The Internet Sensation That Is The Pedestrian Crossing...

Kintarō Hattori

Who would've thought that the pedestrian crossing could provide such amusement to people. I've found it really funny that visitors to the country took the time to video these and upload them to YouTube. There are LOADS of these videos on YouTube.

What unconventional things have you discovered that tourists liked while in Ireland. Has there been anything unusual that you've enjoyed while overseas yourself?


*(Yes I'm aware it's not just found in Dublin)

Overheal

Well you have to admit, they're pretty interesting.

Kintarō Hattori

Overheal wrote: »

Well you have to admit, they're pretty interesting.

To be honest I had never really paid them that much attention. I guess you could say they are something we would just take for granted.

Spread

Could we have some jaywalkers and very near misses please

Standard Toaster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD_s1uPheEY

sdanseo

In fairness, in America they have to explain what the symbols mean.

Green or White Man = WALK
Red Man = DONT WALK

Overheal

sdeire wrote: »

In fairness, in America they have to explain what the symbols mean.

Green or White Man = WALK
Red Man = DONT WALK

?

Depends on the crossing. Some just have the figures, some just have the words, many have both. Few have provisions for the blind; but the wording is an accommodation for the color blind.

Saila

I blame the beatles

Duggy747

If I'm on my own at those stops I sometimes beep in sync with the thing :pac:

Standard Toaster

Dublin is a treasure trove of informinations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q56sON9OjPo

Overheal

Standard Toaster wrote: »

Dublin is a treasure trove of informinations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q56sON9OjPo

Subtitles wanted.

jill_valentine

Duggy747 wrote: »

If I'm on my own at those stops I sometimes beep in sync with the thing :pac:

There's a bit in Spaced that would be absolutely perfect to illustrate this post, but Channel 4 appear to have nixed it from Youtube quite thoroughly.

Oh well. Everyone kindly proceed as if this post is a video of Tyres raving to a traffic light like a mad yoke, cheers.

chucken1

Cross walks? Really?

bodhrandude

Why is it an internet sensation?

yermanoffthetv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKXlsxraoKQ

Even Toyota are gettin in on the act

jill_valentine

chucken1 wrote: »

Cross walks? Really?

Well... yeah. The whole point of the thread being that tourists find our traffic lights an amazing novelty, it would make sense for them to refer to a crossing in their local vernacular.

Jimoslimos

Duggy747 wrote: »

If I'm on my own at those stops I sometimes beep in sync with the thing :pac:

I do that too, usually push the button everytime in sync with the beeps.

cormie

My friend could does a pretty good impression of the sound and would do it whenever he was at a set of lights and people would start crossing on red

D

Most countries don't have the beebs. It is for blind people. The slow beebs let them know where the crossing is and the fast beebs let them know when to cross. Also the red paving slabs have raised bumps that you can feel through the soles of your shoes.

carbsy

cormie wrote: »

My friend could does a pretty good impression of the sound and would do it whenever he was at a set of lights and people would start crossing on red

Um.. that's not very smart, is it? The whole point of the beeps is for the blind.

cormie

carbsy wrote: »

Um.. that's not very smart, is it? The whole point of the beeps is for the blind.

Ah of course not, I probably used the wrong smiley in the last post I'm sure he wouldn't have done it if it looked dangerous to cross or if he saw a guide dog or other obviously vision impaired person.

Feeona

In different cities in Japan, they have unusual beeps for their traffic lights. In the city I was in, the traffic lights chirped like birds. In Kyoto, they used to play music as you crossed the road-really depressing music, as if you were walking to your death.

phasers

I don't get it... but it's nice that they find fun in something normal like that

dan1895

My English cousin is always asking why we have a yellow man light when he's over. Only country he's ever seen it in.

smash

On the Dublin City Pubcrawl a few years ago an American asked why they beeped like that. The organiser said it was for deaf people so they know when to stop and go, to which the American replied "That's amazing.... they're not allowed drive in my country!"

Epic fail!

pickarooney

smash wrote: »

On the Dublin City Pubcrawl a few years ago an American asked why they beeped like that. The organiser said it was for deaf people so they know when to stop and go, to which the American replied "That's amazing.... they're not allowed drive in my country!"

Epic fail!

Epic fail repeating a decades-old urban legend and screwing it up you mean?

smash

pickarooney wrote: »

Epic fail repeating a decades-old urban legend and screwing it up you mean?

Strange isn't it that I was told this by someone who worked in the Duke, where the pubcrawl went... Of course he might have made it up but it was funny and I didn't screw it up. And for the record, beeping lights haven't been around for decades!

Professey Chin

smash wrote: »

On the Dublin City Pubcrawl a few years ago an American asked why they beeped like that. The organiser said it was for deaf people so they know when to stop and go, to which the American replied "That's amazing.... they're not allowed drive in my country!"

Epic fail!

Why would they beep for deaf people?

smash

Sh!t... blind people...

ok, I did f*ck it up

stevenmu

Epicly :pac:

Iwannahurl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqovUqGavx8

My name is URL

Dares more to Oireland dan dis.

chakotha

Saila wrote: »

I blame the beatles

Speaking of which!

http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/

darkman2

Is Ireland the only place in Europe that uses a pacman noise on it's lights? TBH if your visiting for the first time it is probably strange to hear first time round. Do they use them in the North?

Jev/N

How the hell did you even come across these videos?!

Kintarō Hattori

Jev/N wrote: »

How the hell did you even come across these videos?!

I was looking at cycling videos, came across some interesting pedestrian videos. The window on the right which shows similar videos had some for the pedestrian crossing and I thought.... wtf? So I clicked on it and there you go.

yermanoffthetv

Feeona wrote: »

In different cities in Japan, they have unusual beeps for their traffic lights. In the city I was in, the traffic lights chirped like birds. In Kyoto, they used to play music as you crossed the road-really depressing music, as if you were walking to your death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4zS-wRBjH8

I thought you were overstating the Koyoto tune till I looked it up on youtube...now I feel a morose dispondency draw upon my hapless soul

Kintarō Hattori

yermanoffthetv wrote: »

I thought you were overstating the Koyoto tune till I looked it up on youtube...now I feel a morose dispondency draw upon my hapless soul

Heh that's a little mad. I wonder what they were thinking when they chose that tune.

Iwannahurl

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Heh that's a little mad. I wonder what they were thinking when they chose that tune.

This.

herosa

That Toyota one is class! I think we should take all ours down and replace them with that one. It could be our thing.

120_Minutes

I dont think the prodigy ever got the credit they deserve for creating the sound of the irish pedestrian crossing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Cn6iX4rYU

skip to 0:38

Dotrel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QhHSl-bdpU

pablomakaveli

So Americans are fascinated by pedestrian crossings and roundabouts. Maybe we could market them in a tourist ad for the States.

"Ireland: The land or crossings and roundabouts."

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Overheal wrote: »

but the wording is an accommodation for the color blind.

even without the wording, when green the "man" looks like he is walking, when he is red, he is standing. also the green man is always on the bottom!

Hazys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqrBYRCxy2E

jill_valentine

Dotrel wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QhHSl-bdpU

YES.

StupidLikeAFox

dan1895 wrote: »

My English cousin is always asking why we have a yellow man light when he's over. Only country he's ever seen it in.

I hope you told him that the yellow man was for protestants and the green man was for catholics??

yermanoffthetv

ColHol wrote: »

I hope you told him that the yellow man was for protestants and the green man was for catholics??

And the "pep pep pep" sound is the gunfire between them

SpatialPlanning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

Something different will always catch a person's attention.

Caco

darkman2 wrote: »

Is Ireland the only place in Europe that uses a pacman noise on it's lights? TBH if your visiting for the first time it is probably strange to hear first time round. Do they use them in the North?

Not sure about Europe but it's the very same in Auckland and Wellington!