Canada Uses 3D Art Concept to Increase Pedestrian Safety

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 4:17 pm

The image below appears to evidence the possible usage of an extremely crude rendering of a little girl. It would be awesome if it were a lot more artistic. I love those highly detailed optical illusions that sidewalk chalk artists masterfully create on the pavement. I'll bet that there are some talented artists that would handle the artistic aspects and elements of the project just for the exposure and experience. It would be cool to see a little more of this incorporated in to traffic signage but without the scare mongering safety campaign agenda.

I think they're missing an opportunity to allow the whole thing become, for example, projects for communities, or rather, community projects. It would be interesting, for instance, to let school children, and community college students, design the art to be used. No two streets or towns would have exactly the same image. I don't know what they're getting for $15,000, but I hope it's better than what's pictured. As a community project, the labor cost would decrease to nearly nothing. The materials, of course, have their price, but I think, at the least, they should be able fabricate a way to create many, many displays for that price.

theglobeandmail.com wrote:

Driving a message home with an optical illusion

A 3D illusion of a small girl chasing a ball has been installed for one week, on the road northbound at 22nd street in West Vancouver. It's Preventable’s 3D illusion for their “You’re probably not expecting kids to run out on the road” campaign.

It’s already on the big screen, but now a 3D image is being used on the streets of West Vancouver in an attempt to jolt reckless drivers into reality.

Motorists travelling on 22nd Street in West Vancouver will be confronted with a 3D image of a little girl chasing a ball in the street starting next Tuesday. The girl will be an optical illusion, but the scenario is very real, according to David Dunne 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,” Mr. Dunne said.

The foundation is partnering with Preventable, a safety advocacy group, and the District of West Vancouver to install Canada’s first ever 3D image aimed at driver safety.

The display, which costs $15,000 to run, will be installed in a school zone on 22nd Street, just north of Inglewood Avenue, and very close to École Pauline Johnson Elementary School. It will be in place for one week.

The 3D image will look like an indistinguishable mark from far away, but by the time the driver is within 30 metres, the image of the girl and ball will become clear.

“You’ll see this image start to rise off the pavement and it will look like a little child is crossing the street. As you get closer to the image, the image recedes into the pavement,” Mr. Dunne said.

The back-to-school season was chosen because September and October are the months that see the most child fatalities, Mr. Dunne said. Plus, parents are often the worst offenders, speeding, pulling u-turns and talking on cellphones, he said.

The key to prevention is changing attitudes, according to Mr. Dunne. The image is meant to provide a surprising physical reminder that drivers need to have an attitude of safety and caution.

Traditional safety messaging just does not seem to be getting the job done, according to both Mr. Dunne and the District of West Vancouver.

“It’s been an ongoing challenge for traffic-safety engineers to try and get vehicles to slow,” said Brent Dozzi, manager of roads and transportation. “The static messaging that we do becomes part of the landscape and it’s on the periphery.”

The city has also planned some safety parameters around the 3D image, which adds another potential distraction for drivers.

Mr. Dozzi said the drivers will be able to tell something is on the road at a far distance and will have enough time to stop safely when they realize it is an image of a little girl – if they are travelling at the posted speed limit of 30 km/h.

The city and Preventable will also have a sign notifying drivers that there is a traffic safety program ahead, he said. The West Vancouver Police, who support the initiative, will also be on hand to patrol the area.

Drivers should be driving defensively at all times, according to Mr. Dozzi.

“As a driver, pay attention and drive like a ball, or a car pulling out of a side street, or a child could run out on the road at any given time.”

canada.com wrote:

VANCOUVER — A little girl will be run over in a West Vancouver school zone next week. Or so it will appear.

In fact, she's an optical illusion. She's painted on the pavement but, from a distance, will appear to drivers as an upright, three-dimensional figure.

She is a project of the West Vancouver police and the Community Against Preventable Injuries — preventable.ca — which promotes public safety.

The image will be applied to the road in a school zone on Tuesday.

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, a preventable.ca spokesman.

Skeptics may wonder if the optical illusion could itself contribute to an accident. 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."

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 4:48 pm

Good ole' nick, always on top of the news Very Happy

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 5:26 pm

That's an accident waiting to happen, somebody will panic an make the wrong move. You should add a poll option on how long it last before somebody gets hurt for real. I say by Friday . On a personal level back in my drinking days I used to have this reoccurring nightmare of running over a kid chasing a ball. It was always very vivid and I would wake up in a cold sweat. That could easily give somebody a heart attack, I'm sure i'd shit me britches on that one.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 5:31 pm

Yeah someone will slam on their brakes and someone else will rear end them

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 5:35 pm

This is a stupid idea. Im all for road awareness but this will have the will have the opposite effect to what is intended.
As already stated it will cause some people to panic and cause an accident by way of trying to prevent one that wouldnt have happened.
I think it could also cause complacency. If they are used repeatedly some people will become used to them and its possible they may actually mistake a child for an optical illusion for a moment, causing a delayed reaction.
Like I said, best intentions spawn some very stupid ideas.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 6:53 pm

I added the second article to contrast the safety aspect:

canada.com wrote:

Skeptics may wonder if the optical illusion could itself contribute to an accident. 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."

canada.com wrote:

The image will be applied to the road in a school zone on Tuesday.

School zones are usually pretty slow -- the fastest I've ever seen was 40mph/64kph or 45mph/72kph(during non school hours) but that's rare. They don't even have to, nor are they going to, put them on streets that go that fast during non-school hours. I usually see much lower speed limits than that for school zones.

canada.com wrote:

Mr. Dozzi said the drivers will be able to tell something is on the road at a far distance and will have enough time to stop safely when they realize it is an image of a little girl – if they are travelling at the posted speed limit of 30 km/h.(19mph)

The city and Preventable will also have a sign notifying drivers that there is a traffic safety program ahead, he said. The West Vancouver Police, who support the initiative, will also be on hand to patrol the area.

canada.com wrote:

The 3D image will look like an indistinguishable mark from far away, but by the time the driver is within 30 metres, the image of the girl and ball will become clear.

“You’ll see this image start to rise off the pavement and it will look like a little child is crossing the street. As you get closer to the image, the image recedes into the pavement,” Mr. Dunne said.

It seems like it shouldn't be a problem for a driver going the speed limit. That would mean that the person behind them would have to speed at a similar, or faster, pace in order to catch up and closely follow the speeder. I don't care about the speeding aspect, but I do dislike distracted drivers. Here in Texas, if you hit someone in the rear, it's your fault -- period. I'm easily distracted and, when there is a vehicle in front of me, I try to maintain a good distance between myself and the car ahead of me. In this situation, if they can't stop in time, they're not adequately trying to prevent an accident.

If the images of the children were to be artistic creations of school children, I believe it would be apparent. They could add more to the image to contrast the realism. I think it would still be slightly distracting, but it would also be a creative way to raise awareness. I really think complacency is just inevitable for most people. I think that's why it's only temporary.

canada.com wrote:

The display, which costs $15,000 to run, will be installed in a school zone on 22nd Street, just north of Inglewood Avenue, and very close to École Pauline Johnson Elementary School. It will be in place for one week.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 6:59 pm

Quote:

I try to maintain a good distance between myself and the car ahead of me. In this situation, if they can't stop in time, they're not adequately trying to prevent an accident.

Dont matter, you could be 3 days behind the driver in front of you, does not mean the driver behind you wont ram up your rear end. Here's an idea, put policemen on the road.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 7:38 pm

trollster wrote:

Quote:

I try to maintain a good distance between myself and the car ahead of me. In this situation, if they can't stop in time, they're not adequately trying to prevent an accident.

Dont matter, you could be 3 days behind the driver in front of you, does not mean the driver behind you wont ram up your rear end. Here's an idea, put policemen on the road.

I don't mean to sound like a troll, but I figure their insurance would cover it. I don't try to cause accidents, but I, often, yell out, "Hit me moth****cker!" The less police the better. I have been the recipient of many large acts of kindness/forgiveness by police officers, but I've also been harassed by abusive, corrupt cops. My game plan: I'll call you if I need you. Very Happy

To be more serious: People get very distracted by the sight of law enforcement officers. People slam on their brakes, cause accidents and decrease their speed enough to create traffic waves. Slow, compact traffic increases anxiety and aggressive driving behavior. Officers, often, slow the traffic down more than it needs to go. I'm a strong advocate of defensive driving.

EDIT: A lot of this is really just personal opinion. Very Happy

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 7:46 pm

Your missing the point NlCK, yes their insurance will cover it, and in Aus the driver behind is in the wrong too, its beside the point, I don't want to be smashed in the rear by another car in the first place.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:00 pm

trollster wrote:

Your missing the point NlCK, yes their insurance will cover it, and in Aus the driver behind is in the wrong too, its beside the point, I don't want to be smashed in the rear by another car in the first place.

One of those rare occasions when trollster and I see something the same way.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:08 pm

trollster wrote:

Your missing the point NlCK, yes their insurance will cover it, and in Aus the driver behind is in the wrong too, its beside the point, I don't want to be smashed in the rear by another car in the first place.

I suppose I did. I placed emphasis on everything else because I've been involved in a lot of wrecks and I doubt that, at slightly above school zone speeds, it would bother me. I will say that I was a passenger in all the wrecks I've been involved in. Cool

I think enforcement should be changed. Something should be done about tailgaters and distracted drivers. People with those types driving habits shouldn't be so commonplace, nor tolerated.

This is the law on the Autobahn:

Quote:

The distance between vehicles (in metres) should be at least half the speed (in km/h) at all times (e.g. at least 60 metres at 120 km/h). This corresponds to a "lead time" of just under 2 seconds. Again, the fact that the car in front is illegally occupying the left-hand lane when the right-hand lane is free does not excuse following too closely. Fines for tailgating were increased in May 2006. At speeds of over 100 km/h, keeping less than 30 percent of the recommended distance now results in the suspension of one's driving licence for one to three months.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:12 pm

Ive been known to tap me brakes if someone is sitting too close behind me, I hate 'em. I also used to have a doll called Mr Seymore Bunz, he was about 10 inches tall and had his hands on the back of his pants and his head facing backwards. There was a tube with a pump on the the end that you sat in the center console and when you squeezed it he would pull his pants down and moon tailgaters.

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 12:20 am

I love the art factor of the idea but it would be very dangerous. Driving around on auto pilot and that pops up.. People will hit the breaks for sure.
We had a group of community service workers that were required to paint these types of designs on freeway concrete barrier walls and phone exchange boxes in Brisbane City. They looked great but when done, more people run into them than before they were painted. They still get fixed and painted though so there must be a secret revenue raising exercise going on...