What does the pedestrian crossing ahead sign mean?

This sign is posted on a busy street ahead of a marked crossing. What does it require of you?

To slow down and be ready to stop for anyone at or approaching the crossing

People standing at the edge of a crossing are about to use it, and waiting for them to commit before you react leaves you no time to react at all. The sign is placed far enough back that a small lift of the foot is all it takes.

This sign is posted and the crossing ahead of you looks empty as far as you can see. What should you do?

Ease off and check both sides, because somebody can step out from behind a parked vehicle

A crossing that looks empty from a distance can produce a person from behind a parked van or a bus in about a second. Easing off and looking both ways costs you almost nothing and gives you the stopping distance you would not otherwise have.

This sign is at the roadside and, as you get closer, somebody is standing at the curb at the crossing. What should you do?

Slow down ready to stop, and stop as soon as they begin to cross

Somebody waiting at a crossing is about to use it, and the sign warned you it was there so you could arrive slow enough to give them the chance. Do not wave people out, because you are inviting them into lanes you do not control and the driver behind or beside you has not seen your signal. Slow, stop if you need to, and let them read the traffic for themselves.

This sign is posted ahead of a marked crossing between two shopping streets, and somebody is standing at the curb looking at their phone. What should you do?

Cover the brake, slow down, and be ready to stop, because they may step out without looking

The sign marks a place where people cross often, so the question is when somebody steps out, not whether. A person facing away or looking at a phone has not seen you, and may walk out believing the crossing itself protects them. Slowing early gives you a stop you can make comfortably instead of one you have to stamp on.

People cross the road ahead. A car in the lane beside you has stopped, and it blocks your view of the crossing.

Stop level with the car and stay stopped until you can see the crossing is clear

A vehicle stopped beside a crossing usually means someone is walking in front of it, hidden from you and unable to see you either. Riding past a stopped vehicle at a crossing is how people who did nothing wrong get hit, so treat that stopped car as a reason to stop rather than a chance to get ahead.

It is raining. You meet this sign and someone steps onto the wide painted stripes of the crossing ahead.

Do your braking on the plain pavement before the stripes, so you are already stopped or slow when you reach them

Wet paint offers much less grip than wet pavement, and a crossing puts a wide band of it exactly where you want to stop. Getting the speed down before the tires reach the paint means you are not asking a slippery surface for hard braking. Treat any large painted area, including arrows and crossing lines, as a patch to brake before rather than on.