A novel tactic adopted in cities from New Delhi, India to West Vancouver, Canada aims to get drivers to slow down on streets.
The three-dimensional images are intended to catch drivers off-guard and make them ease up on the pedal. The images look like a crosswalk or a child playing with a ball in the middle of the street, but they aren’t real. They are painted on the pavement, and appear to pop up as a vehicle approaches.
Outside of the United States, traffic safety groups have been trying them out, in hopes they might create safer driving. In Massachusetts, drivers like Larry Spence of Centerville are open to the idea.
“This sounds like it’s good idea. It’s technology at it's best,” Spence said.
Here in Boston, where speeding is an ongoing complaint and the default limit has been lowered to 25 mph, city transportation officials have signaled they may be interested in trying a tactic like these images, known as decals. But Carlo Ratti, a professor of urban technologies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says this concept is not a sure bet.
“I think it’s interesting. I think certainly, today, it can help to make our roads safer. [It] certainly depends on how people will respond to them,” Ratti said.
Mary Maguire, a spokeswoman for AAA Northeast, expressed concern that the images could actually cause traffic hazards.
“If suddenly you’re driving along and an image of a little girl with a ball pops up, it could cause a driver to slam on his breaks. That could cause a crash,” Maguire said.
While the image of the little girl raised that question, AAA driving instructor Todd Pluta pointed out that this kind of illusion isn’t far off from those he already uses in his classroom.
“We have some videos that show children coming out with a ball or running out between parked cars and things like that, so those are things that we teach them already.” Pluta added. “The one that I really liked was the crosswalk that seemed to be a foot tall going across the road. That would really stand out.”
In the U.S., the optical illusions would violate highway standards, but federal officials have the power to grant permission to test the markings. Officials could also ultimately approve them.
Maguire says she wants to see more studies done on the decals.
“It’s not a proven technology. It’s a new technology, and there’s not a lot of data to support that it’s an effective technology, which is really the key thing,” Maguire said.
Ratti suggested looking to other kinds of technology to make our roads safer. “If you look at the future just a few years from now, think about self-driving cars, you can do all of that just using digital information,” he said.
Boston's Transportation Department would like to know more about the 3-D illusions, according to the office of commissioner Gina Fiandaca. Right now, however, city transportation officials are focused on the protected bike lane being built on Beacon Street and a bus-only lane on Washington Street in Roslindale. Her office hopes those changes will help pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
