CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

Ped crossings - secret spinning cones

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  1. cb
    Member

    Didn't know about this; are Edinburgh crossings fitted with these?:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-22706881

    "The cone isn't telling you it's safe to cross, it's telling you the light is on. For instance, cyclists like whizzing through crossings sometimes, even though they shouldn't."

    I know that some crossings in Edinburgh could be operated with a special yellow plastic key. I remember seeing this demonstrated when I was a kid.
    But...
    Can't remember exactly what it did (made a noise?), or how many crossings were fitted like this. Perhaps it was just a trial that never went anywhere.

    (Ok, so as anecdotes go, this wasn't a very good one...)

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. Cyclops
    Member

    I've seen a few about although I admittedly don't check most crossings as you tend to get strange looks if you stand at the crossing fondling the underside of it.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. Coxy
    Member

    I've seen a blind person use a key to make turn on the audible signal of a crossing.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. MeepMeep
    Member

    I was surprised to learn that this is not common knowledge. At school, the misconception was that you could make the crossing green quicker by twisting the cone the 'right' way... I later learned of light sequencing and what the cone was really for.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. fimm
    Member

    I'd never heard of these before. Neat.

    (Don't read the comments on the BBC, btw, they're all about red-light-jumping cyclists. Which I totally agree blind/partially sighted people have a particular right to rant about.)

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. crowriver
    Member

    Some crossings have special buttons on the underside of the box (not cones). If you press these, the crossing makes a high pitched beeping sound. If you just press the normal button, the crossing is silent...

    I always use the underside button if there is one. The crossing sequence is usually so brief that any additional cue is valuable to give you more time before traffic starts bearing down on you.

    Posted 12 years ago #

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