On approaching a Pedestrian Crossing the first action is to check the interior mirror.

We need to check the interior mirror because we need to see how far away the car behind us is.

If the vehicle is close then we brake gently so that they get to see the brake lights early and we are letting them know we are slowing down.

If we check and the following vehicle is a distance away then there is no need for us to brake early, we just brake normally.

A Zebra Crossing is known as an uncontrolled crossing because there is no button to press, you just stand on it and vehicles have to stop.

The following crossings:

• Pelican
• Puffin
• Equestrian/Pegasus
• Toucan

are controlled crossings as they are requested by the user.

The Puffin/Toucan and some Equestrian Crossings has got sensors to track the pedestrian and vehicle movement.

If someone has crossed quickly or have changed their minds before the lights have turned red then it can stay green.

This is so the pedestrian and vehicle can stop safely and saves time and improves traffic flow.

The Pelican is an old fashioned crossing on a timer. When I started training as an instructor in 2002 around half were Pelican Crossings in Peterborough.

Technology gets cheaper and they have mostly been replaced by Puffin crossings.