Covid and the pelican crossing

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Glenn A
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Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by Glenn A »

I was on a walk today and a busy pelican crossing which serves a secondary school has had the buttons removed from its pelican crossing. Instead of pressing the button to cross the road, you now put your hand under a sensor and wait for the traffic lights to change. Interesting, considering hundreds of people can be using this crossing on weekdays, and I wonder if other pelican crossings have been modified to prevent COVID 19.
WHBM
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by WHBM »

I suspect it's more which highways authorities have been more susceptible to the salesmen of such devices, who live on engineers and politicians who feel they have to be seen to "be doing something".
jnty
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by jnty »

Yeah - surface transmission really doesn't seem to be a major vector of covid at all. A much more useful anti-covid investment with lasting wider benefits would be expanding pavements at crossings to avoid close crowding - but that would be more complicated and expensive than just buying a new fancy box.
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MotorwayGuy
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by MotorwayGuy »

As someone who always disliked touching these buttons, I tend to use my sleeve or elbow to press them. I don't understand why we don't just make the buttons larger, this would make pressing them like this easier and more accessible to people with disabilities.
Glenn A
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by Glenn A »

jnty wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 19:52 Yeah - surface transmission really doesn't seem to be a major vector of covid at all. A much more useful anti-covid investment with lasting wider benefits would be expanding pavements at crossings to avoid close crowding - but that would be more complicated and expensive than just buying a new fancy box.
It is unusual and the only one I've seen where you put your hand under a sensor to activate the crossing, but probably the county council was told the crossing was used by hundreds of school children every day and this anti COVID crossing was a good idea.
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RichardA626
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by RichardA626 »

I normally keep my gloves on, or pull my sleeve over my hand.
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traffic-light-man
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by traffic-light-man »

I'm still not sure what I think of these contactless buttons, particularly at a crossing which is already fitted with kerbside detection where that can be successfully used to demand, though I appreciate there might be some comfort to some crossing users provided by having to actively do something in order to insert a demand. I know there's the idea that demanding off a kerbside can lead to spurious demands from people walking past no intending to cross, but I think using the kerbsides with a call delay of a second or so and a sign to state the atypical arrangement would perhaps be a more cost effective solution particularly where passing pedestrian flows are low.
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Gareth
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by Gareth »

I think we need to get away with this OCD stuff.

I mean, I'm OCD to an extent. I hate public lavitory door handles, especially considering the amount of men I observe who don't wash their hands. I usually use my sleeve rather than my bare hands. But we can't go through life not touching anything. If you can't touch a crossing button, then can you touch the buttons at a cash machine? What about using handrails when climbing steps or using escalators?

Good personal hygiene is one thing? But germphobia is quite another. Contracting viruses and being sick periodically is a part of life.
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Vierwielen
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by Vierwielen »

The buttons on some of the pedestrian crossing lights in our high street have ben vandalised -all that you have to push is a stub.

BTW, what technology do they appear to use to activate the lights when you use you hand? Thermal emission? Interrupting a beam of one sort or another?
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L.J.D
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by L.J.D »

Leeds have updated theirs so the demand automatically comes on when you enter the detection zone at the new A61/A639 sites.
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jervi
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by jervi »

When these signals were renewed in late 2020, the PBU has proximity sensors under them.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.00378 ... 312!8i6656

But I just wish that traffic signals (and all road infrastructure) were all kept to the same standard. If we are now putting proximity sensors onto PSUs, then lets put them on all of them (when being installed/renewed), instead of having mix-matched PBUs everywhere.
AlexBr967
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Re: Covid and the pelican crossing

Post by AlexBr967 »

They fitted a new set of lights in my town with sensors under the PBUs to detect your hand underneath. Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/comme ... re_is_now/ (Ignore my cringy title). Jump to now and half the PBUs have had the stickers peeled off so won't be long until it just looks like an unassuming set of lights. I just remembered I made a whole thread about it: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=42395&p=1178380#p1178380
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