Smart Crossings for Pedestrians Need To All Behave The Same
Zebra crossings were surely one of the least likely things to feature in this column. Yet, here we are with ‘smart pedestrian crossings.’
Back in 2014, at a notorious black spot in Badajoz, Western Spain, LEDs were deployed to automatically light a crossing at night when someone walked over.
If a car was approaching at speed, red lights illuminated to ward pedestrians.
Since then, the Spanish resort of Castellon has installed ten crossings which detect any pedestrians wanting to use them and activate the traffic lights to let them cross.
As well as improving safety, officials claim that building people sensors into the pavement has eradicated the escalating cost for fixing broken buttons on the crossing controls.
Dubai launched its hi-tech crossing in January with a trial which detects pedestrians and either lengthens the time to cross or releases traffic earlier, depending on pedestrian speed.
Now the smart crossing has come to the UK.
The insurer Direct Line, eager to cut numbers of casualties traversing roads, entered the market with a big splash last week.
It launched a trial in the London suburb of Mitcham.
This one uses LEDs embedded in the road surface to create the stripes, along with intelligent monitoring.
If pedestrians approach and it is safe to cross, the zebra stripes turn green.
If someone starts to cross and it is not safe, it uses red to warn drivers as well the pedestrian.
If a large group approaches, the stripes can automatically widen to accommodate them.
The innovation is great.
However, smart crossings will need to standardise.
If they behave differently from location to location, that could be more risk than solution.
