Safer crossing

You should always be very careful when crossing the road. It only takes one lapse of concentration from you, or from a driver, for someone to get seriously injured.

There are some very simple guidelines to follow that will make crossing the road much safer:

• Always try to find a safe crossing place, such as a footbridge or subway, or a crossing controlled by lights. These are usually sited at very busy roads, and are the safest way of crossing. There are now several different forms of light controlled crossings, and each works slightly differently
• Traffic islands and traffic lights can be used, but watch out for strange traffic flows (such as one way streets), and turning traffic. Some junctions controlled by traffic lights may have a pedestrian phase included, usually where there is heavy traffic.

If you have to cross between parked cars, follow these simple guidelines:

• Choose a place where there is a space between two cars and make sure that it is easy to get to the other side of the road
• Make sure neither car is about to move off - look for drivers in the cars, lights, and listen for engines
• Walk to the outside edge of the cars and stop. Here you can look all round for traffic
• When it is clear, cross, still looking and listening as you go.

How to use pedestrian and cycle crossings

There are 4 different types of light-controlled pedestrian and cycle crossings:

Zebra crossing

• Stop at the kerb at the crossing
• Wait for the traffic to stop
• When the traffic has stopped, walk across but keep looking and listening, in case a driver has not seen the crossing and tries to overtake a car which has stopped. Always cross on the stripes, as many crashes happen close to zebra crossings
• If the crossing has an island in the middle of it, stop there and wait for the traffic on the other side of the island to stop before you continue to cross.

Pelican crossing

• Stop at the kerb at the crossing
• Press the button and wait for the 'green man' signal to light up. Never cross while the 'red man' is showing. When the 'green man' shows, check that vehicles are stopping, then walk across. Keep looking and listening, in case a driver has not seen the crossing and does not stop
• When the 'green man' starts to flash on and off, the traffic will soon start moving, so stay on the pavement. If you have already started to cross, you will have time to finish crossing
• If it is a 'staggered' crossing, there will be another signal on the traffic island. Stop and press the signal button to get the 'green man' again before crossing the second part of the road.

Puffin crossing

A puffin crossing is similar to a pelican crossing, but it has the 'red man' and 'green man' signals on the near side, rather than on the other side of the road.

It also has two detectors. One, often a black mat, can tell when people are waiting to cross, and will not stop the traffic if nobody is waiting. The other controls the red light signal to drivers, so people have enough time to cross.

• Stand on the mat if there is one, or about one pace back from the kerb if there isn't
• Press the button. Do not start to cross if the 'red man' is showing. When the 'green man' shows and you are sure that the traffic is stopping, go straight across, looking and listening. If the crossing is staggered, treat each half as a separate crossing
• The signals will stay red for drivers until you get safely across; keep looking and listening, in case a driver doesn't stop.

Toucan crossing

The toucan crossing is a shared signal-controlled crossing to assist both pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road. Crossing time is monitored by detectors, and varies to ensure time is given for both pedestrians and cyclists to cross, before allowing traffic to move.

• Stop at the crossing. When you see the 'red man and red cycle' signal you must not cross, as traffic is being given a green light. Press the button on the box and wait for the 'green man and green cycle' to appear
• Do not start to cross if the 'red man and red cycle'' is showing. When the green signal for pedestrians and cyclists appears, the traffic will be given a red light. Check the traffic has stopped, then cross. Keep looking and listening, in case a driver has not seen the crossing, and does not stop
• When the 'green man and green cycle' go out, if you have already started to cross, keep going, as you will have enough time to complete your crossing before the traffic starts to move.

Zigzag markings

Zigzags are marked on the road on both sides of pedestrian crossings. Vehicles are not allowed to wait, park, overtake or unload in the area marked by the zigzags. This is so that you can see and be seen by approaching traffic. It is illegal to park on the zigzags. If you do, you could be given three penalty points on your driving license and a fine.

To find out more information about setting up a school crossing patrol, visit our school crossing patrol information section.