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The secret button at pedestrian crossings
Few seem to know about this useful little device, which is surprising because in many areas of the country it can be found on every street... and it saves lives.
What is it?
It's a small, unassuming plastic or metal cone which you can find on the underside of pedestrian crossings.
When the green man lights up to show traffic should stop and it's your turn to cross, the cone starts spinning. It points downwards and has tactile ridges on it.
What's it doing there?
It's there for those people who can't see the lights, like visually impaired or blind people. When they feel it spinning they know they have the right of way.
When crossing a road you can stand near the control box with your hand on the cone and independently know you can cross when it spins, without having to get help from a passer-by, if there is one.
But I thought crossings beeped for blind people?
Not all crossings make sounds. For instance, if two crossings are close to each other neither will beep in case pedestrians are misled into walking out into oncoming traffic on the wrong road. And, in any case, a tactile indicator helps deaf-blind people too. They can't hear audible signals. The cones provide the same information as the beeping signal but in tactile form. Some crossings both beep and rotate.
Read more here -- >BBC News - The secret button at pedestrian crossings
What is it?
It's a small, unassuming plastic or metal cone which you can find on the underside of pedestrian crossings.
When the green man lights up to show traffic should stop and it's your turn to cross, the cone starts spinning. It points downwards and has tactile ridges on it.
What's it doing there?
It's there for those people who can't see the lights, like visually impaired or blind people. When they feel it spinning they know they have the right of way.
When crossing a road you can stand near the control box with your hand on the cone and independently know you can cross when it spins, without having to get help from a passer-by, if there is one.
But I thought crossings beeped for blind people?
Not all crossings make sounds. For instance, if two crossings are close to each other neither will beep in case pedestrians are misled into walking out into oncoming traffic on the wrong road. And, in any case, a tactile indicator helps deaf-blind people too. They can't hear audible signals. The cones provide the same information as the beeping signal but in tactile form. Some crossings both beep and rotate.
Read more here -- >BBC News - The secret button at pedestrian crossings
