Do you know what a zebra crossing is? No, not the magnificent striped animal that we’re all familiar with. A zebra crossing refers to the white lines on our roads, especially at traffic signals. These are, perhaps, the most people-friendly parts of our cities because traffic has to stop to allow pedestrians to cross the road safely. Unfortunately, we don’t always follow this rule.
Where did the idea come from? Initially, these stark white stripes on black tarred roads were not called “zebra crossings”. In the 1930s, this was an experiment in England to allow pedestrians to cross roads because London’s traffic was quite messy and there was no systematic way or space for people to get across.
One day, a British politician visiting a trial crossing spontaneously called them ‘Zebra Crossing’ and the name stuck! Zebra crossings are today well recognised globally and have also inspired other crossings.
A town in Spain, for example, decided to replace the stripes with polka dots. This was because cows in their area had dotted patches on their skin. These were called “Cow Crossings” to highlight how important cows were to their area.
In Hong Kong, a yellow-and-black pattern was called “Tiger Crossings”.
In Australia, Zebra crossings on top of a flat hump are known as “Wombat Crossings”. The inspiration: the marsupial common to the continent.
Then there are rainbow striped pedestrian crossings inspired by the gay pride in Finland, Sweden and Paris.
Decoding the stripes
Though the zebra did not inspire the original “zebra crossing”, have you wondered why the animal is striped? Especially as this makes it visible to predators like the lion. The answer lies in its habitat. There are three species of zebras and all are found in areas in which the irritating horsefly and tsetse fly are common. Researchers think that the zebras evolved this pattern to keep the flies away. In one experiment, they covered horses with a cloth that had a pattern similar to that of a zebra and found that though the flies came close to the body, the black-and-white stripes confused them. So the flies either did not alight on the body at all or crashed into the hide.
