Thursday, January 20, 2011
laweiplein
there is this intersection called laweiplein in drachten, holland, that was notorious for having lots of accidents so in a counter intuitive means of fixing this problem Hans Monderman came up with the idea of removing the signage & traffic lights that are typically found around intersections. the result is that drivers, bikers and pedestrians are forced to actually pay attention to where they are going and yield to traffic without the aid of green lights, etc. the amazing result is that there are next to no accidents. maybe less really is more.
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In the Washington DC area of the US, it seems that everything to control traffic has been tried. Signs of all type, traffic circles, speed tables, etc. to various affects on traffic, pedestrians, and businesses. Now the new trend is traffic cameras, and un-marked cars. However, it seems to me that the red queen effect is always the dominant stakeholder. (You have to run fast just to stay in the same place). People are smart, crafty, and resistant to control. The question, in my view, is there some fundamental error in the design of traffic control systems that engenders such solid resistance? As a driver I feel that the error may be the inaccuracy, general nature, or one size fits all circumstances of most traffic control systems. I mostly drive at night, on deserted streets, but I am still forced to behave as if it were rush hour. Yet when the roads are full and its pouring rain, I still feel forced by other drivers to maintain a reasonable speed. As automation finally reaches the drivers seat I hope that we will be able to move toward "honest" traffic control which is condition based.
ReplyDeleteUntil that Utopian future, of emotionless robot drivers, emerges the engineers at my company Gravitational Systems Engineering have devised several smart traffic control devices that are worth consideration. Our devices called speed sponges, appear as green speed bumps but they are completely soft and collapse when encountered at safe speeds. However, when one of these devices is triggered by a speeder, it remains firm and slows the vehicle. They come in both embedded and surface mounted models, but in each instance they can not only stop unsafe behavior based upon road conditions, but they also force drivers to think.
Gare Henderson,
Gravitational Systems Engineering, Inc.
GravitationalSystems.org
Virginia,USA