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A little girl will be run over in a West Vancouver school zone next week. Or so it will appear.
[...]
As drivers approach, what appears at first to be a blob of colour in the road will become a little girl chasing a ball into the street, said David Dunne...
Painted 3-D optical illusion of little girl running into street aims to slow drivers
Seeded on Fri Sep 3, 2010 5:32 PM EDT
Article Source: ottawacitizen.com- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (41)
Bob Dewar, a psychologist who specializes in driver behaviour, said, "if (the image) really does look like a child, someone may slam on their brakes and get rear-ended."
Is it just me, or does this seem like a really bad idea?
- 16 votes
If you slam on the brakes and get rear-ended, that means a) you were traveling to fast and b) the person behind was following to close behind you and traveling to fast as well.
- 8 votes
Slamming on the brakes can also cause the car to swerve, and hit something else -- like a real person.
- 15 votes
It's a really stupid idea. First of all, yes, people will probably wind up getting rear ended and yes, the person behind you might be traveling too close, but what a way to find out. Not smart. You don't cause accidents to prevent them.
Second, if these become commonplace, people will get used to them and start to ignore them. Which means the next time a REAL child is in the middle of the road, a driver will plough right through her, thinking she was just an illusion.
- 22 votes
You don't cause accidents to prevent them.
Yep - that's the bad idea part I had in mind, Boons.
Second, if these become commonplace, people will get used to them and start to ignore them. Which means the next time a REAL child is in the middle of the road, a driver will plough right through her, thinking she was just an illusion.
Now you are reading my mind! (See comment #3.1.)
- 16 votes
Is it just me, or does this seem like a really bad idea?
It's not just you. This is raw ignorance. Can't wait until the first person sues the city when they get into an accident because of this stupidity.
- 15 votes
I'm more concerned about the idiots who will swerve to miss her and take out a bunch of real kids on the sidewalk.
- 15 votes
Yep, Rhazes, I would probably be one of those swerving idiots if I thought I was seeing a child in the middle of the road. I agree with Carloz, this is a really bad idea. It's like a cruel joke. How about putting a cop with a radar gun in the school zone? It's a big deterrent here and the fine is huge.
(Sent you a message, Carloz.)
- 12 votes
Our charming New England town made 'leaf people' every year. Life sized figures made of wood, straw and clothes, that were donated. Most of them turned out quite cute with their hats and pocketbooks... Until they roped one to a phone pole, on the road heading into town, 'Gramma Leaf' was animated, as if she was walking towards the road... no street lights.
Driving the ambulance home from a call late one night, I almost wrecked a $200,000 rig swerving to avoid killing Ms. Leaf. The EMS dispatcher, also happened to be the head of the 'leaf' program. She heard some words from our Captain, translated from me.. none of which are fit for print! Ms. Leaf was promptly relocated!
- 11 votes
I agree with those who are thinking "the little boy who saw wolf" here. People should not be taught that kids they see on the street aren't real.
- 12 votes
It's well-documented that traffic cameras cause more accidents than they mitigate. I don't see how the effect of this would be any different: increasing driving hazards.
If you slam on the brakes and get rear-ended, that means a) you were traveling to fast and b) the person behind was following to close behind you and traveling to fast as well.
Cute, but try living in the real world for awhile where cut-and-dried rules don't apply to human behavior. Designing for how things should be instead of how they are kills people.
- 6 votes
It's not just you. This is raw ignorance. Can't wait until the first person sues the city when they get into an accident because of this stupidity.
Maybe a better idea would be to not go too fast through a school zone?
- 3 votes
Maybe a better idea would be to not go too fast through a school zone?
I don't think speed would have much if anything to do with any accidents caused by this stupid painting. How many drivers are busy keeping an eye on the 6, 8, 10 school buses coming and going? The 200, 300+ students on the walks, lawns, crosswalks and (dis)embarking from buses and running about. Not to mention all the parents that feel the need to crowd the area with their cars, SUVs and such with their pickup/drop off of kids?
In my area all school zones (and playgrounds) are an 18 mph zone from about 7am to an hour after dark or 6:30pm which ever is later. Speed is not an issue as much as trying to keep an eye upon all the chaos. This illusion would only add to the already fairly busy confusion.
IMO, I see an accident in the making.
- 4 votes
I have to agree with everyone else. This is the most idiotic thing I've heard of.
The article said the "little girl" would be painted on the pavement. So after dark, after the school zone signs stop flashing for people to slow down, the girl will still be there? I'll be shocked if someone doesn't get killed.
- 4 votes
Perhaps a 3D painting of a cop on the side of the street with a radar pointed at you would be as effective without so many of the negative side effects this effort undoubtedly will create?
- 6 votes
Perhaps a 3D painting of a cop on the side of the street with a radar pointed at you would be as effective
Now that sounds like a better idea!
- 8 votes
Just wait for the first elderly person to have a massive heart attack because they thought they smooshed a toddler and brings a mighty lawsuit against them
- 5 votes
If this works perhaps they should use this instead of stop signs.
- 3 votes
#3 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 6:12 PM EDTThen when people start doubting whether the people running in the street are real, and so ignore them, what will be the next new thing?
- 8 votes
Not if you made a glow in the dark stop sign that is shownon the ground.
- 3 votes
Who comes up with this @!$%#?
It's going to do two things:
1) Cause car accidents
2) Desensitize drivers to children playing near the street.
- 15 votes
#4 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 6:24 PM EDTNo good can come from this. It's an accident waiting to happen. I can see the law suits now.
Attorneys are standing by....
- 8 votes
#5 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 6:27 PM EDTI can see the law suits now.
Attorneys are standing by....
Hadn't thought of that, but probably... Talk about a can of worms.
- 7 votes
This will cause a lot of drivers to swerve while slamming the breaks loosing control and hitting anyone near them.
WORST TRAFFIC IDEA EVER!
- 8 votes
#6 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 6:43 PM EDTThat painting does look real. I agree that this is a bad idea.
- 4 votes
#7 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 7:19 PM EDTDisastrous! Even people who arent traveling above the speed limit will slam on their breaks if they think they are about to hit someone/something. Remember, kids dont just get tun over by fast-moving cars.
Can you imagine if someone slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a virtual child and hit an oil slick or otherwise ended up in an accident. Which fool thought of this stupid idea?
- 7 votes
#8 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 7:37 PM EDTIf the idea is to get people to slow down, there are any number of time-tested ideas that don't involve making people think that they're about to injure or kill a child.
I consider myself a talented and safe driver; were I to suddenly notice a person in the street, I would probably swerve to avoid the person, knowing that property damage is preferable to accidental injury or death. After determining that there was no person, I'd find a lawyer and sue the city into bankruptcy.
1) speed bumps
2) traffic circles
and...if all else fails...wait for it...
3) the police citing speeders, people driving too close or inattentively. We're growing too clever for our own good by half.
- 9 votes
#9 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 7:38 PM EDTYeah this is a terrible idea. I could actually see this lead to real kids getting hit by cars trying to avoid the fake ones.
- 4 votes
#10 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 8:15 PM EDTI'm a speeder. That's just how it is.
I'm usually pretty cautious around school zones and I don't usually speed there, but I can tell you, if I thought a kid ran out in front of me and for a second I thought I didn't have room to stop or I even doubted I had room to stop, you can bet your ass I'd slam my truck into the car next to me to avoid hitting a child.
Is this what they want?
Yeah, ideally I'd just slow down, or hit my brakes and the person behind me wouldn't be following too closely. But the world isn't perfect; this is just going to lead to other problems that a speed bump would more easily cure.
- 5 votes
#11 - Fri Sep 3, 2010 8:28 PM EDTWhy don't you just try to obey the speed limits? Of course the kids shouldn't run into the street but you're an adult, you should be able to exercise some responsibility so as to not drive over the speed limit and then damage someone else' car as an excuse to claim you didn't have enough room to stop to avoid hitting a kid.
- 2 votes
Have to agree with all the reasons that this a bad idea, but there is one more possibilty. Some one with a weak heart could have a heart attack.
- 1 vote
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