Urban delivery work is a constant negotiation with pedestrian crossings, and the Highway Code’s rules 191 to 199 govern every metre of it. Most drivers know the headlines. Fewer know the details that matter from the cab of a long vehicle: the zig-zag overtaking ban, the two-crossings rule at islands, and the flashing amber phase that catches more drivers than any red light.
The area covered by zig-zag lines at a crossing is a hard exclusion: you must not park on a crossing or in the zig-zag area. And the overtaking ban is absolute - you must not overtake the moving vehicle nearest the crossing, or the vehicle nearest the crossing which has stopped to give way to pedestrians.
That second half deserves a pause. The lead vehicle at a crossing may be stopped for a pedestrian you cannot see - hidden by the very vehicle you would be overtaking. The rule exists because the overtaking driver is the one who hits the pedestrian emerging past the stopped van. In a truck, with your sight lines and stopping distance, that scenario is the one urban nightmare above all others.
In slow-moving or queuing traffic, keep crossings completely clear. Do not enter a pedestrian crossing if you cannot completely clear it - and do not block the advanced stop lines for cycles either.
For an artic this is a length calculation, not a courtesy: if the queue ahead leaves your trailer sitting on the crossing, you should not have entered it. Pedestrians forced to pick their way around a blocking truck step into live lanes to do it.
Rule 193 adds the mirror-image warning: take extra care where the view of either side of a crossing is blocked by queuing traffic or badly parked vehicles, because pedestrians may be crossing between stationary vehicles. Your stationary vehicle can be the screen someone steps out from behind.
Approaching a zebra crossing:
Parallel crossings work the same way with a cycle route alongside the stripes: cyclists get the same give-way protection as pedestrians. And the island rule catches people out: a zebra crossing with a central island is two separate crossings - the pedestrian on the far side is on a different crossing from the one you are on.
Pelican crossings are signal-controlled, with a flashing amber phase after the red:
Two refinements: a pelican crossing that goes straight across the road is one crossing even with a central island - so you MUST wait for pedestrians crossing from the other side of the island, the opposite of the zebra rule. And rule 198 applies everywhere: give way to anyone still crossing after your signal has gone green. The lights changing does not clear the crossing; people do.
These have no flashing amber phase - the sequence for traffic is the same as ordinary traffic lights. If the crossing signals are not working, proceed with extreme caution, and do not enter the crossing if you cannot completely clear it.
Crossing rules compress well into driver briefing points:
Urban driving is where the professional standard shows: the gap between a driver who manages crossings and one who merely reacts to them is measured in near-misses nobody logs. Rules 191 to 199 are short. From a high cab with a long stopping distance, they are the whole job for a hundred metres at a time.