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Cally Trench: Zebra crossings are a British invention and were introduced in 1949.
Belisha beacons came earlier; they were introduced in 1934 by the then Minister for Transport Leslie
Hore Belisha. Unlike pedestrian crossings involving traffic lights, zebra crossings require drivers
and pedestrians to engage in a social contract with each other and to recognise each other's humanity.
When drivers stop, pedestrians usually acknowledge them with a little wave, nod or smile.
Ann Rapstoff: The zebra crossing is characterised by parallel black/unpainted lines
and white lines, similar to that of a zebra. These stripes are usually 40 to 60 centimetres'
(16 inches to 2 feet) wide. Our streets are usually built to segregate pedestrians from vehicle users;
the zebra crossing is a clearly delineated space in which the pedestrian can move freely without
being confined to pavements and footpaths. The zebra crossing is a place of negotiation between
pedestrians, cyclists and vehicle users. It is an example of a shared space, which relies on eye
contact and interaction for its effectiveness.
Philip Lee: For me In Praise of Zebra Crossings was about
doing my first street intervention, and was an anxious time as a result. In the event
I need not have worried. It went very smoothly and the others didn't run off and abandon
me when someone started to have a go at us or when the police arrived. Well, as it happened,
everyone who saw the performance was very positive, approached us smiling, and clearly didn't
call the police because they never arrived. I wonder whether I am a little disappointed that
the police didn't come because it may have made for some interesting photographs, video footage
and a more exciting intervention. While walking round the roundabout there were a number of
highlights: I will always remember the expression on the face of one driver as he waited to let me pass:
wide-eyed, bemused, disbelieving.
By the time of my second or third circuit there were people waiting for me to come along
the path; obviously they had seen what was going on and thought that they would lie in wait in order
to take their photographs. As I came around a building three young girls were blocking my route.
Smiling and respectfully they took their photographs as I walked around them on my way to the
next crossing. At a similar point in my circuit, it was me who surprised a mother with a
pushchair and children, as I suddenly appeared from around the side of a building.
She was taken aback as she struggled with her encumbrances but was clearly amused
by our encounter. At the end of my last circuit a silver van man who nearly drove into me
said that he was sorry mate - he hadn't notice me, and roared with laughter. He got the point
I think. His relationship with zebra crossings and driving was not entirely as defined by th
e Highway Code. He followed me slowly as I walked around the roundabout, incidentally holding
up a patient queue of cars, as he tried to take a photograph of me with his mobile phone.
I think he yelled his approval as he motored off but I may have been mistaken. I have come
to embrace the need that people have to record in images anything they see that is extraordinary.
I admit to the urge to do the same whenever I see anything body-oriented in the street. In fact
I am disappointed when people don't want to take photographs. Mobile phone photography is approval,
interest, recording a memory, and it implies that they will be talking about what they have seen
with others.
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