Police 'targeting downtown pedestrians' - Spec

[Jon Dalton]

I guess this includes alot of us.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/562624

Police targeting jaywalkers
May 08, 2009
John Burman
Hamilton police are going after downtown pedestrians next week as one of a number of initiatives to mark Canada Road Safety Week.

Officers will be watching for all the usual safety hazards, drinking and driving, speeding, seatbelts and car seat installations as well but Constable Claus Wagner says pedestrians who dart out on a ‘Don’t Walk’ signal will get special attention.

Pedestrians, says Wagner who is the police traffic safety and centralized breath testing unit co-ordinator, don’t always have the right-of-way as they may think.

And, he says, there is a problem in the downtown core and people who walk out into traffic do nothing for motorists’ nerves except make them angry and that can lead to other problems.

So the downtown patrol officers will be watching.

Wagner says police also want to get the message out about drunk driving, because, in spit of the recent changes in law allowing for a three-day licence suspension instead of a warning and a 12-hour suspension, “younger drivers just don’t seem to get it that three beers is too many.”

There have been 183 arrests for alcohol related driving offences so far this year, slightly ahead of last year, he said, so police will have RIDE lanes running in various locations all week.

And they around going to be looking for “hazardous moving” offences as well. Those tickets are for the people who make a left turn from the second lane across a curb lane, or make idiot lane changes or forget turn signals are not only polite but the law.

Those sort of things, says Wagner, are significant in Hamilton.

[FairHamilton]

They should go after the lousy cyclists as well. You know the ones I mean they ride on sidewalks, ride the wrong way on oneway street, blow red lights and stop signs, etc.

[Jon Dalton]

They are already going after cyclists from what I've heard.

[highwater]

They could make a fortune nabbing all the cyclists who whip along the sidewalk endangering school children in front of GR Allan School in Westdale. All the more inexcusable as there is a bike lane a couple of metres away. And God help you if you point out the bike lane to them.

[FairHamilton]

They could make a fortune nabbing all the cyclists who whip along the sidewalk endangering school children in front of GR Allan School in Westdale. All the more inexcusable as there is a bike lane a couple of metres away. And God help you if you point out the bike lane to them.

With the cyclists I see riding east on King and West on Main and on sidewalks in my neighbourhood, I'm betting they could make some outstanding warrant arrests.

[FairHamilton]

They could make a fortune nabbing all the cyclists who whip along the sidewalk endangering school children in front of GR Allan School in Westdale. All the more inexcusable as there is a bike lane a couple of metres away. And God help you if you point out the bike lane to them.

With the cyclists I see riding east on King and West on Main and on sidewalks in my neighbourhood, I'm betting they could make some outstanding warrant arrests.

[adam]

Here's a novel idea - ticket automobile drivers who go past the 50km/h speed limit along Main and King.

[Blurr]

With the cyclists I see riding east on King and West on Main and on sidewalks in my neighbourhood, I'm betting they could make some outstanding warrant arrests.

I find that riding east/west east of king william at wentworth is a pain. There are no side streets from main to barton that go through in this area. It is a a one way highway battle to make it back to a calm street that goes through, such as dunsmure.

That is why I go opposite ways on King especially, east of wentworth.

[Millstone]

Here's a novel idea - ticket automobile drivers who go past the 50km/h speed limit along Main and King.

Oh shut up and stop jaywalking.

[hmagazine]

I see Millstone and Adam didn't meet up at the SSP event last night to hug it out.

[Millstone]

I was too busy not breaking the law

[hmagazine]

Someone give Millstone a hug. Really. She needs one.

IN reality though - most of us are breaking some kind of law. Jaywalking or as I call it - meandering is harmless. I just wish cars and trucks downtown actually treated the area as more of the destination it is - instead of a quick cut through.

[Jon Dalton]

'Jaywalking' is simply a fact of life in the city. People don't walk whole blocks to get to a traffic light to cross, just like drivers don't go exactly 50 on city streets.

[Millstone]

It's illegal and is about to be enforced. I saw a bike cop doing just that yesterday. You cannot make up the laws as you go along, sorry.

[Jon Dalton]

It is illegal just like driving 51 km/h is illegal. Enforcing either is a bad allocation of police resources.

[omro]

Really, not crossing at a crossing, even when there's no traffic coming is illegal? I've broken the law then every day I've lived here. Not illegal back in the UK, so never thought about it.

[markbarbera]

Jaywalking or as I call it - meandering is harmless.

Jaywalking/meandering is not harmless. In fact, it is quite dangerous. "Meandering" unexpectedly into the path of a car can cost you your life. Having witnessed such an event, I really would advise against trivializing the practice of jaywalking.

[hmagazine]

Jaywalking/meandering is not harmless. In fact, it is quite dangerous. "Meandering" unexpectedly into the path of a car can cost you your life. Having witnessed such an event, I really would advise against trivializing the practice of jaywalking.

It's only dangerous because we've allowed our streets to become freeways for out of control trucks and reckless cars.

It's called commonsense - look both ways and be smart about the way you walk.

Downtown has a long way to go before we can call it pedestrian friendly.

[emge]

I routinely cross the street at the intersection of my side street and Main. No crosswalk, so I suppose it's "jaywalking" but I'm not going to walk the full block up to the main street that has lights and a crosswalk to cross, especially when all the one-way traffic is stopped at that intersection and I can clearly see it down the street.

Jaywalking laws are designed so people don't cross the street in heavy traffic (like those who run across King at James when the King green light is on) and put themselves at risk, not to make them walk a hundred metres to arbitrarily cross at an intersection when they're crossing safely.

When I lived in the country, there's no way you could call crossing the street without walking a kilometre to the nearest intersection "jaywalking" no more so than if you're crossing to your neighbour's house in Hamilton across the street. Though how it's enforced/talked about in Hamilton, you'd think that was the purpose of the laws.

That's a far different matter of safety than biking the wrong way on a one-way street, or driving 70 km/h. They're all designed for safety reasons - pedestians crossing in busy traffic are more likely to be hit than at crosswalks, cyclists going the wrong way are more likely to be splattered across the street, and the higher speed people drive at, the more severe any accidents are.

[mic67]

Omro:

In London England, they have zebra crossing = to crosswalks here.

Here we haave be taught the best/safest place to cross the street is at an intersection. But when I was in London I got some excellent advice from a "bobbi" That the best place to cross the street is in the middle between 2 intersections, he was right unless it is a busy hiway or road. In an intersection cars are comming for all directions and is usually a place where people make u-turns.

In paris at the arch de triumph, instead of using the underground crossing some friends tried the surface route and they learned to keep going forward as the cars swirve behind you.

If you are walking say along Bartons st. and you have to cross a side street there is no cross walk there, so how can that be jaywalking?
mic67

[adam]

We need to help make our downtown streets safer and more inviting for pedestrians and cyclists. One way to do this is to drive 45km/h of the MAXIMUM 50km/h allowed speed along Main and King. A completely legal way to help change the mindset of those trying to use our downtown streets as raceways

ps - I couldn't make it out to the SSP meetup because of other obligations but I'd like to next time.

[hmagazine]

http://www.canadawalks.ca/project_cwmc.asp

Public Meeting

Canadian Walking Master Class

The Canadian Walking Master Class is a unique project that
supports the implementation of active, safe and sustainable
communities across Canada. Hamilton is one of only four
Canadian cities participating in the Canadian Walking Master
Class. On May 13, 2009, there is an opportunity for members of
the public to hear from a team of international experts and to
provide input into the vision of a walkable Hamilton.

What: Public Meeting to provide input into the vision of a
walkable Hamilton, supported by Public Health
Services and Public Works

Who: All members of the public, including local community
groups, local NGOs/ENGOs

Date: May 13, 2009

Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Location: The Chamber of Commerce
55 Bay Street North, Hamilton, ON
Get directions

Registration is not required

For more information, contact Sharon Mackinnon, City of Public Health Services at 905-546-2424 ext 3522.

[ryan_mcgreal]

We need to help make our downtown streets safer and more inviting for pedestrians and cyclists.

I'm reminded of an article I referenced not long ago (http://raisethehammer.org/blog/1313/) about the attitudinal shift required to get people walking and cycling (and a police safety blitz that cracks down on pedestrians ain't it):


[Pedaling Revolution author Jeff] Mapes takes us to even more pedal-friendly cities. In Amsterdam, 40 percent of non-walking trips are by bike. He quotes, approvingly, Jack Wolters, the city's top traffic-safety officer: "The target of the police is not to control cyclists and pedestrians. It is to control the most dangerous part, motorcar drivers. [emphasis added]"


Can you imagine such an attitude from the local police force in a city like Hamilton?

[highwater]

If only it were just an enforcement issue. Unfortunately in Hamilton, even drivers who are obeying the law are dangerous because of the way our streets are designed.

[Millstone]

Several drivers are ignorant or unaware of specific provisions in the law (S. 141, the one that tells you how to turn from multiple turn lanes onto the connecting street for example) which exacerbates the problem -- thus I believe several OTHER drivers drive defensively toward the ones unaware of how to drive properly, contributing to the problem.

[ryan_mcgreal]

thus I believe several OTHER drivers drive defensively toward the ones unaware of how to drive properly, contributing to the problem.

If I'm reading you right, this reminds me of a friend's opinion in regards to the intersection at Main and Dundurn, where the southbound lane on Dundurn has an advanced green and motorists are notorious for proceeding left long after the advanced green has ended.

He argues that northbound motorists act as enablers by waiting until the left-turning southbound drivers have finished barging through instead of asserting their right of way.

I can see his point, but personally, I'm not upset enough about the situation to sacrifice the front of my car on principle...

[sofasurfer]

We need to help make our downtown streets safer and more inviting for pedestrians and cyclists. One way to do this is to drive 45km/h of the MAXIMUM 50km/h allowed speed along Main and King. A completely legal way to help change the mindset of those trying to use our downtown streets as raceways

Similarly, in the UK, some urban areas (particularly around schools), the speed limit has been dropped to 20mph from 30mph - IMO, this makes sense during school hours (and, IME, enforcement most certainly took place) but was routinely ignored outside of these de facto.

IIRC, speeding tickets in the UK are usually only enforced when you're exceeding the limit by >10%. In that respect, I'd welcome a 45km/h urban limit, as it'd enforce an effective 50 - I've learned rapidly that dickheads on King/Main seem to think tailgating and/or cutting you up is perfectly acceptable, if you actually try and drive safely/within the law... 60-70 seems to be the de facto norm :(

There was an excellent hard-hitting TV campaign in the UK that showed (fairly vividly!) how child deaths can be dramatically reduced by cutting your speed to 20 from 30 (and, indeed, similarly impressively from 40->30). I really do wish there was a similar thing here.

It seems that people over here really drive less considerately (and I'm not being antagonistic for the hell of it - being geeky for a sec, I think it's very much a socio-technical issue related to predominance of automatic transmission, and how one's car is much more closely linked to one's notions of identity, etc). But at the same time, in general, people DO seem to be more friendly and considerate in the majority of interpersonal situations. So maybe having harder-hitting messages about how small kids can easily be killed/maimed is the way to overcome this disconnect?

Sorry, going off on one there a little, but this really is one of the few things that I view as a negative comparing my new life here to back in the UK...

[sofasurfer]

Unfortunately in Hamilton, even drivers who are obeying the law are dangerous because of the way our streets are designed.

True... I drive along King/Main between Eastgate and Mac each day, and this thought has crossed my mind several times in the last 6-7 months since it's become my commute.

From a purely selfish POV, I can't wait for LRT. It'll be just like living in a "real" city again (indeed, 'world class'... Torontonians, take note ;p)

[ryan_mcgreal]

There was an excellent hard-hitting TV campaign in the UK that showed (fairly vividly!) how child deaths can be dramatically reduced by cutting your speed to 20 from 30 (and, indeed, similarly impressively from 40->30). I really do wish there was a similar thing here.

The numbers usually cited correlating vehicle speed with pedestrian death risk come from a British department of transport study (http://raisethehammer.org/article/506):

32 km/h - 5% mortality
48 km/h - 45% mortality
64 km/h - 85% mortality

http://www.raisethehammer.org/images/pedestrian_fatality_by_vehicle_speed.jpg

[adam]

Again, the speed limit along many stretches of Main and King is 50km/h and yet I've never seen anyone pulled over for speeding on Main OR King downtown.

[highwater]

If I'm reading you right...

I think he's referring to drivers who don't stay in their lane on multi-lane turns. Rare indeed is the inside driver who sticks to the inside lane when making these types of turns. Most drivers take advantage of the turn to make a lane change. I'm never sure of my fellow drivers on these types of turns, and when I'm the outside driver, will often switch to a farther lane in case the inside driver decides to switch to my lane, thus perpetuating the problem.

[adam]

Proof that these streets have too many lanes and are a waste of public space

[Millstone]

I think he's referring to drivers who don't stay in their lane on multi-lane turns. Rare indeed is the inside driver who sticks to the inside lane when making these types of turns. Most drivers take advantage of the turn to make a lane change. I'm never sure of my fellow drivers on these types of turns, and when I'm the outside driver, will often switch to a farther lane in case the inside driver decides to switch to my lane, thus perpetuating the problem.

This is what I was talking about, but he brings up another valid point

[crhayes]

I rode my bike today from Upper Ottawa/Limeridge down to Bayfront and back.... while riding down King (right near MacNab) I almost got hit by a car. I swear it was around 6 inches away from me... frightened the s**t out of me. Now that I have started biking more I have an appreciation for why the city needs bike lanes EVERYWHERE.

[emge]

I walked one trip today and realized I could have biked it really easily. I'm going to be more conscientious about using a bike when I can this summer, hopefully without getting hit by a car.

[adam]

I've read this in a few road bike blogs and articles... if you are on a street where you feel like you might get sideswiped by a car, the safest strategy is to ride right in the middle of the lane so that cars treat you like any other vehicle. From experience I can say its the safest way to travel down Main/King/Cannon/etc on a bike. Motorists don't mind either because they are used to cars parked in the far lanes anyway.

[emge]

I actually rode to Gage Park and back today - but mostly went along Stinson and Cumberland. That was a pretty good/quiet route except for the construction.

[ryan_mcgreal]

http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/565631

Agencies partner to cut traffic deaths, injuries

John Burman
The Hamilton Spectator

(May 14, 2009)

Twenty body bags laid out neatly in a parking lot were hard not to notice.

Each bag represents one of the people who has died or will die on Hamilton roads any average year.

There's no display of bandages, surgical supplies or wheelchairs to represent the 100-plus citizens who will be seriously injured in road collisions in that same average year.

The cost is too much, Hamilton roads boss Hart Solomon told officials gathered yesterday at Bayfront Park to sign a strategic road safety charter to lower those numbers at least 10 per cent and perhaps halt a disturbing increase.

The safety program starts immediately, with all agencies, from police, to education, fire, public health and the Ministry of Transportation, targeting three key problem areas.

Identified for prime attention are aggressive driving, intersections and vulnerable road users. Solomon explained vulnerable users means pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists because they get the worst of it in a collision.

Darryl Bowles understands the toll traffic carnage takes. His father, Donald, was killed three minutes from home in a collision on the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway on March 1 last year. The other driver was charged with careless driving.

Darryl, who created the Families Fighting Careless Driving website to help others cope with this kind of tragic loss and work toward change of the laws for careless driving, assisted with the signing, holding a clipboard with the document on the hood of a smashed minivan hauled into Bayfront Park on a tow truck.

His father, a just-retired Stelco employee, was doing a favour for his son -- taking his car out to put gas in it -- when he was killed.

"He was a loving, caring father who was devoted to my sister, Maureen, and me," said Darryl.

Police Chief Brian Mullan said the numbers of dead and injured in Hamilton each year is "unacceptable" and said all partners to the program charter are committed "to taking even more aggressive action on this important issue."

[ryan_mcgreal]

Agencies partner to cut traffic deaths, injuries

Of course, completely and utterly absent from this agency partnership to cut traffic deaths and injuries is any kind of analysis of whether and how the structure of our road network contributes to an increased risk of death and injury.

[adam]

It never ceases to amaze me how every day other drivers get angry if you go 50km/h (the speed limit) down Main or King. They react by "gunning it" and trying to swerve around you. We need to reduce the # of lanes to help drivers achieve a speed at or below the speed limit and 2-way conversion would be a great way to do this.

[highwater]

Of course, completely and utterly absent from this agency partnership to cut traffic deaths and injuries is any kind of analysis of whether and how the structure of our road network contributes to an increased risk of death and injury.

I couldn't help noticing this as well. Instead, we have 'vulnerable road users' being identified as a 'problem area'. I hope they don't mean that the way it sounds.

[sofasurfer]

Again, the speed limit along many stretches of Main and King is 50km/h and yet I've never seen anyone pulled over for speeding on Main OR King downtown.

I've seen one car pulled over in the 7 months or so that I've been commuting along this route. Pathetic.

If you've got a speed limit, enforce it already. They seem to do it much more along between King and Queenston a fair bit (seen lots of people pulled over on Nash and Centennial, for example), and the bit of Centennial coming down the moutain is easy pickings for traffic cops.

So why not Main and King?

[sofasurfer]

Another idea:

What about Speed Indication Devices? (http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/transport_and_roads/road_safety/speed_indicator_devices.aspx) (this link (http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&safe=off&um=1&q=Speed+Indication+Devices+(SID)&sa=N&start=20&ndsp=20) is to some pics, as I'm really not sure if you have these in Canada)


Just found a Transport for London report (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/effectiveness-of-SIDs-summary.pdf) which actually discusses the effectiveness of the very campaign used in the part of London that we moved from last fall!

It's worth pasting the conclusions from the summary:


Conclusions
Overall, the research found:
1) SIDs were effective in reducing speeds on 30mph roads in London.
2) SIDs were effective at reducing speeds 200 metres downstream of the sign.
3) SIDs were effective in the first two weeks of operation.


I suspect this might be worth trying out - particularly if backed up by some traffic cops enforcing the speed limits from time to time...

[ryan_mcgreal]

If you've got a speed limit, enforce it already.

The problem is that speed limit enforcement doesn't work. Short of dedicating permanent speed traps on every major street at prohibitive cost, you just can't drive a permanent change in driver behaviour through browbeating or moral suasion.

The solution is to structure the streets themselves so that it is both physically and psychologically difficult to speed:

* Two-way traffic flow
* Wider sidewalks
* Narrower lanes
* Curbside parking
* Street trees
* Non-synchronized lights

That, in turn, will help to bring more pedestrians out onto the street, which will further slow traffic in a positive feedback loop of increasing safety and vitality.

[emge]

Another idea:

What about Speed Indication Devices? (http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/transport_and_roads/road_safety/speed_indicator_devices.aspx) (this link (http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&safe=off&um=1&q=Speed+Indication+Devices+%28SID%29&sa=N&start=20&ndsp=20) is to some pics, as I'm really not sure if you have these in Canada)


The only place I've seen these in Canada is along a tiny hamlet of a town that is now filled with multimillion-dollar mansions. The name escapes me but it's somewhere between Stouffville and Markham. It might be Lemonville. We used to drive through it to Toronto when we lived in Uxbridge.

Guess they didn't want their property values reduced/all their power walks disturbed ;)

[sofasurfer]

The problem is that speed limit enforcement doesn't work. Short of dedicating permanent speed traps on every major street at prohibitive cost, you just can't drive a permanent change in driver behaviour through browbeating or moral suasion.

Mm. You've just reminded me one of the things I don't miss about the UK (London in particular) - insane amount of CCTV surveillance. Not just speed cameras...

I *will* contend, though, that Speed Indication Devices - particularly as deployed in Kingston-Upon-Thames (see the link in my previous post to the TfL report) - DO make a difference. I should know. I lived there for >3 years before I moved here :)

The solution is to structure the streets themselves so that it is both physically and psychologically difficult to speed:
(&c).

Agree with you on all that (I've just recently moved from somewhere that we take all this for granted!)

My only caveat is that given the inability of most drivers over here to even maintain lane discipline in the huge wide buggers you have here already, I'm *really* not sure if narrower lanes are such a good idea for overall driver safety ;)

[highwater]

My only caveat is that given the inability of most drivers over here to even maintain lane discipline in the huge wide buggers you have here already, I'm *really* not sure if narrower lanes are such a good idea for overall driver safety ;)

Have you had a chance to do much driving in downtown Toronto since you moved here? I learned to drive in Toronto before moving to St. Catharines. After Toronto, St. Kitts scared the crap out of me because of the speed and rapid lane changing of the drivers there. Ditto Hamilton. It's the car culture and street design in car-centric cities that promotes the kind of behaviour you're talking about, not anything integral to Canadian drivers.

[SteelTown]

We do have speed indication signs in Hamilton.........

University and city partner on safety initiative

April 16, 2009
http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6098

A new radar sign overtop Cootes Drive on the western edge of campus helps remind motorists of the speed limit, while informing them how fast they are travelling as they drive towards Main Street.

The sign installed on the face of the Westaway Road bridge is part of the University's ongoing traffic and pedestrian safety management plan and is jointly funded by McMaster University and the City of Hamilton. Last summer the City of Hamilton made the portion of Cootes Drive on the west campus a 50 kmph zone and the radar signs are a visual reminder to slow down before the crosswalk at Sanders Boulevard.

"We are pleased with the shared effort with the City of Hamilton, ward 1 counsellor Brian McHattie and community members to enhance the safety of our campus and the surrounding area for pedestrians," says Terry Sullivan, director of security and parking services. "By increasing the number of visual reminders around campus we hope to raise awareness for both motorists and pedestrians to exercise caution."

A program is already underway at McMaster to make campus a more pedestrian-friendly space including painting every crosswalk with a large grid, using fluorescent paint for crosswalks, increasing the amount of stop signs on campus roads and encouraging the use of sidewalks.

"These are safe zones as pedestrians cross and move about campus," said Sullivan. "Most people walking around campus are using the designated sidewalks but these visual reminders are helpful to reinforce the importance of safety."

McMaster University and the City of Hamilton will continue to monitor campus and the surrounding area to enhance mobility for both pedestrians and motorists.

http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/images/Radarsign09.jpg

[sofasurfer]

Have you had a chance to do much driving in downtown Toronto since you moved here? (...) It's the car culture and street design in car-centric cities that promotes the kind of behaviour you're talking about, not anything integral to Canadian drivers.

Fair points. I'd also contend that Florida has equally bad drivers, but I think that's probably more to do with the demographics and (allegedly - according to my in-laws who now live down there) no need for a retest, ever.

I'm all for some sensible traffic measures in our city. From others I've lived in, intelligent traffic management, increasing pedestrian-friendliness, and maintaining a decent vehicle flow rate doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. Breaking up the 'boy racer' friendly design certainly seems a good start to me.

Out of interest, how long have Main and King been one-way in Hamilton?

[sofasurfer]

We do have a speed indication sign in Hamilton.........

Corrected ;)

That's the first one I've heard of (and note it seems to be a Mac/city collaboration - so why nothing on Main West?)

Are there any more?

Also, the TfL report I linked to above (particularly the Kingston approach, which I saw first-hand) talks about a rotating system, which I think has more scope to have increased awareness/impact across a wider geographic area for minimum initial outlay. Surely that's a good thing?

[Jon Dalton]

a good start to me.

Out of interest, how long have Main and King been one-way in Hamilton?

1956

[adam]

Wider lanes gives drivers an increased *perceived* level of safety so they drive faster. If we narrowed the lanes along downtown streets and widened the sidewalks to normal widths of an urban cenre (they were severely narrowed in either the 50's or 60's) then cars would drive slower because they would have a decreased *perceived* level of safety.

It is absolutely horrid to walk down certain sections of Main St. on the sidewalk and have a car whizz by about 12" from your face at 80km/h.

[ryan_mcgreal]

Wider lanes gives drivers an increased *perceived* level of safety so they drive faster.

Right on. This is often called risk homeostasis. It's the idea that people have a certain perceived level of risk with which they're comfortable. If you make something feel safer, people will tend to take bigger risks to compensate for the increased safety.

The canonical example of this is the SUV that ends up lying on its side in a ditch after the first snowfall, because the driver thought "four wheel drive" meant they didn't have to slow down to account for the slippery road.

What makes risk homeostasis really significant is that, as adam implies with his use of the word "perceived" above, people are notoriously poor at assessing relative risks.

SUVs are a double whammy in this regard: they simultaneously a) feel safer than cars on account of their size and tank-like bearings, but b) are actually less safe than cars for both their occupants and for the occupants of other vehicles.

They have less responsive handling, longer stopping times, higher centres of gravity (making them more prone to rollovers), and less impact absorption engineered into their chassis.

At a more general level, risk homeostasis means that people driving on wide, straight roads with no obstacles will drive faster - so much faster, in fact, that their increased speed more than offsets the putative advantage of more streamlined road architecture.

This is why, for example, all those wide, treeless suburban roads tend to be both curvilinear and littered with stop signs: the road engineers made them wide and straight for 'increased safety', and then added the bends and stop signs in reaction to the fact that people were racing down those wide, straight suburban roads at high speeds.

Meanwhile, the residential streets of century-old suburbs are narrow, lined with curbside parking and overhung with mature tree branches - ostensibly a disaster-waiting-to-happen from a road engineering point of view.

The effect is to produce a strong perception in drivers that the street is dangerous. There's barely enough room to pass an oncoming vehicle, a child could dash out between parked cars at any moment, and the branches of the street trees hang down low over the road, creating a feeling of being indoors.

As a result, drivers slow right down and the street ends up safer that the wide, treeless suburban road.

(That's not even to mention the fact that such a street configuration means people have to spend less time driving in the first place, and hence are at lower overall risk of injury and death from collisions.)

[SABBATICAL!]

Downtown BIA might want to look into purchasing one of these devices themselves and setting it up. Wonder if the police would make them take it down?

[waterloowarrior]

Ryan have you been reading Tom Vanderbilt's 'Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)'? I just picked up the book recently and it talks about a lot of the things you mentioned.