The term pelican crossing seems to be a rather British thing. Actually it's wrong. The official name is Pelicon crossing (short for PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled crossing). That is, if a pedestrian wants to cross, he has to press a button and to wait for the tiny green man to appear (the one on the signal not the one from Mars).
The British have an entire zoo related to the possibility of pedestrians being able to cross the road:
- Zebra Crossings, which feature alternating dark and light stripes on the road surface.
- Panda crossing: a zebra crossing which has warning signals (Belisha beacons), but no control signals.
- Puffin crossing, which has the lights on the same side as the pedestrian
- Toucan crossing is a crossing for pedestrians and bicycles
- Pegasus crossing allows horse-riders to cross as well.
