Restricted All American 15537 Posts user info edit post |
Canada unveils new speed bump: optical illusion of a child
Quote : | "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."" |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100908/od_yblog_upshot/canada-unveils-new-speed-bump-optical-illusions-of-children
Shit seems dangerous as hell; slam on brakes and let the idiot behind you crush you.9/8/2010 5:46:14 PM |
toemoss All American 2950 Posts user info edit post |
I don't know about anyone else, but that would just condition me to ignore small children if they ran in front of me 9/8/2010 5:48:50 PM |
pilgrimshoes Suspended 63151 Posts user info edit post |
that or ill just get immune to seeing kids run out into the street and wont stop for them
then one day i'm going to blast a kid 9/8/2010 5:49:03 PM |
McDanger All American 18835 Posts user info edit post |
Seems like a shitty idea
get people used to seeing a child in the road ... hmm
edit; fuck, beaten
[Edited on September 8, 2010 at 5:49 PM. Reason : .] 9/8/2010 5:49:21 PM |
JeffreyBSG All American 10165 Posts user info edit post |
^, ^^, ^^^] 9/8/2010 5:49:33 PM |
EMCE balls deep 89740 Posts user info edit post |
This sounds like a terrible idea.
Yeah... condition people to ignore potential road hazards. U R SMRT...
[Edited on September 8, 2010 at 5:51 PM. Reason : in 10 years, I have never seen such cohesiveness on TWW ] 9/8/2010 5:50:12 PM |
ncsuapex SpaceForRent 37776 Posts user info edit post |
^,^^ 9/8/2010 6:13:43 PM |
GeniuSxBoY Suspended 16786 Posts user info edit post |
This is a great idea!
Pedonecrophiliacs delight! 9/8/2010 6:17:37 PM |
Fermat All American 47007 Posts user info edit post |
Quote : | "blast into a child. " |
9/8/2010 9:35:41 PM |
JTMONEYNCSU All American 24529 Posts user info edit post |
canada... 9/8/2010 9:38:57 PM |
ncstateccc All American 2856 Posts user info edit post |
I would freak out because of his large feet 9/8/2010 9:40:51 PM |
Slave Famous Become Wrath 34079 Posts user info edit post |
Bad idea. They tried a similar approach with child targets when I was in the academy. Then, just a few days into my first beat, I shot a kid. He was 13 years old. Ohhh, it was dark, I couldn't see him. He had a ray gun, looked real enough. You know, when you're a rookie, they can teach you everything about bein' a cop except how to live with a mistake. Anyway, I just couldn't bring myself to draw my gun on anybody again. 9/8/2010 9:41:11 PM |
BridgetSPK #1 Sir Purr Fan 31378 Posts user info edit post |
With regular speed bumps, how often are pedestrians getting hit (at high speeds) in parking lots and neighborhoods? I know cars get hit, but pedestrians are smarter/more cautious than drivers, right? 9/8/2010 9:46:50 PM |
tromboner950 All American 9667 Posts user info edit post |
Quote : | "I know cars get hit, but pedestrians are smarter/more cautious than drivers, right?" |
You'd be amazed by how oblivious a lot of pedestrians are. It amazes me, anyway, especially when people just walk across the road when they get their signal without even glancing at the car traffic.
At least from my experiences on campus, a lot of them just walk around expecting everything around them to automatically stop, no matter what they do. Personally, I'm at least as cautious walking as I am driving. I watch the traffic to make sure I'm not interrupting anyone's left/right turns even when the "walk" sign is up, and at non-lighted crosswalks I'll often try to give right-of-way to the huge piece of rolling metal with the engine in it that could kill me easily... some other people, not so much.
[Edited on September 8, 2010 at 10:00 PM. Reason : .]9/8/2010 9:59:16 PM |
Master_Yoda All American 3626 Posts user info edit post |
I can see this causing a lot more accidents from trying to avoid the thing than it prevents from speeding. 9/8/2010 10:03:20 PM |
BridgetSPK #1 Sir Purr Fan 31378 Posts user info edit post |
^^Damn. You're right now that I think about it.
^Yup. That's precisely what I was thinking. I know the article was talking about conditioning us to ignore things in the road...but my first thought was that I'd swerve my ass off at the sight of a person in the road.
(I guess it's made so that it gets you to slow down until you realize it isn't real and keep driving... It'd still trip me out.)
[Edited on September 8, 2010 at 10:08 PM. Reason : sss] 9/8/2010 10:07:21 PM |
Chief All American 3402 Posts user info edit post |
ISWYDT Slave Famous and Sgt. Al Powell of the LAPD salutes you.
Quote : | "I don't know about anyone else, but that would just condition me to ignore small children if they ran in front of me .... that or ill just get immune to seeing kids run out into the street and wont stop for them" |
I mean now, not right now, but right now.
[Edited on September 8, 2010 at 10:24 PM. Reason : Deja vu all over again]9/8/2010 10:23:19 PM |