows the crossing to clear and drivers to continue when it is). An audible bleep and tactile rotating cone are normally present to aid visually impaired pedestrians.

A comparable system called the HAWK beacon is used in the United States.

  1. ^ The official highway code. Driving Standards Agency, Great Britain. Department for Transport (15th ed.). London: TSO. 2007. ISBN 978-0-11-552814-9. OCLC 141379651.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ "New pelican crossing installed for pedestrians' convenience". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  3. ^ May, Melanie (18 December 2017). "The difference between zebra and pelican crossings: a simpleton's guide". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. ^ Services, Roads and Maritime (20 April 2021). "Pedestrian crossings". NSW Government. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  5. ^ Traffic signs manual. Chapter 6, Traffic control. Great Britain. Department for Transport, Northern Ireland. Department for Infrastructure, Scotland. Scottish Government, Wales. Welsh Government. London. 2019. ISBN 978-0-11-553744-8. OCLC 1134444798.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)