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Crossings

Pedestrians can, amongst other places, cross the road at subways, footbridges, islands, zebra, pelican and toucan, puffin and equestrian crossings, traffic lights and anywhere that is controlled by a police officer or traffic warden.

Zebra crossing

As you approach a crossing, you must look out for people waiting to cross and be ready to stop to let them cross. It is an offence to:

  • Fail to give way and stop as soon as someone has stepped on the crossing
  • Park in the area marked by zigzag lines
  • Overtake just before the crossing

If there is a central island, the zebra crossing is treated as 2 crossings.

Pelican crossing

Pelican crossings are traffic lights that are controlled by pedestrians. If the crossing goes straight across the road, it's treated as a single crossing even when there is a central island. In these cases motorists must wait for pedestrians who are crossing from the other side of the island. In many larger roads the crossing is divided by a central reservation so that the crossing is staggered. In these cases each crossing is treated separately.

As you approach a pelican crossing, you must look out for the lights and be ready to stop and give way to pedestrians when the red light appears. You must also give way when a flashing amber light appears after the red light. It's an offence to:

  • Fail to give way and stop in accordance with the indications given by the lights
  • Park in the area marked by zigzag lines

Toucan, puffin and equestrian crossings

These are similar to pelican crossings, but there is no flashing amber phase; the light sequence for traffic at these three crossings is the same as at traffic lights. If the signal-controlled crossing is not working, proceed with extreme caution.

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