The Access Association says in an open letter to Government Ministers that the growing trend of installing art on crossings rather than using the established ‘zebra’ stripes pattern could confuse some users including those with neurological conditions.

“This form of public art poses risks to disabled people, older people and children, and will impact their ability to make safer active travel journeys,” wrote the group’s president Pip Jackson. “If not stopped these will have a very real impact on inclusion.”

She added: “We believe that colourful crossings will impact users’ confidence to travel and force some to use other routes or unsafe practices such as crossing adjacent to the coloured areas. At the very least, we expect the impact on confidence will extend crossing times for many users.”

The letter says feedback has been received from partially sighted people that they would not be confident using many of the colourful crossings introduced, while assistance dogs trained to help blind users cross roads may be confused by the inconsistency of design.

People with neurological conditions such as visual hypersensitivity could experience sensory overload and distress when unexpectedly encountering the bright colours, patterns and strips of artistic road crossings, the letter adds. “This may also result in people not recognising the road crossing and attempting to cross the road elsewhere where it is less safe.”

In addition the letter warns that people with dementia or learning disabilities may find the crossings confusing or difficult to understand. “The consistency and hence familiarity of the recognisable zebra stripe plays a large part in everyone interpreting a road crossing as a safe place to cross, as opposed to a colourful crossing which looks different every time one is encountered and therefore no amount of training or instruction can easily prepare someone for the variety they may encounter,” Pip Jackson wrote.

The group urges Government to write to all highway authorities advising them to stop installing any new colourful crossing schemes and recommend those already in place be removed. It adds that the Traffic Signs Regulations & General Directions should be amended to specifically address the surfacing of crossings.