Experts have been saying for years that our virtual and real worlds are merging faster than most realize. Well now we've reached a new level with "virtual speed bumps" in Philidelphia. That's right, the government is now tricking drivers into slowing down. Governing Magazine's article describes the situation this way:
"The fake speed bump is a flat piece of plastic burned into the street with blue, white and orange triangles designed to look like three-dimensional pyramids from afar, conveying the illusion that a driver is about to go over a real speed bump. At $60 to $80 a pop, the 3-D markings, which contain glass beads for nighttime visibility, are a fraction of the cost of real speed bumps, which cost $1,500 and up."
So what's the big deal? I can't help thinking that this situation is a little bit of government "phishing" in the real world by trying to fool drivers with optical illusions. As mentioned in the article, the effect wears off over time.
My big question is "what's next?" I can imagine all kinds of applications on our roads, schools, and malls. Is that policeman standing at the end of the mall real or not? Will this prevent crime or the bad guys somehow starting using this technology against us? Only time will tell...
What are your thoughts?
I too have seen the police car parked in a conspicuous location with a mannequin in the drivers seat. Only, the local police department would randomly replace the "prop" car with a real officer. People never knew if it was the mannequin or the real officer. 90% of the time it was the mannequin but 100% of the time people slowed down.
With the speed bump it is difficult to reproduce the same effect and the issue of compliancy does come into affect. Only time will tell how successful this technology will be.
Dan - interesting. Particularly that the effect wears off (as you'd expect) - wonder if it's really worth it...
A town in Massachusetts during the early 80's experimented with having a police car with a mannequin dressed in uniform parked at a popular speed trap - trying to trick drivers into slowing down (before traffic violations were considered revenue).
It was effective for about a month, that is until a vandal stole the mannequin.
These virtualized tools have a very limited effect as people start to learn what is real and what is fake.
What concerns me with the Philadelphia example is the unforeseen: the "newcomer" that suddenly slows down for the "trick" speed bump (they haven't learned yet) who is then rear-ended by a car whose driver expects that 'everyone' knows it is not a real speed bump and fails to anticipate the first driver braking for 'no reason'.
I fear the sense of complacency could end up in 'real' injuries and property damage.
The effect will not wear off if the virtual ones are occasionally replaced with real ones and vice-versa!