Hans Monderman, a traffic engineer working in Holland, discovered that removing all traffic signs, speed humps, line markings and traffic lights dramatically reduced traffic speeds and actually made streets safer. The lack of signs and traffic control devices created a 'mental speed bump' that slowed motorists, without them even being aware that they had slowed down. This new approach to steet design has been applied in over 30 cities and villages in Europe. David Engwicht, a social inventor working in Australia, noticed that a child playing on the sidewalk can be more effective at slowing traffic down than a speed hump. He found that the speed of traffic on residential streets is governed, to a large extent, by the degree to which residents have psychologically retreated from their street. Simply reversiing this retrest creates mental speed bumps in the street. This book explains the full array of mental speed bumps and how they automatically slow drivers. (Author/publisher)
Abstract