Services » Transport » Road safety programme » Pedestrian crossings

Legally you must use a pedestrian crossing if you are within 20 metres of one.
Pedestrians, stop, look and listen. It's not your right to step straight out onto a pedestrian crossing and expect a vehicle to stop. Never assume that drivers have seen you at the crossing. Make eye contact with a driver (if possible) before crossing; and when they do stop, give them a smile.
The law requires drivers to give way to pedestrians on both sides of all pedestrian crossings unless the pedestrian crossing is divided by a traffic island. Look for pedestrians. Slow down and be prepared to stop.

Keep the inner city roads safer for us all! Think before you step.
Pedestrian refuge islands are designed to give you a chance to cross a street in two stages. The refuge gives you a safer place to wait before making the second stage of the crossing. So think before you step: these refuges are not zebra crossings. It is your responsibility to cross only when there is a break in the traffic.
At pedestrian refuges drivers do not have to stop for pedestrians, but be able to stop if you have to. Stopping for pedestrians using refuges islands creates a hazard for following vehicles.
Courtesy crossings or raised platforms are not official pedestrian crossings. The changed surface alerts drivers to reduce their speed and to be aware of pedestrians.
Don't just step out onto the crossing. Have a look first, make eye contact with drivers and smile. It's about courtesy, let cars cross if they've been waiting awhile.
Go slow, smile and remember that pedestrians are fragile. It's about courtesy, let pedestrians cross if they've been waiting awhile.
Pedestrian crossings are well understood by walkers and drivers alike, but the 'kea' crossings used near schools aren't so well understood. Unlike
normal pedestrian crossings, kea crossings do not have 'zebra' stripes on the road and are only operational during part of the day: the start of the school day, the end of the school day, and sometimes during the lunch hour. When a kea crossing is operational, it acts like a pedestrian crossing.
Last updated: 21/06/2009 7:46pm
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