Is the Zebra Crossing losing its significance?

The motor vehicle has become part and parcel of the everyday human activity. It enables people to move from one place to the other faster and with convenience, making life a lot easier.

In order to make the movement of vehicles also easy, roads are constructed every now and then to give drivers the comfort to drive their vehicles safely, and enable the car to always be kept in good shape.

Vehicles being controlled by humans and the vehicle being used on the streets make these three key components (that is the pedestrian, vehicle and the road), which have a kind of relationship. Though the three work hand in hand, mostly the safety of the pedestrian on the road is always sidelined. It is very sad that in the everyday driving activities of drivers, the safety of the pedestrian is always taken for granted.

Under normal circumstances, a pedestrian is supposes to go through the routine of looking left, right, and left again, before crossing a road, but what if there are a lot of cars going past? In this case it will be pointless if the passenger goes through the routine, since the vehicles will be in no position to stop for the pedestrian to cross, due to one reason or the other. In a situation like this, the only thing that can help the pedestrian in crossing is the Zebra Crossing. The question is, what if the Zebra Crossing is present, and drivers do not stop for the pedestrian to make good use of it?

What is a Zebra Crossing?

A Zebra Crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing used in many countries around the world, and it is the oldest established form of controlled pedestrian crossing. In the opinion of Wikipedia website the Zebra Crossing's distinguishing feature consists of alternating dark and light stripes on the road surface, from which it derives its name. A Zebra Crossing typically gives extra rights of way to pedestrians. The crossing is characterised by longitudinal stripes on the road, parallel to the flow of the traffic, alternately a light colour and a dark one. The similarity of these markings to those of a zebra, gave rise to the crossing's name. The light colour is usually white and the dark colour may be painted – in which case black is typically used – or left unpainted if the road surface itself is of a dark colour. The stripes are typically 400 to 600 millimetres (16 inches to 2 feet) wide. If there are no additional traffic lights, pedestrians always have the right of way on a Zebra Crossing. When traffic lights are used, pedestrians only have priority on the green colour.

The Zebra Crossing and Ghanaian society

The education on the use of Zebra Crossing has become a regular chapter in the sylabulls of the Ghana Education Service (GES), during the primary level of every child in Ghana. Children are taught in class how to cross roads and the usefulness of the Zebra Crossing, in order to prevent them from being knocked down by a vehicle on their way to school, or even at home. Many school children with such knowledge of the Zebra Crossing try to exercise it on the road, but most times to no avail. It very sad to see children standing with one leg on the Zebra Crossing, waiting for drivers to stop for them to cross, but they wait in vain. It usually takes an elderly person to stop the cars.

According to one Mr. Ebenezer Sarfo, a plumber, he once went through the normal procedure of using a Zebra Crossing, and to his dismay a commercial driver drove speedily just in front of him, simply because he was in a hurry to pick up a passenger.

In an article written by Adie Vanessa Offiong of Nigeria, it was realised that the bad behaviour of drivers towards the Zebra Crossing is not only associated with Ghana, but outside Ghana. According her, in her interview with pedestrians, Mrs. Patricia Ozi said, “I was in a taxi on the way to the International Airport in Lagos, when a lady tried to go across a zebra crossing.

The taxi driver drove like there was nobody on the line, let alone made any attempt to stop for her. When the lady screamed asking him if he didn't see the zebra crossing, his response was, 'stay there. You bi zebra'?”

The rate, at which the Zebra Crossing is disregarded, makes it rather pointless on roads during road construction. After all those whom it was meant for, are not allowed to make good use of it, which in a way is making people forget its use.

Zebra Crossings and drivers

Though drivers know that the existence of the Zebra Crossing is for the safe crossing of the street by pedestrians, they do not give importance to it. Meanwhile the rule about Zebra Crossings explains that a driver must give way to a pedestrian who has moved onto a crossing. That is to say, as soon as the pedestrian steps onto a crossing, that person has the right of way.

Drivers to not care about the essentials of the zebra crossing, but go to the extent of even parking their vehicles on it, and sometimes stopping on it to pick passengers.

With the problem of drivers not going through the proper procedures for acquiring a driver's license, it has made it difficult for them to understand road signs, more or less a zebra crossing. The Zebra Crossing, to some commercial drivers, is not even noticed on the various streets.

For others drivers zebra crossing is the least significant road sign, after all the passenger recognise the presence of a passing car, knowing that if he/she tries to cross because of the presence of a Zebra Crossing, and is knocked down, the pedestrian will be the ultimate loser.

It is assumed that due to the nature of the zebra crossing, that is its black and white stripes, every driver is made aware of its existence whenever they are driving. It is therefore important for drivers to take notice of pedestrians waiting to cross, so as to stop for them to cross. The driver in front can stop the rest of the cars following, in order to prevent a driver from trying to overtake, with the view that the one in front is not moving fast enough.

Zebra Crossings and Pedestrians

In most cases though education on the use of the Zebra Crossing is started at the primary level of education, the majority of pedestrians do not know the use of these black and white stripes on the roads, so use anywhere they deem convenient to cross the road. Pedestrians should be made aware that they have the right to cross on the Zebra Crossing whenever they step foot on it, but must give the traffic plenty of time to see them, and stop, before they cross. With the presence of the rainy season, roads will often be very slippery, and drivers will need a bit time to stop. Pedestrians should not be reckless with their right to cross, without checking if the traffic has really stopped. They should make it a point to check if traffic from both sides of the roads have really come to a halt, before crossing. Sometimes the driver behind might not know the reason for the still traffic, and will try to over take, therefore in order to prevent any accidents, the pedestrian ought to keep on looking at both sides until he or she crosses fully.

Conclusion

Safety on our roads is a good thing; pedestrians have tried their best to ensure that; it is now up to drivers to contribute their half of safety on the road, in order to prevent any form of human tragedy. Police on traffic duties should make it a point to enforce the use of the Zebra Crossing while directing traffic.

It should be an offense, punishable as other road offenses, if a driver refuses to adhere to it. It will be a good thing if the Ministry of Transportation undergoes a campaign exercise to enlighten and educate both pedestrians and drivers about the importance of Zebra Crossing. This will make both the pedestrian and the driver a lot more vigilant over the use of the Zebra Crossing.

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