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

[Cunobelin]

Kittens are far more effective

Most traffic will slow or stop for a kitten

[tykeboy2003]

I do all three depending on traffic conditions.

Silly question really.

[gaz]

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.

[mjr]

Kittens are far more effective

Most traffic will slow or stop for a kitten

Not all by a long way, according to the number of posts on local social media mourning dead pets

[The utility cyclist]

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.

[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.

+1 I always do that, sometimes when I have time to spare I loiter by the button for a while and press it each time the lights change
Is that loitering within tent?

[Bmblbzzz]

There are some (many? most?) two-stage crossings which "anticipate", so if you press the button on side 1, when you get to the central island, the button for the next stage is illuminated without anyone pushing it.

[Ric2013]

If turning left onto a road from a cycle crossing I would always press the button on the grounds that failing to do so would IMO consititute jumping a red light. Given that there is no law to prevent me using the road and no NO LEFT TURN sign, I can't see a problem with turning left at a crossing. SO I chose #2.

Now I'll read the other answers...

[Vorpal]

Alternative: Write to the local highways authority and explain that cyclists shouldn't have to choose between safety and convenience.

For what it's worth, if I felt comfortable on the road, I'd probably mainly use the road, rather than the cycle path. If possible, I would avoid times of day that traffic was heavy. If I didn't like the roundabout, I guess, I'd have to weigh how much I disliked it. the cycle path looks, on the map, like a nice bypass for the roundabout, if I was going that way. Of course, if it's a typical, bumpy, poorly maintained sort of cycle path, the roundabout would have to be *really* bad get me to use the path. I might take a different route altogether, rather than chossing between bad & worse.

p.s. it's perfectly okay to use a pelican to get onto the road, even if motorists think it's 'unfair'. they do it all the time. That's what stoplights are.

[PRL]

There are some (many? most?) two-stage crossings which "anticipate", so if you press the button on side 1, when you get to the central island, the button for the next stage is illuminated without anyone pushing it.

Does anyone know if this is some sort of standard ? - it certainly ought to be.

[Bmblbzzz]

There are some (many? most?) two-stage crossings which "anticipate", so if you press the button on side 1, when you get to the central island, the button for the next stage is illuminated without anyone pushing it.

Does anyone know if this is some sort of standard ? - it certainly ought to be.

Presumably there are some guidelines at least, but I don't know them. It's just something I've observed in practice.

[mjr]

If turning left onto a road from a cycle crossing I would always press the button on the grounds that failing to do so would IMO consititute jumping a red light. Given that there is no law to prevent me using the road and no NO LEFT TURN sign, I can't see a problem with turning left at a crossing. SO I chose #2.

Now I'll read the other answers...

It is not jumping a red light because there is no law against using a crossing on a red light, nor should there be.

[gaz]

It is not jumping a red light because there is no law against using a crossing on a red light, nor should there be.

True for toucans which are the subject of the discussion, not for cycle only crossings (which are comparatively few and far between, at least in these parts).

[MikeF]

I just wish there were one type of crossing and all gave priority to pedestrians and cyclists/horses wanting to cross (or join the carriageway) - effectively a zebra crossing with lights.
A local crossing "went wrong" a year or so ago so that it responded about 5 secs after the button was pressed ie the traffic detection part didn't work.
As the motor traffic speed over distance averages about 15-20mph it seemed to make little overall difference to the motor traffic journey time. It was very good for pedestrians. Sadly it was "fixed" so that pedestrians must have the obligatory 30sec+ wait.

[Ric2013]

Don't get me started on horses. They never were the default mode of transport and, in the old days, one had to be very rich indeed to be able to afford one. It gets me that while a car requires a licence and MOT, no such thing is required for a horse.