Why is the sidewalk called a zebra crossing? What are the standards for setting up a zebra crossing?

Zebra crossings are traffic signs that we encounter almost every day in our lives, helping and serving us humans. It is reported that after many experiments, the current horizontal crosswalks first appeared on the streets of London, England in the early 1850s. In fact, the rules of zebra crossings are very strict because they concern everyone's life. There is an international standard for the width, length, and interval of zebra crossings. Let's learn more about it!

Contents of this article

1. Why is the sidewalk called a zebra crossing?

2. Standards for setting up zebra crossings

3. How to cross the zebra crossing

Why is the sidewalk called a zebra crossing?

It is called a zebra crossing because the sidewalk resembles the white spots on a zebra's body.

In ancient Rome, people, horses, and cars mixed together on some streets in Pompeii, Italy, and traffic was often jammed. In order to solve this problem, people raised the sidewalks to separate people from carriages. Then, near the intersection, they built stones protruding from the road surface horizontally. The stones were used as signs to indicate pedestrians crossing the street, and pedestrians could step on the stones to cross the road.

In the 19th century, cars replaced horse-drawn carriages, and their speed and danger were higher than those of horse-drawn carriages, so stepping stones were no longer suitable. After many experiments, the current horizontal crosswalk first appeared on the streets of London, England in the early 1850s. Because it is white and eye-catching, like the white spots on a zebra, it is also called a zebra crossing.

Standards for setting up zebra crossings

There is an international standard for the width, length and interval of zebra crossings. The basic length of a zebra crossing is 3 to 5 meters, and it should cross the road outside the sidewalk. The width of each zebra crossing is 45 or 60 centimeters. The width of the zebra crossing can also be widened by 1 meter according to the number of pedestrians. The more pedestrians there are, the wider the zebra crossing will be. On a section of road, the interval between zebra crossings is generally 150 to 500 meters, and the more reasonable interval is 350 to 400 meters. That is to say, in the city, it is best to set up a zebra crossing every 350 to 400 meters to facilitate pedestrian passage. If there are no pedestrian crossing facilities on the roads in front of schools, kindergartens, hospitals and nursing homes, pedestrian crossings should be marked and warning signs should be set up. The sidewalks of major urban roads should be equipped with blind paths according to the plan.

How to cross the zebra crossing

When crossing a zebra crossing, you must not exceed the speed indicated by the speed limit signs or markings. Generally, the speed is controlled below 30km/h. Some intersections with large pedestrian flows may require a speed below 20km/h. If there is a traffic light above the zebra crossing, you need to cross carefully at the above speed when the green light is on to avoid accidentally hitting pedestrians or animals that suddenly rush out; if there is no traffic light at the zebra crossing, you need to cross more carefully at the above speed or lower speed after confirming that there are no pedestrians crossing the zebra crossing to ensure that pedestrians are given priority; if there is a traffic policeman maintaining order at the zebra crossing, follow the instructions of the traffic policeman.