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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World

The traffic lights that leave you seeing red

Pedestrian and cyclist traffic signal
‘Here there are no complaints about the green man – because there isn’t one,’ writes Darren Miles. Photograph: Alamy

Re Adrian Chiles’s column (Have I found Britain’s very worst traffic lights for pedestrians?, 27 September), the good pedestrians of York should count their blessings that they don’t have the worst pedestrian crossing in Britain, because it’s here in Plymouth. More specifically at Mutley Plain. Here there are no complaints about the green man – because there isn’t one.

When the crossing was widened to four lanes, it was considered too expensive to install pedestrian lights, so everyone now has to take their chance that the traffic lights won’t go green mid-crossing. How lucky do you feel?
Darren Miles
Plymouth

• Twenty years ago, I lived in Worcester. There was a set of pedestrian lights opposite Lowesmoor Wharf that didn’t actually stop the traffic. They would only turn red, and beep, when there were no vehicles in sight. Presumably to let you know that it was safe to cross if you were partially sighted.
Martin Cook
Hull

• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

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