Talk:Pelican crossing

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AFAIK, called "pelican" for PEdestrian LIght Control. needs checking -- Tarquin

No, they've definitely also been Pelicon crossings — see Google and try to ignore the links that have come straight from this article — which suggests (to me, at least) 'schwa elision' as the reason for Pelican. It was only on reading this article recently that I realised the A wasn't a misspelling! :o) — OwenBlacker 21:24, Jul 9, 2004 (UTC)

The crossing should be called "Pelicon", but because it sounds like Pelican and Pelicon isn't in the dictionary or spellcheckers, it has become known as Pelican. The UK highways agency or DETR call it Pelicon. Will find references later.

[edit] The law

In Germany crossing on a red man can attract a fine wheras in the UK it's up to the pedestiran risking it and if there is no traffic a person will cross on a "red man". Any info on different juristrictions would be interesting. Dainamo 00:20, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Anecdote

In a small town in Colorado, I overheard a youngish mother telling her kids: "The Dude means go and The Hand means stop" Pedant

[edit] Usage outside UK?

Is the term "pelican crossing" ever used outside the UK? I moved from the UK to the US two years ago, and have never heard the expression here (perhaps partly because pedestrian-controlled traffic signals are very rare here). Probably most people would use the term "crosswalk", as with other pedestrian crossings.

If the term is unique to the UK (or some other English-speaking coutries?), the article should say so. Mtford 07:40, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I don't believe it's used anywhere in the US. Perhaps other Commonwealth countries?

Atlant 18:47, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

It certainly wasn't "the first definitive pedestrian light controlled crossing" in the U.S. and its introduction here (in the U.S.) was much earlier than 1969. I remember them from my earliest youth and I was born in 1954. None of the "pelican", "panda", "zebra", "toucan", etc. names have ever been used anywhere I've lived in the U.S. They were all just crosswalks or "the light". There may be official Dept. of Transportation designations that I'm unaware of. I'll see if I can't find something. This reminds me of a kid's joke my brother told me once (before 1969!) -- "Hey, Mom! I'm at the corner of Walk and Don't Walk. Can you come pick me up?"

I use the term "pelican crossing" to refer to an intersection in British Columbia with a flashing green traffic signal, because that means only pedestrians can control the light. --  Denelson83  23:03, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

This article should be specifically about Pelican crossings — as such I am about to remove general discussion about other forms of pedestrian crossings, especially those not in the UK. There is a separate pedestrian crossing which is more appropriate. --Lost tourist (Talk) 16:45, 6 February 2007 (UTC)