Hi-tech crossings
Puffin awareness
men are at eye level and easy to see.
There is also a special ball on the underside of the button to activate the crossing, which rotates when it is safe to cross providing an aid to the visually impaired.
Sensors on the traffic lights can spot if someone is waiting to cross. They can also tell if someone is already crossing the road and the traffic lights will stay at red until the person has finished crossing. Because there is no flashing traffic light sequence, drivers can no longer start to move off before someone has reached the opposite pavement.
The Centre for Inclusive Living supports Perth and Kinross Council’s decision to install the new style of crossings, which have other measures in place to help people cross the road safely, particularly those who are sight impaired.
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council stated that when crossings are very close together, pedestrians at one crossing would be able to hear the ‘bleeper’ operating from the others.
The new style crossings prevent this confusion and have been tested in Blairgowrie.
The council spokesperson said: “We have trialled the ‘ bleeper’ signal at crossings with local elected members, the Centre for Inclusive Living Perth and Kinross and our traffic signal maintenance contractor present and this test confirmed that the signal could be heard from other crossing points even at its lowest volume.
“Clearly for people with a visual impairment this is a public safety concern as it could lead to pedestrians trying to cross when it is in fact not safe to do so.
“As an alternative aid for visually impaired pedestrians, there are also small rotating cones located under each push button unit. These cones begin to rotate when the green man is activated, alerting pedestrians that it is safe to begin crossing.
“This feature is installed on all traffic signal junctions and pedestrian crossings to aid pedestrians and is commonly known within the visually- impaired community.”