Painted zebra crossings promote road safety in Tbilisi

Vibrant pedestrian crossings are popping up in suburbs all over Georgia’s capital to bring attention to the walkways and raise awareness of road safety in Tbilisi.

The latest monochrome zebra crossing has been painted in bright hues and was unveiled this morning to drivers and pedestrians.

Located in the Didube district, the pedestrian crossing project was painted in a joint effort by art students and the district's public employees.

The transformation of the crossing was initiated by students of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts last week. The work was then completed by Didube District Administation employees overnight last night and unveiled to drivers early this morning.

The crosswalk featured the slogan "For Your Safety" from the State Program for Traffic Safety. Photo by Salome Pashtiani/Facebook.

The new crosswalk was painted on the road across from the Didube District Administration offices.

As well as boasting bright colours, words written next to the crossing in Georgian language read the slogan ‘For Your Safety’, which was launched within the State Program for Traffic Safety.

The modernising of zebra crossings was part of the public campaign We Observe Traffic Rules and sought to capture the attention of drivers who often failed to notice conventional zebra crosswalks.

The crosswalk in front of the Didube District Administration offices was initiated by art students and completed by administration employees. Photo by Salome Pashtiani/Facebook.

The campaign's efforts aimed at drivers as well as pedestrians to raise awareness the rights and responsibilities of everyone who used the road; drivers and pedestrians.

Increasing awareness of road safety was imperative in Tbilisi. Last year 90 people died and 3,834 were injured in road accidents in Tbilisi.

Pedestrians were also among the victims of road accidents. Last year 43 pedestrian died and 1,035 pedestrians were injured in road accidents, said Georgia Alliance for Safe Roads.

Photographer Goga Chanadiri, an active member of the campaign told his social network followers today "a number of companies" in Tbilisi were keen to help transform other pedestrian crossings into vibrant creations.

This was not the first pedestrian crossing to be overhauled. Last Friday the first painted pedestrian crossing was unveiled on Beliashvili St, also in Didube.

Creative crosswalks can be found in cities worldwide, with some of them painted by enthusiast citizens and others created by traffic safety companies.