Child-shaped bollards help slow traffic

Just to show creative the authorites are starting to become when it comes to traffic-caliming, I thought I'd post this item from 13 August. Child-shaped bollards that give the impression they are about to cross the road are the latest attempt by a council to slow drivers as they pass local schools.

The steel mannequins cost £350 each and have been placed outside Avenue Primary School in Leicester to help enforce a 20mph speed limit.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “Any measure that highlights the importance of slow speeds outside schools is welcome. The danger faced by children is highlighted by the fact that one of these bollards has already been knocked over.”

http://www.eta.co.uk/2009/08/13/child-shaped-bollards-help-slow-traffic

Psychological traffic calming report

In an effort to raise the quality and integrity of the discussion about road colour and its effect on traffic, here's a link to a 44 page pdf report on "Psychological Traffic Calming" prepared for the Department of Transport's Traffic Management Division by the consultants TRL LTD. It covers a number of tests done with different types of psychological traffic calming techniques, but it's specifically page 11 that I'd draw attention to.

http://groups.google.com/group/beechcroft/files

It's well illustrated, so the 44 pages go fast for those who want to study a bit more in depth. I've also set up a link to this pdf in the links column on the right side of this blog.

You will need Acrobat Reader to open this pdf file. The link I've posted here will take you to the top of the documents storage area of the old BCRA Google Groups site. The title of the report is "1_Psychological traffic calming 2005.pdf". You may need to scroll down the list of documents to find it--the list of documents seems to rearrange itself in no particular order.