The origins of the zebra crossing goes back 6 decades. These originated in England, where greater amounts of traffic in cities warranted a need for safer ways for pedestrians to cross the roads. The increase in cars and pedestrians not used to so many cars marked an increase in pedestrian injuries and deaths. Originally, metal studs marked the areas for pedestrians to cross. The issue was these were easily seen by pedestrians, but not by motorists. After a multitude of tests on different patterns and colors across thousands of streets all of the UK in the 1940’s, the zebra pattern was identified as the most effective. It was easily seen by motorists from far away, and also people were more easily seen moving across this pattern.
Although the pattern is easily identified as a zebra like pattern, this was never the original term. It is believed that the name zebra crossing was coined by Jim Callagn, a member of parliament who late became Prime Minister. He apparently observed some of the crossing experiments and commented on their similarities to zebras, and the name stuck.
The simple zebra crossing became an iconic part of pop culture thanks to the album cover of Abbey Road by The Beatles. This particular crossing is still there and it is a popular tourist site in London, with many tourists posing to recreate the famous photo (to the annoyance of locals just trying to drive down the street).
