London -
They were introduced when everyone had time for each other and life was a good deal slower.
Sixty years on, however, the impatience and raging of modern-day motorists is spelling the end of the zebra crossing.
Low fines and the reluctance of drivers to stop have seen a rise in deaths and injuries on the crossings. Over the past five years more than 1 000 have vanished and many others have been replaced by alternatives with lights and flashing signs.
AA road safety chief Andrew Hammond said: “Zebra crossings are looked on as inferior to other pedestrian crossings as there is no red light telling cars to stop.
“In towns and villages there is a pressure from residents for councils to fit pelican crossings as they believe they are safer, so zebras are being phased out.
“I suspect zebra crossings will continue to have a role in some busy town centres where they can be effective at helping people cross without constantly stopping the traffic. But in villages and towns I think they will eventually become extinct.”
The government decided to introduce zebra crossings in 1951 as road traffic fatalities were mounting. The first was opened in Slough, Berkshire, on October 31 of that year.
The Ministry of Transport experimented with different markings to help improve visibility and considered both blue and yellow stripes and even red and white ones.
Black and white were eventually found to have the best visual impact.
The British crossing found fame in 1969 thanks to the Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road album cover.
Government figures show five people were killed on zebra crossings last year and 144 people were seriously injured, compared with three who died in 2006.
Experts believe one reason for this is that fines for failing to stop at a zebra crossing are relatively small. In the UK a motorist faces a £60 fine and three points on their licence. In Belgium, however, the fine can reach more than £2 000.
Last year 24 people were killed at pelican crossings, even though pedestrians feel safer if they have the protection of a traffic light.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The important thing is we put in the right type of crossing at the right place and make decisions based on evidence not nostalgia.” - Daily Mail