Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Research suggests removing curbs will reduce speeding, improving driving

Newscastle University researchers in the UK have reached a startling conclusion, according to the Telegraph:
Lead researcher Dr Joan Harvey said: ''Contrary to what you might expect when driving, hazards can actually increase our attention to the road so this may well be the way forward for planners.
''In towns we may need to start considering some radical schemes such as removing kerbs so there are more hazards - like pedestrians - around your car. Our research suggests that this might actually improve people's driving.''
Of course, the safety nazis in government bureaux worldwide won't go for something like that.  But while we're in a radical frame of mind, how about private road authorities which would have the freedom to experiment with such ideas?


UPDATE (5 January): The Toronto Sun and autoblog.com incorrectly report the research being done by researchers at the University of Newscastle in Australia.  Dr. Harvey is at the university in northeastern England.

No comments:

Post a Comment