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Canada unveils new speed bump: optical illusion of a child
news.yahoo.com ^ | Sept 8 2010 | Brett Michael Dykes

Posted on 09/08/2010 1:23:21 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper

Officials in West Vancouver, Canada, apparently aren't satisfied with the driver-slowing properties of traditional speed bumps. On Tuesday, the town unveiled a new way to persuade motorists to ease off the gas pedal in the vicinity of the École Pauline Johnson Elementary School: a 2-D image of a child playing, creating the illusion that the approaching driver will soon blast into a child.

According to Discover magazine, the pavement painting appears to rise up as the driver gets closer to it, reaching full 3-D realism at around 100 feet: "Its designers created the image to give drivers who travel at the street's recommended 18 miles per hour (30 km per hour) enough time to stop before hitting Pavement Patty -- acknowledging the spectacle before they continue to safely roll over her."

You have to wonder if the designers of the "speed bump of the future" considered that drivers might become conditioned to disregard Pavement Patty and her imaginary cohorts, creating something similar to a "boy who cried wolf" effect. Couldn't such conditioning reduce drivers' caution if a real child should cross their path?

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Canada
KEYWORDS: napl
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Looks a little like an “after” picture of St. Pancake.


21 posted on 09/08/2010 1:52:18 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Excellent! Drivers soon will learn to ignore the illusions and little kids will be at risk. Why didn’t I think of that!?


22 posted on 09/08/2010 2:00:57 PM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: cripplecreek
Great way to train the brain that children are optical illusions.

I trained my brain the same thing when I turned 50, albeit not when I'm driving...just the rest of the time.

FMCDH(BITS)

23 posted on 09/08/2010 2:24:04 PM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

50 points to take her down!!!!


24 posted on 09/08/2010 2:24:16 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Berlin_Freeper


25 posted on 09/08/2010 2:30:40 PM PDT by Species8472 (Hate is a liberal value)
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To: CharlesWayneCT

That was the first thing I thought of. Some odd types are going to intentionally hit the “fake” child. I put fake in quotes because one day it won’t be.


26 posted on 09/08/2010 2:34:10 PM PDT by Darth Reardon (Go Hawkeyes!)
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To: Species8472

Yeah that’s an awful idea too. I’d totally swerve to miss that and crash into something.


27 posted on 09/08/2010 2:36:41 PM PDT by YoungHickey (Is it time yet, Claire?)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Okay, who wants to start a pool for the headline to appear reporting that the Safe School Czar was caught chasing one of these fake kids?


28 posted on 09/08/2010 2:40:10 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Let this chant follow BHO everywhere he goes: "You lie. You lie. You lie.")
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Get people accustomed to running over children in the road.
Amazingly stupid.


29 posted on 09/08/2010 2:50:35 PM PDT by Bon mots ("Anything you say, can and will be construed as racist...")
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To: Constitution Day; Berlin_Freeper; Tijeras_Slim; Slings and Arrows

30 posted on 09/08/2010 3:13:02 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Cloverfarm

Yep, what I was thinking, they will probably cause more than one accident to happen with this kind of BS.


31 posted on 09/08/2010 3:55:35 PM PDT by calex59
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To: martin_fierro

“Can we fix it? YES WE CAN!”


32 posted on 09/08/2010 9:03:46 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: Species8472

After 47 cars swerve, causing 86 fatalities, idiot artist finally decides to remove road "art."

33 posted on 09/08/2010 9:08:44 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (With God, Obama can't hurt us. Without God, George Washington couldn't save us.)
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To: martin_fierro; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; NYC GOP Chick; ...


34 posted on 09/09/2010 12:43:13 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: Slings and Arrows
My father took me to see that movie but we left because of a sex scene.
35 posted on 09/09/2010 1:31:19 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (If Obama was the answer---that must have been one stupid question.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Poor kid's going to fall off those tall shoes.


36 posted on 09/09/2010 2:09:21 AM PDT by paulycy (Demand Constitutionality: Islamo-Marxism is Evil.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper; martin_fierro; Slings and Arrows

Why not use an optical illusion of a real speed bump?
The child one is twisted.

(Speaking of illusions, I have a pretty good one on my home page.)


37 posted on 09/09/2010 3:45:13 AM PDT by MaryFromMichigan (Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle)
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To: Slings and Arrows

That is the most monumentally boneheaded idea I’ve heard in a long time. The first thing that came to mind was, “How many kids are going to die because of this idiocy?”


38 posted on 09/09/2010 5:51:09 AM PDT by TheOldLady (Pablo is very wily.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

I hope David Dunne (quoted in the article) is held PERSONALLY liable for any injuries or property damage that arise from this idiotic idea.

The painting may be way cool, but the application is not much more than screaming “Fire” in a crowded theater - somebody’s gonna get hurt.


39 posted on 09/09/2010 5:58:43 AM PDT by MortMan (Obama's response to the Gulf oil spill: a four-putt.)
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To: JerseyHighlander

That’s pretty cool, but I wonder how many drivers have hit the wall or missed the turn because they were staring at the danged thing? LOL


40 posted on 09/09/2010 5:59:44 AM PDT by MortMan (Obama's response to the Gulf oil spill: a four-putt.)
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