Protecting pedestrians in areas of high traffic is always a priority for business owners and entities in charge of overseeing highway and roadway development. While many locations are still using the basic crosswalk styles with markings on the road and maybe a small light, the modern crosswalk systems are far more complex and valuable for the modern pedestrian. Take a quick look at just a few of the features of the pedestrian crosswalk systems in use in many places across the country today.
Modern crosswalk systems can offer lights for visual cues to walk or not walk.
Visual cues to walk or don't walk are a relatively modern addition to crosswalk systems. Older systems utilized basic red, green, or yellow lights much like ordinary traffic lights to let pedestrians know what to do when they approached the crosswalk and whether it would be safe to walk. These days, however, signs posted at these points can have high-resolution digital screens that give specific visual instructions in imagery in addition to basic lights. For example, a sign may show a hand signaling the pedestrians to stop or a walking person to imply it is safe to cross because traffic has stopped.
Modern crosswalk systems can provide sound for the visually impaired.
Those who are visually impaired have to rely on the sound of traffic to get across at a crosswalk, and that is not always the most effective or safest way for these individuals to cross the street. More modern crosswalks have features to help these individuals. For example, some crosswalk systems now have integrated sound systems that specifically state when it is safe to cross the street and when it is not. Just as the signs have lights and images for those who can't hear or don't understand typical traffic signals, this addition makes it safe for the visually impaired to cross the street.
Modern crosswalk systems can count the number of pedestrians using the crosswalk.
Knowing how many pedestrians are moving through the area can yield valuable insight into a lot of things. For one, if you have a crosswalk that is getting thousands of pedestrians daily, you know that you have to be proactive about protecting them. This may be a call to consider something like one-way traffic on a particular street or to change the delay time on traffic lights to give pedestrians from one direction more time to get across. Companies that offer pedestrian crossing systems like Lanelight are working to improve these systems every day.