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Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:30 am

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20 ... f-children
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."

...

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."

Image

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:41 am

From a link in that article.

It's a design manoeuvre that's designed to be catchy. It's a static image. If a driver can't respond to this appropriately, that person shouldn't be driving and that's a whole different problem.

Canadians shouldn't even be driving at all.
According to Preventable.ca, most child pedestrian-related injuries occur in September and October. Every week, two children die in B.C. from being hit by a car.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:27 am

Image

"I still say ours is bigger."

That's creative, though I wonder if it'll still be effective once everyone gets used to it being there.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:31 pm

I'm canadian and I don't know what the fuck my country is doing.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:33 pm

formyhunny wrote:I'm canadian and I don't know what the fuck my country is doing.

Typical Canadian. :shake:

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:54 pm

Neat idea, but I think it'll only work 1–2 times before people catch on.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:56 pm

Or be texting and chatting and eating and smoking and see the kid and slam on the brakes causing a 50 car pileup.

Or people will just swerve to avoid the kids smashing into all the real kids standing on the sidewalk.

Or people will get desensitized to kids in the road thinking they're all speed bumps and just plow through.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 5:22 pm

A nice idea/try indeed. It may only work for a certain period untill people find out, but it's about raising the issue and making people aware of the problem. Having been the Speed Watch Coordinator at local crime prevention society myself for about an year, I know how some people are just reckless drivers to an extent where they're threats to the children. More people care, more people slow down.

Off the topic but West Vancouver is rich peoples' neighborhood, a real nice area. Housing price is supposed to be one of the highest in North America I believe. I wanna own a property there one day. :wink:

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 5:35 pm

ZanShadow wrote:I know how some people are just reckless drivers to an extent where they're threats to the children.

How does the presence of imaginary children change the fact that there are already enough reckless drivers that hit actual children?
According to Preventable.ca, most child pedestrian-related injuries occur in September and October. Every week, two children die in B.C. from being hit by a car.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 5:58 pm

It will gradually change imo, in somewhat positive ways. The very reason children images being used is probably because it's an effective way of raising public's awareness on our own and childrens' safety. More people paying attention to the problem, better it is for all of us in the community.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:05 pm

Yeah because giant mounds of concrete that bash the hell out of the underside of your car weren't working enough, now we need to cause more issues with an idea that will not work.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:22 pm

Seems like there're much road constructions going on all around Vancouver these days, as they're trying to spend to the allowed budget. Otherwise, our province will get less allowance on the budget next time. Probably that's why they're trying this idea out.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:34 pm

One of the worst methods of budgeting.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:15 am

shadowgrin wrote:
ZanShadow wrote:I know how some people are just reckless drivers to an extent where they're threats to the children.

How does the presence of imaginary children change the fact that there are already enough reckless drivers that hit actual children?
According to Preventable.ca, most child pedestrian-related injuries occur in September and October. Every week, two children die in B.C. from being hit by a car.


Depends on what's leading to the children getting hit. Kids have a tendency to dart across roads and combined with people not paying enough attention or going into "auto-pilot" while they're driving in an area they know well, there are going to be some accidents and fatalities. Presumably seeing something in the middle of the road from further back while driving on that road is going to snap people out of auto-pilot and make them pay attention and take extra care around schools. I think there's some merit in the idea, except for the strong possibility that people will get used to it being there and go back to driving the way they were before.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:37 am

It still doesn't guarantee that it will make drivers pay more attention and maybe instead they will be distracted by thoughts of having seeing something 'unique' like that.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:50 am

Absolutely, it's far from being a foolproof solution.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:07 am

After a point, people will see real children and run through them thinking they're not real. After all, they're Canadian. :shake:

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:21 am

I don't think people who are dumber than Canadians should be making fun of them.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:28 am

I'm not sorry. :oops:

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:29 am

But you have to admit it's fun. Kind of like messing with Badger. :D

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Wed Sep 15, 2010 2:07 am

Jackal wrote:I don't think people who are dumber than Canadians should be making fun of them.

Dumb like missing the EDIT button and double posting instead.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Wed Sep 15, 2010 5:35 am

No, he's clever. He used tiny font. Mmm, clever.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Fri Sep 17, 2010 2:08 am

Not really relevant to the thread, but had nowhere to post this...

http://money.ca.msn.com/banking/mortgag ... 93&page=10

Apparently top 2 on the list are in BC and pretty nearby to each other. Living in the city with the most expensive housing market, I am finding it rather difficult at the moment as a student. That's probably why I spend 3 hours a day on the road in the traffic jam to attend the school.

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Fri Sep 17, 2010 2:15 am

Why would anyone even buy a home in the wasteland that is Canada?

Re: Western Vancouver Designs New Speedbump

Fri Sep 17, 2010 2:23 am

ZanShadow wrote:Not really relevant to the thread, but had nowhere to post this...

If only there were a thread for posting random things that didn't deserve their own thread. Maybe titled 'Random', just to be extra clear.
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