Belisha beacon

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A Belisha beacon is a flashing orange globe atop a tall black and white pole. They appear on either side of the road at zebra crossings in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in the former British crown colonies of Singapore and Hong Kong. They are named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1895-1957), the Minister of Transport who introduced them in 1934.

Their function is to provide additional visibility to zebra crossings for motorists, primarily at night. The light is normally powered by a simple bulb on a flashing circuit that runs until burnt out and requiring replacement. The flash commonly lasts one second in both on and off states, some crossings are set so that each beacon flashes alternately to the other side, however they often fall in and out of sync over time.

In New Zealand, the standard for pedestrian crossings, as specified in the Traffic Regulations, requires such a device (or an orange non-illuminated equivalent) atop the black and white pole at each side of the crossing.

Brisbane, Queensland Australia briefly had a small number of true Belisha beacon marked crossings in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but the majority of Australian crossings are Zebra Crossings marked by large yellow circular signs bearing a walking legs symbol.

In Australia, recent years have seen a proliferation of various kinds of beacons and bollards illuminated, reflective or otherwise designed for high visibility at pedestrian crossings, to which the name Belisha or "Bellisher" is occasionally erroneously applied. These high visibility crossing markers are often placed on refuge islands in the middle of the road, in addition to, or instead of at the roadside. Many of these new crossings are signposted that pedestrians must give way to traffic.

In recent years the number of Zebra Crossings, and therefore Belisha beacons, has fallen in the northern counties of England, being replaced by "Pelican" or "Puffin" crossings, with pedestrian controlled traffic signals; a waiting pedestrian can stop all vehicular traffic by pressing a button, and waiting for the pedestrian signal of a red and green man to change green. The green man can be accompanied by a green bicycle to indicate that the crossing is designated dual-use for pedestrians and cyclists.

In the Republic of Ireland, Belisha beacons are now usually accompanied by much higher visibility dual flashing amber traffic lights on either side. Some zebra crossings only have these, rather than actual Belisha beacons.

Thom Yorke, singer and lyricist for the British rock group Radiohead included a reference to the Belisha beacon in the song My Iron Lung from the 1995 album The Bends. In it he sings "The headshrinkers / They want everything / My uncle Bill / My Belisha beacon."

In Cynthia Lennon's book John she says "Early in 1960, John (Lennon) moved in with Stuart Sutcliffe. The boys had a Belisha Beacon and an empty coffin as part of their furniture and reveled in their outrageousness."