Is it OK to stop traffic with a Pelican/Toucan?

[Cyril Haearn]

We can be very glad there are few horses around now, they can be so unpredictable, almost worse than motons?

If a horse wants to use a zebra crossing it just dons pajamas

[Bmblbzzz]

There are still plenty of Roma/Sinti/Travellers living in horse-drawn wagons in certain areas. I see them quite a bit in Worcestershire/Warwickshire areas.

[Flinders]

We can be very glad there are few horses around now, they can be so unpredictable, almost worse than motons?

If a horse wants to use a zebra crossing it just dons pajamas

Horse crossings are called Pegasus crossings. They have them at Newmarket so horses can cross roads to the gallops. The box is high up so a rider can trigger it.
And if you ever drive/cycle there, look very carefully for horses, they get everywhere, and as some are very young thoroughbreds, they can be very excitable, so giving them a wide berth and not maiking sudden movements/noises is a good plan.

It's amazing how idiotically some people drive around Newmarket- it's not like its not famous for having horses around the place. There are about two thousand horses there who all have to get to the gallops and back each day, and although there are walkways, they still have to cross some roads. And in the natural course of events, though only very occasionally, some will dump their riders on said gallops and end up loose.

[Flinders]

There are still plenty of Roma/Sinti/Travellers living in horse-drawn wagons in certain areas. I see them quite a bit in Worcestershire/Warwickshire areas.

If you really want to see lots of them, Appleby Fair is amazing.

[sapperadam]

Hahaha, sounds fantastic, I got really annoyed at the local council putting in a pedestrian crossing in place of a separated zebra in the town centre, so now motorists have priority instead of pedestrians, I just press the button even if I don't need to cross because I know in a few seconds there will be someone who has to wait to cross.

Not always so though. This happened to me recently and I thought of this thread when it happened. Coming down a long hill, traffic lights at the bottom and I saw someone walking past press the button as they went past but with no intention of crossing. The lights changed, I stopped. Problem was, the traffic that would have caught up to me at the nice wide bit further up the road now proceeded to catch up to me and, ultimately, wait with me. This meant that those big angry cars no longer had a nice, wide, clear road in which to give me a nice, wide berth and I was no longer clipping along at a comfortable 15 mph, the cars were instead squeezing past me (I won't get into the cars shouldn't be squeezing past thing now, we all know they often try anyway) because I was going slower than I would have been and they had caught me at the narrow part of the road caused by the lights. All of which would have been avoided had the person had not decided to press the button needlessly - law of unintended consequences.

[Cyril Haearn]

I very often press the button *needlessly*, round here nearly all the motors go too fast
Anything that slows the traffic and makes driving less attractive is good

Next time this happens the motors might have to stop behind you and you will be able to ride alone awhile

Maybe the PoF just changed her mind after pressing the button

[mjr]

I very often press the button *needlessly*, round here nearly all the motors go too fast
Anything that slows the traffic and makes driving less attractive is good

Yes, but it also makes cycling less attractive if there's no cycling bypass of the red light.

[Cyril Haearn]

I very often press the button *needlessly*, round here nearly all the motors go too fast
Anything that slows the traffic and makes driving less attractive is good

Yes, but it also makes cycling less attractive if there's no cycling bypass of the red light.

On one street where I often do this there are a lot of PoBs, indeed I avoid holding them up, I wait till I can impede the progress of motons

[The utility cyclist]

Hahaha, sounds fantastic, I got really annoyed at the local council putting in a pedestrian crossing in place of a separated zebra in the town centre, so now motorists have priority instead of pedestrians, I just press the button even if I don't need to cross because I know in a few seconds there will be someone who has to wait to cross.

Not always so though. This happened to me recently and I thought of this thread when it happened. Coming down a long hill, traffic lights at the bottom and I saw someone walking past press the button as they went past but with no intention of crossing. The lights changed, I stopped. Problem was, the traffic that would have caught up to me at the nice wide bit further up the road now proceeded to catch up to me and, ultimately, wait with me. This meant that those big angry cars no longer had a nice, wide, clear road in which to give me a nice, wide berth and I was no longer clipping along at a comfortable 15 mph, the cars were instead squeezing past me (I won't get into the cars shouldn't be squeezing past thing now, we all know they often try anyway) because I was going slower than I would have been and they had caught me at the narrow part of the road caused by the lights. All of which would have been avoided had the person had not decided to press the button needlessly - law of unintended consequences.

Where did I state everywhere?
My example is a very busy pedestrian town centre next to the only big supermarket in the town centre (literally the entrance is 10m from the crossing) on a flat section of road that has speed bumps and is 50metres from a bend, I have no qualms pressing the button.

[tykeboy2003]

The traffic is fairly heavy. What do you do?

I use a Toucan, both are equally effective but I can't get a Pelican in my panniers....

I'll get my coat.

[Cyril Haearn]

Encountered a Toucan today with the button stuck, not physically but somewhere in its electronic componentry.

As soon as the motor lane light returned to green, the amber "wait" would fire up spontaneously and shortly after the motor lane light would go red. Then the process would start all over again. Lovely.

Hahaha, sounds fantastic, I got really annoyed at the local council putting in a pedestrian crossing in place of a separated zebra in the town centre, so now motorists have priority instead of pedestrians, I just press the button even if I don't need to cross because I know in a few seconds there will be someone who has to wait to cross.

One should always always press the button
Might even hold up a cycler going too fast