Pedestrian crossing traffic lights
Traffic lights for pedestrians normally have two main lights: a red light that means ‘stop’ and a green light that means ‘go’ (or, more correctly, ‘proceed with caution’). There is usually a flashing phase (red in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, green in Europe) that means ‘complete your crossing’. In most locales in North America, the colors used are a red-orange (“Portland orange”) for “stop/wait” and a bluish-white (“lunar”) for “go.” While the “walk” signal is generally a walking human figure, North American pedestrian signals usually show an upraised hand for “stop,” while most other countries display a standing human figure. Some older American signals display the verbal commands “Walk” (lunar white or green) and “Don’t Walk” or “Wait” (red-orange). US pedestrian signals are now standardized as being white and orange.
At selected pedestrian crossings in some countries, pedestrian traffic lights include a type of siren, beeper or warbler, which sounds in order to alert visually impaired pedestrians that it is safe to cross (In The Republic of Ireland this is the case at all Pedestrian crossings]]. These may be set to a timer and sound only at daytime to avoid annoying sleeping residents at night, or may be activated by a button. Some other intersections include a white strobe light mounted inside the red light that flashes every few seconds when the light is red. This is mainly used when a new traffic light is installed or where running a red light has proven to be a problem. Some also include tactile warnings, like a vibrating plate, or a rotating cone, to help people with hearing impairment or visual impairment cross the road and street.
Some pedestrian crossing lights are activated only after a pedestrian presses an activating button, while others operate automatically, and others still operate automatically but only at certain times of the day.
In some jurisdictions, at intersections where there are no pedestrian crossing lights in operation, the normal three-set lights also apply to pedestrians crossing the street.
Some pedestrian and roadway traffic signals are fitted with readouts showing a countdown until the next signal change.
Some traffic-light controlled junctions have a light sequence that stops all vehicular traffic at the junction at the same time, and gives pedestrians exclusive access to the intersection so that they can cross in any direction (including diagonally). This is known as a pedestrian scramble in some places.
Ampelmännchen pedestrian traffic signals have come to be seen as a nostalgic sign for the former German Democratic Republic.