Busy zebra (From Penarth Times)

Busy zebra

I RECENTLY idled away some of my time sitting on a bench outside the Post Office on Windsor Road and was much bemused by the slowness of the traffic.

I thought perhaps this was due to drivers pausing to peruse the shop windows or even to gawk in amazement at my ungainly figure - I am not a pretty sight - but then realised it was attributable to an almost continual passage of pedestrians across the zebra crossings at each end of the road.

It occurred to me that it might improve the flow of traffic if the zebra crossings were replaced by pelican crossings. I appreciate that pedestrians like myself might then have to wait for the lights to change before crossing the road. However, this might also provide some assurance that the traffic will stop when I step onto the crossing - a consideration that always causes me to hesitate at present.

My idle observations suggest that some drivers (and I am also a driver when the mood takes me) become irritated at the delay in proceeding along Windsor Road and are inclined to put their foot down when a gap appears.

I console myself with the thought that, were they to collide with me, my bulk might cause them almost as much damage as they will indubitably cause me, but the contest would not be so equal if they ran into a child or some of my frailer contemporaries.

Would other readers like to pass an opinion upon this suggestion? Given the farce that was the pedestrianisation of Glebe Street, it might be nice if we could come up with some suggestion that would improve our town centre.

Ophelia Weigh, Salop Place, Penarth.