Berlin local politicians want to trial 3D zebra crossings

Local politicians in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg want to trial 3D zebra crossings in areas where drivers frequently break the speed limit.

SPD want to trial 3D zebra crossing in Kreuzberg

SPD politicians in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg have submitted a proposal to the district councils (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung or BVV) to trial 3D zebra crossings in the district. The party wants to find more “creative ideas” for keeping pedestrians, particularly children, safe in the street. 

If the plan goes ahead, a 3D zebra crossing will be trialled at a crossroad on Franz-Klühs-Straße in Kreuzberg. The crossing is near two schools and the German Federation of the Deaf's Berlin office.

A 3D zebra crossing in Iceland, one of the first countries to trial the technique (Image credit: Thorir Ingvarsson / Shutterstock.com)

3D zebra crossings are an optical illusion. For pedestrians, they look much like a normal zebra crossing. From a driver’s perspective, the zebra crossing’s white bars appear as low, white bollards. This illusion encourages drivers to slow down further away from the zebra crossing, reducing the chance of hitting a pedestrian. 

“On Franz-Klühs-Straße, a 30 kilometre per hour speed limit applies, but no cars go at 30km/h when driving there,” Anna Lang (SPD) told rbb. The SPD proposal argues that the crossings are an “effective, cost-efficient and innovative measure” for reducing accidents. 

SPD asking BVV to lobby Berlin senate for crossings

On July 2, the 3D zebra crossing motion went to a vote at the Committee for Traffic and Order. The motion was approved, with only the CDU and die Linke abstaining. The BVV must now vote on the proposal. Should it be accepted, the SPD has requested that the BVV lobby the city senate to approve the crossings.

Germany installed its first 3D zebra crossing in Schmalkalden, Thuringia, in 2018. In the same year, a 3D zebra crossing was first floated in Berlin, with a crossing outside the John F. Kennedy School in Steglitz-Zehlendorf suggested as a location. Initially proposed by the FDP, the motion was deemed inefficient for improving road safety and was found to have too many legal hurdles. It was eventually rejected.