[Photosznews.com]
Shenzhen traffic police recently posted a set of photos of the city’s first 3-D zebra crossing on Weibo, sznews.com reported Sunday.
Located on Lianhua Branch Road in Futian District, the zebra crossing is about 30 meters away from the front entrance of the city’s traffic police bureau. Different from the ordinary zebra crossing, the 3-D version has added two colors. Blue blocks are added parallel to the white blocks. And yellow blocks are painted on the two ends. Therefore, whether seen from afar or nearby, or from a vertical or horizontal angle, the three-colored zebra crossing looks like it’s rising up from the ground and is very eye-catching.
The appearance of the city’s first 3-D zebra crossing has sparked a heated discussion among the public and netizens. “It looks like a deceleration belt from a distance. Vehicles will slow down in advance, so I think it has a certain effect on protecting pedestrians as they cross the street,” a taxi driver surnamed Zheng told reporters. He added, “For taxi drivers like us, most of us slow down or stop at zebra crossings, as we have driving experience. But for a novice driver or a driver who isn’t familiar with the road conditions, the zebra crossing could easily influence their judgment.”
However, one citizen, surnamed Huang, expressed some doubts. “When a driver sees this zebra crossing and is tricked by optical illusions, or if the driver cannot notice it in a timely manner and has to slam on the brakes, and mistakes the accelerator for the brake, or steers the wheel abruptly, wouldn’t the consequences be more serious?” Huang said.
Netizens have given mixed opinions about the 3-D zebra crossing. Advocates think that it is a kind of innovation that can strengthen drivers’ awareness of needing to slow down and give priority to the pedestrians. While opponents worry that drivers will be disturbed and the original intention will backfire by increasing new security risks.
It has been reported that 3-D zebra crossings are not a new thing, and have already appeared in many cities in China.
