A traffic island is a solid or painted object in a road that channelises traffic. It can also be a narrow strip of island between roads that intersect at an acute angle. If the island uses road markings only, without raised kerbs or other physical obstructions, it is called a painted island. Traffic islands can be used to reduce the speed of cars driving through.
When traffic islands are longer, they are instead called traffic medians, a strip in the middle of a road. serving the divider function over a much longer distance.
When making left turns, drivers will often drive over painted islands even though it is technically illegal. Some traffic islands may serve as refuge islands for pedestrians. Traffic islands are often used at partially blind intersections on back-streets to prevent cars from cutting a corner with potentially dangerous results, or to prevent some movements totally, for traffic safety or traffic calming reasons.
In parts of the United Kingdom, the term island is used as a synonym for roundabout.
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Famous quotes containing the words traffic and/or island:
“Cry;—and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob’s ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.”
—Francis Thompson (1859–1907)
“An island always pleases my imagination, even the smallest, as a small continent and integral portion of the globe. I have a fancy for building my hut on one. Even a bare, grassy isle, which I can see entirely over at a glance, has some undefined and mysterious charm for me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)