Anamorphic Optical Illustion Used to Slow Cars Down

How do you keep cars from zooming too fast in a crowded parking lot? How about an anamorphic optical illusion?

In Vancouver, the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation and the safety group Preventable have teamed up and placed an optical illusion of a little girl chasing a ball down the street in an effort to curb reckless driving.


The reasoning behind the display, which costs roughly $15,000, as explained by David Dunn of the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation:

“We need to expect the unexpected because anything could happen, whether it is a 3D image on the road … or whether it’s a live child or a dog running in front of the car, these are all things that we have to be able to control for in a vehicle”

Link

What do you think? Good idea or bad?


Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

Wow, masada, could you be more of an a$$?

I happen to agree with amidala. It doesn't matter how fast or how SLOW you're going, to round a corner in a parking garage as this picture seems to indicate, it would be shocking to see someone standing in the middle of the "road".

Additionally, getting used to seeing this type of "optical illusion" would naturally slow ones responses in the even they encounter an actual human in the road.

And I thought about your comment and amidala's for q
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@masada

Have you ever actually been in a car when a pedestrian suddenly steps out in front of you? I doubt you have, because it really is shocking, and that's an understatement.
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@amidala

Two solutions to your "problems"

1) If one is so "shocked" to see a pedestrian on or in the road, that person should not be driving in the first place. That is idiotic.

2) This is the first in a series of various images. The BCAA have most certainly thought of the familiarity drivers will have when they see one illusion. So to combat that, there will be multiple images used as the program moves forward. Could be a little boy, a dog, etc. The point is to get the attention of the driver in order to keep them alert. Obviously they haven't been doing a well enough job on their own.

Now, I'm not one of them "genius-scientist" people, but if I had to guess the best way to prevent people from "freaking out" when they see something in the road is to, umm...stay at the posted speed limit?
I guess I should explain the reasoning behind speed limits since you obviously haven't gotten a grasp on it just yet; you see, when they have a certain limit number it's because they've considered the environment of that area. Pedestrians, domestic animals, other cars, even the density of the homes - all play a factor. That's why it's around 100 Km/h for a highway and anywhere from 30-50 Km/h for a pedestrian area or a school zone. When one sees something in their driving path they'll have time to slow down, thus avoiding any major accidents.
I know, this is probably a lot for you to think of, and it's definitely more difficult to think about than to just say "this is stupid." But it's kind of important. So give it a second thought. I promise it won't hurt your head for too long.
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