Woman in hospital after crash on Plymouth zebra crossing

“Clearly it is hard to judge or there wouldn't be stories like this one or the one a few weeks ago. It's a fact of life that some drivers get distracted, yes it's their fault but we still have to consider it. If they are distracted they are far more likely to notice a traffic light turning red than they are a pedestrian near a zebra crossing. For that reason pedestrians feel a lot safer at pelican crossings too. Whenever I cross a zebra crossing I always wait until I am sure that the driver is stopping, it's hard to judge a car's deceleration when it's coming straight at you so I'm sure this annoys the drivers too as they have to wait extra time until I am sure it's safe to cross. Yes I could just walk across and if someone hits me it would be their fault, but I have no intention of going to hospital, even if I was legally entitled to cross. As a driver I also hate them because you never know if someone is going to cross or just walk past. There are often hedges around that someone could pop out of and when it's dark there can be people dressed all in black that are hard to see. Zebra crossings are just a nightmare that should be replaced.”

“Tim, it's not really too difficult a concept - if you see a pedestrian near a zebra crossing you either slow down or at the very least cover the brake to be prepared to stop. If the pedestrian steps on the crossing they have control and you must stop and wait until they step onto the pavement on the other side (unless it has a central refuge where each side is taken as a separate crossing). As Andyals mentions plenty of comment re-'defensive driving' on another article and yet a person near a zebra crossing is far easier to judge than a bolting Dartmoor pony.
Unlikely anywhere will be replacing zebras with pelicans across the board - Bristol, like many cities, are now shutting off pelican crossings outside peak hours to save money...”

“Get rid of zebra crossings and replace them with immediate stop pelican crossings. Safer for both pedestrians and drivers as both know exactly where they stand and there is very little chance of one not noticing the other.”

“Just been reading some very nasty comments from a bunch of idiots regarding a biker who got hurt after hitting a pony.
Isn't it interesting though, how when we get stories of idiot car drivers, people stay very quiet.”