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by jazzyjackson 1490 days ago
> traffic-calming measures

like a stop light?

1 comments

No, precisely not. A stop-light as a traffic-calming measure is like "calming" traffic via an invisible wall-of-death that is sometimes present and sometimes not. It requires more higher-level thinking of the driver, not less.

The purpose of a traffic calming measure is to force slower driving via involuntary driver behavior or physics. Things like painting obstacle-like objects in the road to startle unattentive drivers, rumble strips, unnecessary curvature onto soft embankments so failure to make the turn doesn't risk injury, unnecessary narrowing of the road via cones or soft baffles (because people will subconsciously drive slower when they feel like their vehicle is inches from a barrier).

A common mis-design of highways is to assume traffic lights are sufficient for that purpose, and the result is creation of a high-crash location.