Canada unveils new speed bump: optical illusion of a child

[VenomVsSpidey]

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?
[What is an optical illusion? How does it work?]
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."
[Related: What your child's teacher won't tell you]
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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100908/od_yblog_upshot/canada-unveils-new-speed-bump-optical-illusions-of-children?ref=nf

 

[terry78]

This is going to go terribly wrong.

 

[CashforStash]

Wow, that is really clever.

That painting must be huge though when you look at it at a different angle though

 

[Paroxysm]

This is going to go terribly wrong.

Not really, I've already driven over it and it's nothing.

 

[Manic]

Wow. You know what compels me to slow my car down? A big ol' hump in the road, so I don't jack up my suspension.

 

[enterthemadness]

in Death Race a hit child would be +16 points.

 

[terry78]

in Death Race a hit child would be +16 points.

Geez, get with the times. It's all about getting achievements these days for mowing down innocent babes.

 

[Docker2.0]

I don't see the point in this. Wouldn't do this be expensive?

 

[Paroxysm]

I don't see the point in this. Wouldn't do this be expensive?

It's only on one street and they're only doing it for a week.

 

[Metamorpho1977]

This is Canada we're talking about. They thought Bryan Adams was a good idea.

 

[ChickenScratch]

I can so see dome drunk dude running over a real kid in a few weeks thinking it's just an optical illusion. Awesome work yet again Canada! Found a new way to kill your own citizens in the name of "safety."

 

[Drizzle]

Why would a kid be playing in a ****ing parking garage?

 

[THE MR. TERRIFIC]

Why would a kid be playing in a ****ing parking garage?

 

[Obi-Ron]

Why would a kid be playing in a ****ing parking garage?

News flash:

Spoiler

Kids are dumb.

 

[SuperFerret]

I think I like the slippery slope idea more than the initial idea.

 

[SWAT]

And then comes the day that you get used to it, and drive as normal... *bump* "Oh, these speedbumps sure are getting more and more realistic... Wonder where the screaming is coming from."

 

[Docker2.0]

It's only on one street and they're only doing it for a week.

Yeah but wouldn't it be better if they used a cop instead? The money going into that just makes no sense.

 

[Schlosser85]

I have an image of somebody driving down the road at a high speed, seeing what they think is a child directly in front of them, freaking out, and ending up in a fatal car crash when they swerve to avoid it.

 

[Paroxysm]

Yeah but wouldn't it be better if they used a cop instead? The money going into that just makes no sense.

No not really, you'd have to pay a cop to sit there for a week, he'd probably be making mad over-time.

It's just one mural on one road for one week. How much does it cost to paint a mural?

 

[SuperFerret]

Nothing if you cheat the artist.

 

[Docker2.0]

It's an optical illusion right? Not a mural. I didn't read the article. It hurts my brain to read.

 

[Paroxysm]

I have an image of somebody driving down the road at a high speed, seeing what they think is a child directly in front of them, freaking out, and ending up in a fatal car crash when they swerve to avoid it.

It's kinda "common knowledge" around here to you know, slow down in front of school zones, so the drivers wouldn't be speeding through there anyways.

 

[Paroxysm]

It's an optical illusion right? Not a mural. I didn't read the article. It hurts my brain to read.

It's a mural painted to look like an optical illusion when you get about 100 feet away.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

This is going to go terribly wrong.

i agree i can see it causing accidents, if someone doesn't know about it and slams the breaks.

 

[terry78]

Then you also have that sect of the population that actually goes out of their way to hit kids.