Officials in West Vancouver, Canada, apparently aren't satisfied with the driver-slowing properties of traditional speed bumps. On Tuesday, the town unveiled a new way to persuade motorists to ease off the gas pedal in the vicinity of the École Pauline Johnson Elementary School: a 2-D image of a child playing, creating the illusion that the approaching driver will soon blast into a child. According to Discover magazine, the pavement painting appears to rise up as the driver gets closer to it, reaching full 3-D realism at around 100 feet: "Its designers created the image to give drivers who travel at the street's recommended 18 miles per hour (30 km per hour) enough time to stop before hitting Pavement Patty -- acknowledging the spectacle before they continue to safely roll over her." You have to wonder if the designers of the "speed bump of the future" considered that drivers might become conditioned to disregard Pavement Patty and her imaginary cohorts, creating something similar to a "boy who cried wolf" effect. Couldn't such conditioning reduce drivers' caution if a real child should cross their path? Asked whether confusing and/or tricking drivers with such images might create such unintended hazards, David Dunne of the British Columbia Automobile Association Traffic Safety Foundation said that pedestrians need to be just as alert as drivers. "People tune out. It takes an attitude shift for people to change," Dunne said. "Pedestrians need an attitude shift too. They have to realize that just because they are in a crosswalk doesn't mean they are safe. In fact, most get hit while using crosswalks." As for drivers who become can't process optical illusions, Dunne argued that they have no business on the road in the first place. "It's a static image," he said. "If a driver can't respond to this appropriately, that person shouldn't be driving, and that's a whole different problem." From Yahoo News
Well, if they want me to slow down, maybe they should try that with some breasts? I would slow down for those bumps.
OK.....so soccer mommy driving the SUV while on the phone suddenly notices said fake child and slams on the brakes, breaks nose on steering wheel, gets rear-ended by the next soccer mom in line, and sues the city. Makes sense to me.........................
You forgot about the part where the too hot coffee from 5bucks splashes on the soccer mommy and leaves her disfigured. Her vain husband is now turned off and they both sue the city for loss of consortium.
if a kid is playing ball in a parking garage, deserves to be run over* *yes, I'm kidding. But, something more believable would work better. 36DD's or the like
Dittos on the need for fleshy speed humps. Seriously, seems to me to be a baaaaaad idea to condition people that it's OK to drive right over playing children. After seeing 400 of these, I wouldn't even register a real kid in the street... especially when sipping a latte and talking on the phone.
Actually I rather like them although they will have limited shelf life I'm sure. Ive seen numerous areas near playgrounds where there are several posted signs and HUGE red squares painted on the road for 30kph (20 mph) but nobody pays attention. I actually think low/gradual speed bumps are the only thing that will make a difference in school and playground zones to slow people down. Until then trying something new and innovative is not such a bad thing.
If you want to slow them down..... Set up concrete barriers..... Serpentine.... Serpentine [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN1WxSITwWw]YouTube - The In Laws - Alan Arkin Peter Falk - Serpentine! Serpentine! (1979)[/ame]
I am surprised they do not have smart bumps... If they detect your speed as excessive, they raise... If you are moving within a reasonable limit, the road stays flat. Frankly, I like the signs they have around here: Speed Hump. My perverted mind gets this image of two people getting it on quickly...