Exactly who coined the phrase “zebra crossing” is a matter of debate. In 1948 Jim Callaghan visited Britain’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in his capacity as parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Transport. The TRL was working on new ideas for safe pedestrian crossings, and on being shown a design of black and white stripes, the then MP and later prime minister is said to have commented on their resemblance to a zebra.

However, when the crossings hit British streets in 1951, this modest MP said he had no recollection of his comments, but no one else has claimed credit.

Until then, pedestrian crossings consisted of two rows of metal studs in the road, with a Belisha beacon at each end. The rise in the number of cars on the road was leading to more accidents and the TRL was asked to provide a solution.

Its experiments were done on model roads at 1/24 scale, which allowed the laboratory's boffins to crouch with their chins on the “road” and be at a driver’s eye height. After a trial period and once government concerns about cost had been overcome, the zebra crossings were widely introduced in late 1951. The following year saw an 11% fall in pedestrian fatalities.

The zebra ruled the road for 10 years, until the panda crossing arrived in 1962. This used traffic lights instead of Belisha beacons and had interlocking black and white triangles on the road instead of stripes. Confusing and beset by mechanical problems it was abandoned in favour of the pelican (Pedestrian Light Controlled) crossing, introduced in 1969 using traffic lights and conventional stripes.

Other crossings now in use include the puffin (Pedestrian User-Friendly Intelligent), which uses sensors to detect the passage of people and cars and thus control the traffic better; the toucan (Two Can Cross), a joint pedestrian and bicycle crossing; and the pegasus, a type of pelican crossing with a slightly raised control panel that can be more easily reached by horse riders.

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