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Deploy the trusty zebra against speed freaks
• SPEEDING motor vehicles continue to be a concern for pedestrians and, in urban areas, cyclists are now also part of the speeding problem.
Highways departments nationwide spend time and money designing new traffic- calming and safety measures, using concrete for pavement build outs and Tarmac for speed humps, street signs for 20mph, CCTV cameras and other technology.
Much of this also means more congestion on the pavements and uglier streets with more poles and signage. And 2009 is the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the first 1,000 zebra crossings in the UK and the 75th anniversary of the introduction of the Belisha beacon.
This history serves a good lesson. It seems to me that we should introduce far more zebra crossings on our streets and cycle paths rather than invent new and different ways of traffic calming. Zebra crossings work and are well understood by driver, cyclist and pedestrian. They slow traffic down whenever they are in use and even cyclists are more likely to stop at them.
By placing them strategically they can do much to calm traffic.
By placing these crossings before road junctions on most A roads in built-up areas, they can help to let local traffic feed out from side roads.
A good example of this is the zebra crossing on the canal bridge of Royal College Street before the junction with Baynes Street in Camden Town: this crossing also helps to keep the 274 bus on the move.
It is time for Camden Council to put more zebras on our streets so as to herd our pedestrians more safely!
Lester May
Reachview Close, NW1
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