Friday, August 15, 2008
I love me some good trompe l'oeil appliqués!
There's no getting around the fact that speeding is hazardous to pedestrians and motorists alike. The challenge has been persuading drivers to heed warnings and slow down. So far, not many have.
This short article from the August 2008 Newsmax magazine caught my attention:
"Traditional speed bumps have been widely criticized for damaging vehicles. And those plain-old CAUTION signs -- ha, a joke. In Ohio, one industrious family is selling life-size cardboard cut-outs of radar-wielding cops, young children, and even dogs ... which, when placed at roadsides, appear to have some effect on mindless speeders.
"Another low-tech innovation getting a good look-see has been recently introduced at about 100 locations in Philadelphia. Trompe l'oeil appliqués flat in the middle of roads ... create an optical illusion, tricking motorists into thinking, at least momentarily, that they are seeing sizable 3D obstacles up ahead. Will Philly's drivers eventually catch on to the ruse and ignore the fake bumps? Probably. But for now, at least, they appear to be tapping their brakes." [Sidebar: "Trompe l'oeil appliqués" means, roughly, "applications that fool the eye."]
I don't know about the whole cardboard cut-out thing; but I do like the sound of "3D obstacles" as devices to make people obey the law and otherwise behave. Imagine if 3D images of armored personnel carriers and M4-toting soldiers could be inserted into high-crime areas. Perhaps each APC could appear to bear a spray-painted slogan on its side: "We have orders to shoot lawbreakers on sight." A couple-dozen such apparitions would probably have a more positive effect on urban well-being than a fifty midnight basketball leagues and/or a hundred community outreach programs.
This short article from the August 2008 Newsmax magazine caught my attention:
"Traditional speed bumps have been widely criticized for damaging vehicles. And those plain-old CAUTION signs -- ha, a joke. In Ohio, one industrious family is selling life-size cardboard cut-outs of radar-wielding cops, young children, and even dogs ... which, when placed at roadsides, appear to have some effect on mindless speeders.
"Another low-tech innovation getting a good look-see has been recently introduced at about 100 locations in Philadelphia. Trompe l'oeil appliqués flat in the middle of roads ... create an optical illusion, tricking motorists into thinking, at least momentarily, that they are seeing sizable 3D obstacles up ahead. Will Philly's drivers eventually catch on to the ruse and ignore the fake bumps? Probably. But for now, at least, they appear to be tapping their brakes." [Sidebar: "Trompe l'oeil appliqués" means, roughly, "applications that fool the eye."]
I don't know about the whole cardboard cut-out thing; but I do like the sound of "3D obstacles" as devices to make people obey the law and otherwise behave. Imagine if 3D images of armored personnel carriers and M4-toting soldiers could be inserted into high-crime areas. Perhaps each APC could appear to bear a spray-painted slogan on its side: "We have orders to shoot lawbreakers on sight." A couple-dozen such apparitions would probably have a more positive effect on urban well-being than a fifty midnight basketball leagues and/or a hundred community outreach programs.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Friday, August 15, 2008 
