With road accidents still a major concern for the Jewish State, one southern city introduces a creative solution.

By i24NEWS

The southern Israeli city of Ashkelon unveiled the country’s first three-dimensional pedestrian crossing on Sunday.

Painted on the ground to give the illusion to incoming drivers they are coming into an obstacle, the innovative design was engineered to reduce the risk of collision.

Originally inspired by a 2016 Indian street-art project, the installation has been set up in several locations in the world, although it still hasn’t seen mass adoption.

“We are constantly thinking about how to improve road safety,” Ashkelon mayor Tomer Glam said, according to Israeli daily Maariv.

“I believe that with this innovative solution coming to our city, we will see fewer accidents and fewer casualties,” he added.

According to police data, more than two thirds of accidents involving pedestrians are caused by driver behavior. Or Yarok (Green Light), a road safety organization, also says 79% of pedestrian injuries happen on a crossing – and claims about half the lives.

לראשונה בישראל: מעבר חצייה תלת ממדי הותקן באשקלון ברחוב ההסתדרות בעיר. המעבר, העשוי חומר ייחודי ועמיד למשך שנים, נועד להתריע בפני נהגים והוא נראה למרחוק@pozailov1
(צילום: אלדד עובדיה) pic.twitter.com/vPplsBLMOB

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 7, 2019

“Pedestrians have become the new transparent,” Erez Kita, director of Or Yarok, told Mako. “We must improve the infrastructure around crossroads…. With simple and inexpensive operations it is possible to save lives,” he added.

Last month, Tel Aviv also started experimenting with a different kind of pedestrian crossing, which attempts to grab the attention of road users away from their smartphones and onto the roads.

A strip of LED lights on the ground turns red or green in step with the usual ‘walking man’ across the road.

The aim is to unconsciously gain the pedestrian’s attention to signal when it is unsafe to cross the road.

Road collisions are a major concern in Israel. Although there has generally been a downward trend in the number of casualties from road traffic accidents, 81 people have died since the beginning of this year, 22 of them pedestrians.

View original i24NEWS publication at:
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/1554637225-israeli-city-gets-three-dimensional-pedestrian-crossing