Design unlikely to surface here

An optical illusion that is being tested overseas to slow down traffic won’t be coming to Florida any time soon.

Some zebra-stripe crosswalks in Iceland, France, Belgium and India have been painted on roads so they look three-dimensional to motorists, reports BoredPanda.

The white stripes have gray trim and black shadows to make them appear as if they are rectangular blocks floating above the pavement.

The design is intended to fool unfamiliar drivers into slowing down. Pedestrians using the crosswalk appear to be walking on air.

Fort Lauderdale is among the more creative crosswalk designers in South Florida.

Las Olas Boulevard has a multicolored intersection at Southeast Third Avenue, yellow flashing lights embedded in the crosswalk at Southeast 13th Avenue, and red brick pavers at many other intersections.

However, city officials said Fort Lauderdale has, “no plans to install 3-D crosswalks,” and for good reason.

The Federal Highway Administration passed regulations in 2009 that banned painting crosswalks with anything other than the standard white lines.

Under Florida law, crosswalks can be marked with white lines and zebra stripes, or unmarked with a clear path between sidewalk curbs at intersections.

Some cities around the country had artistic crosswalks that looked like giant zippers, rainbows, swimming fish, and cutlery.

If floating 3-D zebra-stripes ever find their way to South Florida, we’ll just have to cross that road when we come to it.