On 15 Jan, 10:30, "J. Chisholm" wrote:
Cheeky wrote:
On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:28:11 +0000, Stuart
wrote:

... they've all got the green man/red man lights next to the button
rather than in the traditional and logical place on the opposite side of
the road.

Anyone know why? It doesn't make much sense (especially the ones near me
where there are 2 sets of lights one slightly higher than the other)

Apparently it's to prevent pedestrians panicking half-way acress the
road if the ped light changes from a green man to a red man!!
Ridiculous given that if you approach crossings from certain angles
you now often can't even see a light...

I believe one reason is that it encourages peds to look at the traffic.

Whatever the good intentions, I don't think it works that way. At
least with opposite side lights, pedestrians are looking towards the
road, and not down at something to their side.



Significant nos of serious crashes occur because peds see the opposite
light and walk towards it without looking at the traffic when light
turns green.
With 'nearside' lights the peds are more likely to check on if motor
vehicles are jumping the red by looking both ways.
Several years ago I was at a crossing *with 'opposite' lights when an
elderly lady started to cross on the green despite a vehicle approaching
at speed. I grabbed her shoulders, and stopped her. We were both shaken,
but I don't believe the driver ever realised he went through a red light
at a pedestrian crossing.
For similar reasons the 'opposite' lights at many road junctions have
gone. Once you've crossed the stop line, you should drive on the road
conditions, not assume you've a clear path and right of way.
Remember GREEN means 'you may go if the way is clear' (HC page 102)


But in this case a total lack of regard is shown to pedestrians who
have to cross in front of both the traffic and the only lights.

At junctions without pedestrian signals, pedestrians need to be able
to see if the lights are changing, and they can't if there are no
opposite lights. A junction I always used to have trouble with was
the crossroads with New Oxford Street and Bloomsbury Street where
there were no lights visible to pedestrians (don't know if it has
changed).

(Actually, in general, you seem to be proposing to do away with lights
so that everyone judges the conditions, but I don't think that could
work in practice.)