No way to go at a zebra crossing

Motorists showing no respect for the zebra crossing is a situation familiar to pedestrians in the cities of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, August 3, 2015.

The zebra crossing has still some way to go before it is accepted as standard road safety practice by pedestrians and motorists in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.

This is especially true of motorists, many say, as drivers do not always stop for those on foot to cross the road.

“Even if there is a zebra crossing, I can never be sure if cars will stop when I cross it,” said Joseph, a college student who lives in Taman Paramount.

“I will still look to see if there’s a car coming before I cross.”

Joseph has a driver’s licence but relies on public transport for his daily activities, walking from one stop to another. Speaking to The Malaysian Insider, he said the furthest he had ever walked was from SS15 to Paramount.

“Either that, or from The Curve to Paramount.

“Road safety is important for everyone of course, but especially for pedestrians.”

Schoolchildren crossing the road outside the schools are another example of those who depend on zebra crossings for safety. Checks outside a secondary school in Petaling Jaya showed that not all drivers stopped to allow the students to cross the road.

“It’s usually like that,” said Chong, who was dropping off his 16-year-old son.

“I’m always worried because eight out of 10 cars will not stop, even when the students are properly inside the zebra crossing. I always have to watch to make sure my kids make it safely into the school compound.”

The school’s security guard said many parents preferred to drop their children directly in front of the school so that they would not have to cross the road.

For those who did use the zebra crossing, he said, the pedestrian light was helpful as cars were likely to stop when confronted with a red light. However, some students also chose to ignore the light and cross the road without its aid.

“They are students and they ought to be able to know how to push the button at the pedestrian light before blaming the drivers for not giving way to them,” said Ju, a former student.Pedestrians will tell you that using the zebra crossing is a tricky business as they are never sure if the cars will stop for them or not, as this picture shows. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Raymund Goh, August 3, 2015.

“It used to be harder to cross the road,” added John, who left after Form 5 in 2011.

“There weren’t any lights for the zebra crossing, so everyone sort of scrambled their way across.

“I remember we had a voluntary traffic police uncle for a while to help the kids cross.

“But most of the time it’s hard because the cars don’t allow people to use zebra crossings properly.”

Shuey, another former student, agreed. “That road was crazy. I had to drag my friends along when I needed to cross the road because the car drivers might stop when they see many kids crossing. Sometimes they won’t if they see only one person there.

However, motorists are not the only ones at fault. Pedestrians do not always use signalised crossings, too.

“Sometimes pedestrians are impatient and they cross before the light turns green,” said Joseph.

“It’s not that the lights are not working, they just don’t want to wait under the hot sun for the light to change.”

For zebra crossings in the city area to be effective, road users say, they must be implemented across the board.

“There’s a culture of jaywalking here,” said Aaron, a freelance writer and photographer. “We’re used to not having zebra crossings, so we just look and cross.”

“For zebra crossings to work, they have to be everywhere,” added Joseph. “For example, there are few zebra crossings in the SS2 area.”

Those who disregard zebra crossings, whether they be drivers or pedestrians, should also be punished, they say.

“It should be made illegal,” said Aaron. “And not the way double parking is ‘illegal’.”

Ultimately, the success or failure of zebra crossings rests on  the road users themselves.

“Generally speaking, the convention of zebra crossing is not respected here,” said Chong.

“It can only be as good as we allow it to be.”

- TMI