Zebra crossing introduced - October 31, 1951

On this day in 1951, the zebra crossing, or white striped pedestrian crossing, was officially introduced in Slough, England. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey everyone, I'm Eves and welcome back to
This Day in History Class, a podcast where we unwrap
a piece of history candy every day. Today is October one, nineteen.

(00:23):
The day was October one, nineteen fifty one. The first
zebra crossing, the striped pedestrian crossing scene in cities across
the world, was installed in Slow England. Pedestrian accidents and
fatalities were on the rise in Britain at the time.
There were rows of metal studs on the road that
marked pedestrian crossings, which were okay for pedestrians themselves, but

(00:46):
were difficult for drivers to recognize. They weren't super visible
from far away. By the time a motorist drove over
the studs and felt the bumps, it would be too
late to prevent an accident. There were also a belicia
beacons or black and white poles with orange globes on top,
that marked pedestrian crossings on the side of the road,

(01:08):
but by the late nineteen forties, as the number of
cars on the road rose rapidly, these safety measures had
become less successful at increasing pedestrian awareness and preventing accidents.
Drivers and pedestrians were ignoring the crossings, so the government
began testing different painted pedestrian crossings that were more visible
than previous ones. The Transport Research Laboratory used model roads

(01:32):
then installed the designs in real world locations starting in
nineteen forty nine. They tested crossings with red and white
stripes as well as blue and yellow stripes, but in
the end black and white stripes tested best in terms
of visibility. They were easier to see from far away
and allowed drivers to reduce their speed ahead of time.

(01:55):
After the first official zebra crossing was installed in Slough,
they were installed in many more local shins across Britain.
They were marked on either side with Felicia beacons. The
supposed origin of the term zebra crossing goes back to
British MP and later Prime Minister Jim Callahan, who was
reported to have said the crossing looked like a zebra.

(02:16):
Callahan said he didn't remember making that remark. Though. Pedestrian
desks declined in the first year, but there were still
accidents at zebra crossings in busy areas and the crossings
could back up traffic, so the UK introduced Handa crossings,
which were basically zebra crossings with traffic signals on the
beacon poles. Britain and countries around the world continue to

(02:39):
experiment with different crossings that increased safety and visibility. Over
the years, many pedestrian crossing designs have been named after animals,
including Pelican crossings, puffin crossings, and two can crossings. I'm
eaves deaf Coote and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. If you haven't

(03:00):
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(03:25):
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