Zebra crossing in Mayo

monument

I know it's in the rules of the road etc, but when zebra crossings were first installed in Mayo was there any campaign to tell drivers they must stop to allow people cross?

Seems to be a high percentage who don't even stop for children or people pushing prams.

oscarBravo

I don't think that's ignorance of the rules of the road so much as crap driving.

Dudda

Raise your hand if you've never seen anyone not stop at a red traffic light.

irishgeo

monument wrote: »

I know it's in the rules of the road etc, but when zebra crossings were first installed in Mayo was there any campaign to tell drivers they must stop to allow people cross?

Seems to be a high percentage who don't even stop for children or people pushing prams.

Zebra crossing
This is marked by yellow flashing beacons. The actual crossing area is marked by
black and white ‘zebra’ stripes.
Drivers muststop to let you cross. As they approach the crossing, they should
slow down and be prepared to stop. They muststop behind the stop line if there is one and must not enter any part of the crossing.
Drivers must not overtake or park within areas covered by zig-zag markings on
either side of the crossing. Section 10, on parking, has more information.
You do not have the right-of-way over other traffic until you actually step
onto the crossing. Never step onto the crossing if this would cause a
driver to brake or swerve suddenly.
You must not cross within the area marked by zig-zag white lines if these
are provided on either side of a zebra crossing. If they are not provided,
you must not cross within 15 metres of the crossing.
If there is a central island, treat each side as a separate crossing.
Always watch carefully for approaching traffic. Place one foot on the
crossing to indicate that you wish to cross. Wait until traffic has stopped
before you start crossing.

Lots of towns don't have true zebra crossing marked out according to the rules of the road. hence the pedestrian don't have the right of way over the traffic.

oscarBravo

irishgeo wrote: »

Lots of towns don't have true zebra crossing marked out according to the rules of the road. hence the pedestrian don't have the right of way over the traffic.

Hm. I could take the attitude that since most of the crossings in Westport don't have zebra stripes, I never have to let a pedestrian cross. That would make me a bit of a knob-end, though.

I worry about pedantry in such cases, as it will likely lead to the rather nice paved crossings in Westport being replaced. If it's blatantly obvious that there's a pedestrian crossing in front of you, let the damn pedestrians cross.

irishgeo

oscarBravo wrote: »

Hm. I could take the attitude that since most of the crossings in Westport don't have zebra stripes, I never have to let a pedestrian cross. That would make me a bit of a knob-end, though.

I worry about pedantry in such cases, as it will likely lead to the rather nice paved crossings in Westport being replaced. If it's blatantly obvious that there's a pedestrian crossing in front of you, let the damn pedestrians cross.

i always do but i am just saying if its not marked as a zebra crossing, the rules of the road state you dont have to stop.

monument

I'm talking about the zebra crossing with all the bells and whistles -- strips on the road, Belisha beacons, and zig-zags.

BTW the rules of the road also says:

You must always yield to: pedestrians already crossing at a junction

irishgeo

monument wrote: »

I'm talking about the zebra crossing with all the bells and whistles -- strips on the road, Belisha beacons, and zig-zags.

BTW the rules of the road also says:

You must always yield to: pedestrians already crossing at a junction

the only proper zebra crossing i know of is the one in balla.

Dudda

Chapel Street in Castlebar outside St. Patrick's National School has a proper one. It has the black and white zebra lines, the round orange flashing lights, the kerb with the bubbles to help the visually impaired etc. Drivers still don't slow down at it.

monument

irishgeo wrote: »

the only proper zebra crossing i know of is the one in balla.

Ballina has 6-7 of them.

Oldtree

I try to be a mannerly driver and give the consideration I would like to get if I were a pedestrian. Yesterday for example, driving through Ballinrobe just after school was out, I stopped a number of times to let children cross the road, as they were going to do so into traffic anyway, and there were no zebra crossings in sight (there is one some distance away round a bend outside cummins). A number of trucks and cars did not. If I stopped, cars coming the other way did so too.

Poll Dubh

Zebra crossings are a disaster. They are gradually being phased out in the UK. Hopefully when Ballina Town Council is phased out it will put an end to them being installed.

tomdempsey200

can't understand them at all

for a start they're not proper ones...you don't even know there is one ahead til you're on it

pedestrians think they can just jolly across and cars will automatically stop


get rid of them i say

monument

Given that I stated the thread, I'm clearly not saying that zebra crossing are perfect but if removed they 'll need to be replaced by push button crossing which are far more costly and more disruptive to the movement of people and traffic.

A bit of education and enforcement would be far more efficient and cost effective.

Poll Dubh wrote: »

Zebra crossings are a disaster. They are gradually being phased out in the UK. Hopefully when Ballina Town Council is phased out it will put an end to them being installed.

If it's the case that the county council stop using zebra crossing that'd mean extra cost and extra waiting time for everybody.

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

can't understand them at all

You yield and if needed stop to people on foot.... What's so hard to understand?

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

for a start they're not proper ones...you don't even know there is one ahead til you're on it

The ones I'm talking about are the proper ones!

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

pedestrians think they can just jolly across and cars will automatically stop

Yes, cars should stop -- it's the law!

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

get rid of them i say

Great, that'll result in extra cost and more time waiting for everybody!

Poll Dubh

Extra costs and waiting times versus children and buggies being struck. Tough one to call!

I particularly love in Ballina the zebra crossings that cross two lanes of traffic going the same direction. A vehicle stopping to allow someone to cross the zebra crossing can completely obscure the view of a pedestrian to the traffic in the other lane.

finisklin

I can recall zebra crossing being proposed for Ballina as far back as the 80s. It only took them 20 odd years to get them up and running and even then it was on the back of a change to the traffic system. They were first proposed for the spaghetti junction that was the Dunnes crossing i.e. Pearse street/Humbert street across to Dunnes.

The traffic management system that is in place is on the foot of Celtic tiger traffic, with the last survey done in 2007. Needless to say that the traffic on the road now is substantially less than it was when the changes were implemented in 2009. Unfortunately a pedestrian traffic plan/analysis was not undertaken by the council with these changes, meaning that a farcial situation developed around the bridges where pedestrians are at risk using the zebra crossings!

In addition to this, motorists also have to out up with a traffic sysytem here that is unclear and poorly communicated. In particular, rights of way at the bridges cause considerable angst on the approach to the zebra crossings for both motorists and pedestrians.

IMO it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured on these speed traps. Don't think education or enforcement is gonna solve this one.

irishgeo

the most annoying push button crossing is on the castlebar bypass just before the cathal duffy roundabout , 2 people could cross in about 3 mins of each and the lights go red every time someone pushes the button.

oscarBravo

irishgeo wrote: »

the most annoying push button crossing is on the castlebar bypass just before the cathal duffy roundabout , 2 people could cross in about 3 mins of each and the lights go red every time someone pushes the button.

It could be worse. We could be expecting drivers to have enough situational awareness to avoid driving over pedestrians. That wouldn't do at all.

monument

Poll Dubh wrote: »

Extra costs and waiting times versus children and buggies being struck. Tough one to call!

When pushing a pram around was my main transport for about six months, drivers broke red lights all the time at crossing and I watched it happen all the time when living in Dublin. One time a driver broke the lights at a busy city centre location at speed and managed not to see us crossing or the red light -- completely oblivious -- and the same thing happened at lower speed daily.

My point is: Whether there's zebra crossing or pedestrian crossing, there needs to driver awareness, education and enforcement.

We should not be blindly following the UK and even less so when the Daily Mail is the source.

Poll Dubh wrote: »

I particularly love in Ballina the zebra crossings that cross two lanes of traffic going the same direction. A vehicle stopping to allow someone to cross the zebra crossing can completely obscure the view of a pedestrian to the traffic in the other lane.

I don't see the problem with the zebra crossings going over two lanes -- both crossing them and on the road. On the road, you go slow and if a car slows down in the next lane it's a sure sign that somebody is about to cross.

Anyway, it's normal around the world:



(that's two lanes, here's the other side of the road on Street View which clearly shows the lane markings)

finisklin wrote: »

I can recall zebra crossing being proposed for Ballina as far back as the 80s. It only took them 20 odd years to get them up and running and even then it was on the back of a change to the traffic system. They were first proposed for the spaghetti junction that was the Dunnes crossing i.e. Pearse street/Humbert street across to Dunnes.

The traffic management system that is in place is on the foot of Celtic tiger traffic, with the last survey done in 2007. Needless to say that the traffic on the road now is substantially less than it was when the changes were implemented in 2009. Unfortunately a pedestrian traffic plan/analysis was not undertaken by the council with these changes, meaning that a farcial situation developed around the bridges where pedestrians are at risk using the zebra crossings!

In addition to this, motorists also have to out up with a traffic sysytem here that is unclear and poorly communicated. In particular, rights of way at the bridges cause considerable angst on the approach to the zebra crossings for both motorists and pedestrians.

IMO it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured on these speed traps. Don't think education or enforcement is gonna solve this one.

The crossings on the bends at the bridges are NOT zebra crossing. But once somebody starts to cross the road -- you're supposed to yield to them regardless.

I have no great love for the one-way system on the bridges and would love to see a return to two-way even if traffic lights are needed. It's not great for pedestrians and even worse for cyclists. But I think you might be stressing the danger a bit.

finisklin

monument wrote: »

The crossings on the bends at the bridges are NOT zebra crossing. But once somebody starts to cross the road -- you're supposed to yield to them regardless.

I have no great love for the one-way system on the bridges and would love to see a return to two-way even if traffic lights are needed. It's not great for pedestrians and even worse for cyclists. But I think you might be stressing the danger a bit.

I never said they were.....for some assinine reason drivers coming around the bridges think they can cut across onto the other side of the road, of which cars are going in the same direction (and have right of way!), from Sligo road or Bridge street. The issue here is that drivers are speeding and focused on turning into the other lane as opposed to looking ahead at the zebra crossing an checking for pedestrians.

It infuriates me as a driver and as a pedestrian.

What's worse are the drivers that stop to let cars cross into their lane, when clearly they have the right of way.

The signage is crap for motorists - a beware sign. Definitely think that the council are shirking their responsibility for this and surprised the gardai haven't attempted to intervene and make it clearer as there has been a couple of smashes here plus cars going the wrong way around the bridges.

Rant over.